vacation in San Francisco...?
 

So, come the beginning of September, hubby and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary with a trip... back to San Francisco. We spent 3 days there on our honeymoon before heading to Napa. However unlike that trip - this trip will include our 7 year old and DH's grandma and aunt! ;) Typically when we travel - we just go and figure out what to do when we get there... now we have grandma and aunt and they are very nervous traveler so that means I have to have ideas on what to do when we are there. We are planning on doing the typical tourist stuff... Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Cars, maybe Alcatraz... might be a bit too much for Jake and Aunt Jane said she was already there (in like 1974)... What do good things that would not be too much walking... some what educational (homeschooling - it will count.. haha)... something that locals think are cool...

So - hit me up with ideas... we will have a car - DH wants to make the trip to pay his respect to Apple Headquarters... I only heard "Gift shop" and the rest what he was saying, I didn't pay attention too... haha

Also places to eat... has to be gluten free (kiddo allergic)...

One of the coolest thing we did when we were stationed out there was we took a motorized Cable Car tour of the city. I think it left from Fisherman's Wharf, so very little walking, plus a tour of the city. Let me see if I can find more info on it.

Here's the site, this tour actually takes you across the bridge, it's the one we did. I loved hearing all the history of the city.

https://www.starlinetours.com/san-fr...f-pass-1-3.asp

This site tells you exactly where it leaves from and hours.

CABLE CAR TOUR ROUTE:

Ghirardelli Square
Cow Hollow
The Marina District
Palace of Fine Arts
Fort Point
The Golden Gate Bridge
Marin County Vista outlook
The Presidio
Pacific Heights
North Beach
Chinatown
Nob Hill
Union Square
Financial District
Transamerica Tower
And more...

The Jelly Belly Factory isn't too far from the city. https://jellybelly.com/info/visit_je..._factory_index

oohh... love the cable car idea! We did the grayline tour when we were there 10 years ago, but this would be more iconic! ;)

Yum... jelly beans! They have a factory here in Wisconsin that we never been too... :D

We were there over spring break with our 7 year old. Here were my favorite things:

1. Visiting the Walt Disney Family museum. Showcases Walt's life and his incredible contributions. This is stellar: http://www.waltdisney.org/

2. Riding bikes across the golden gate bridge and then down into Sausalito. Have pizza and pastries in Sausalito on the waterfront and then ride the ferry back to downtown. I was worried about this (I had my 7 year old on the tag-along). But it was fabulous!!

3. Exploratorium. This is definitely educational, busy, and super fun. This is the best hands-on science museum I've ever scene: http://www.exploratorium.edu/. Be prepared for a busy day.

Other times we've gone we've visited

1. Golden Gate Park. There are lots of things to do there. With family the Academy of Sciences is excellent (complete with aquarium) http://www.calacademy.org/, but my personal favorite was strolling through the Japanese Gardens and having tea/snacks in their little café. If I didn't have my kids, I would also consider going to the art museum there. There is an amazing outdoor playground there too so that kiddos can run off steam. Here's the link to the park itself. http://www.golden-gate-park.com/ Walking around the *green* park is also a nice change from the big city vibe.

2. Alcatraz - One of my friends said it can be difficult to get Alcatraz tickets unless you book way in advance. If you really think that would be fun I would call now. I personally would not do this with my 7 year old.

3. Cable Car Museum - ride the cable cars and then get off and visit this museum. It's free and small, but you get to see the actual cable that pulls the cars. Totally educational and awesomely geeky mechanical stuff. http://cablecarmuseum.org/

Have lots of fun!!! I'll post again if I remember other things to do...

Also....when you get there you should be able to buy a transit pass that will cover the cable cars, buses, and trolleys for a number of days. I bet there is a 3 day pass. This is how we got around. I only got in our car when we drove out to Oakland for one of our days. Can't imagine trying to find parking...

