Anybody know San Francisco?

[eponine119]

Just on the off chance... planning travel :D

I will be going from San Francisco headed north over the Golden Gate bridge in the afternoon on a Wednesday and would like to avoid rush hour traffic.

When would be a good time to go? I was thinking 3.

Also if anyone has any don't miss things to do I'd love to hear about them.

Comments

[jcd1013]

3 should be okay. 9:30-3:30 is usually lower traffic times.

[eponine119]

Perfect! Thank you!

[rhymephile]

I recommend the night tour to Alcatraz. Book in advance because it always fills up. Reason to go? They open areas on the island closed during the day because it's too crowded.

When you get there, skip the self-guided tour with the headphones and follow the park ranger-lead tours instead. They take you to all the places you can't see on your own or during the day, like the medical wing.

When we were there in 2007, my partner and I decided to look for Al Capone's cell. Since it wasn't so crowded we were off on our own in the cell block, and a Ranger asked what we were looking for. When we told him, he offered to show it to us! He walked us through a roped-off area, to the third tier I think it was, while everyone else on the tour stared up at us, wondering what we were doing. It was awesome.

[eponine119]

That is completely awesome!

It is apparently too late to book the night tour for my trip though. Bummer. (I did get day tickets.)

[rhymephile]

Bummer indeed. Ah, there's always next time.

To be honest, I disliked San Fran because of the very, *very* aggressive homeless people. I'm talking stopping you and demanding money. I'm talking there was one block when we were walking to a bus (still in a touristy area) and I told my girlfriend we needed to walk in the street because the sidewalks were full of drunk/angry/high homeless. Not even kidding. I don't think things have changed all that much, so be wary.

The odd thing about that city is that streets literally separate a good area from a bad area. You can be walking down a street with lots of stores/shops and suddenly one street over it gets bad. Have fun, but be mindful of that.

[eponine119]

Yikes. I was aware of the good street/bad street thing from reading, and have experienced it in other cities, but it's good to be reminded. I had not given aggressive homeless any thought at all, so thank you for that.

It's been too long since I was a city girl. I think I have some more research to do.

[zelda_zee]

3 is too late. No later than 2, I'm afraid.

Vista Point, 1st exit off the bridge has a lovely view back to SF. Easy on/off.

If you're on 101 Muir Woods is lovely old growth forest.

How far north are you going and will you have a time constraint?

[eponine119]

I had a feeling 2 would be better. Thank you.

We're going to a show in Mill Valley at 8, so that's basically the only time constraint. I hadn't planned to go much further north than that, but I'm open to suggestions. Muir Woods is a great idea.

[zelda_zee]

If you wanted more time in the city you could leave later. You'd be in commute traffic, but Mill Valley is only about 1/2 hour from SF so you'd get there in plenty of time for an 8pm show, I would think, if you left by 6