This Chinese American author (Lawrence Yep) writes kids and teen novels about Chinese American culture. Most of them I think would be more suited for an older child, but I did read this one to my son which he loved: http://www.amazon.com/The-Earth-Drag...=dragon+awakes It's a great fictional account of what the San Francisco earthquake was like. You might consider reading it AFTER you visit otherwise it might keep you awake at night while you are there! :p

The jelly belly factory is a long ride from SF & Fairfield is hot. The actual tour is only done on weekdays (when workers are there). Otherwise the weekend tour is by video. I don't recommend it for Grandma & Aunt.

Do Chinatown, eat at the bakery on Grant & Washington. Bring cash for the best baked pork buns in the world.

I'm local. I like to check out http://sf.funcheap.com/ for activities with my kids. Every week, I check on Thursday for something to do on Saturday. The site isn't just kid stuff though. Like, I chose the Berkeley Kite Festival over the Naked Bike Ride this weekend. Lol.

For really good seafood, hop in the car & drive an hour down highway 1 to Princeton or Half Moon Bay. Princeton is where the big Mavericks surf competition is every year. Pretty sure all my beach LOs are taken there. You can spend time on the beach & eat fresh, decently priced food. I love http://princetonseafood.com/.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is fun for everyone. It's a seaside amusement park with roller coasters & a beach. I think in September they might even do movie nights on the beach. That's more like 2 hours from SF.

Feel free to message me. I live right across the street from SFO, go to San Francisco State University, & have lived here all my life.

I grew up in the Bay Area, but aside from a two-year stint in Monterey, have only been back for visits since I left for college almost 20 years ago, but some of our old favorites are still there when we do go back. We like to take the cable car (not the trolley) DOWN Hyde Street to Fishermans Wharf (the turn around is right next to the Buena Vista Hotel.....a bunch of movie scenes have been filmed there and they do a lovely Irish coffee), walk over to Pier 39, grab lunch at Boudoin ("Bo-deen") and people watch. When were ready to go we hop on one of the vintage streetcars that run along the Embarcadero and head back toward the. Ferry building (we take the BART train into the city since my folks live a out 35 miles east).

I've enjoyed the Bay cruises too.....you'll see the sights from a totally different vantage point. Alcatraz is interesting, but lots of walking though you might run into my parents if you go out there....they're seabird docents (park volunteers). If you want to go out to Alcatraz, you really do need to get your tickets ahead of time. Golden Gate Park has lots of has a bunch of museums and beautiful landscaping.

If you want to drive a bit, the *BEST* aquarium I've ever been to is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it's a bit of a haul from SF.

Oh, these are such good ideas!! THANK YOU!!! I love getting the "inside" prospective on where to go and see! :)

Just to note: the Wisconsin Jelly Belly Tour is only a train ride through a warehouse watching videos. It is not a working factory. It might still be fun but if you are wanting to see an actual factory at work then visit the one in California while you are there.

They also stop a few of places too so you can get out and take pictures.

I agree, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is great, and Santa Cruz Boardwalk is really cool.

Maybe a Giants game, we really enjoyed that too.

Your son might like to go to Lombard Street (the crookedest street). I remember doing that as a kid.

We loved the Jelly Belly Factory while we were there this April. Kids loved getting samples from the sample bar and we bought enough candy to last us 3 years. :D

We also liked the SF zoo and Ghirardelli Square! Oh, and China Town too, but not sure about gluten-free over there.

wow, I didn't know that... glad we haven't gone - would have been very disappointed! hubby and I love factory tours... both of us have/had corporate jobs where we had to travel and spend time at mills.

I'm getting excited!! If you think of anything else - let me know!! Next week - kiddo and I are going to start talking about the city and different neighborhoods, history... and build our own bridge! ;)

We used this book a lot when we'd go.

http://www.amazon.com/Top-Francisco-...co+travel+book

this one looks like it has more info.
http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-Tra...co+travel+book

We've used that brand a ton, Hawaii, DC, Chicago, etc.

There is also the deYoung and Legion of Honor (museums) that grandma and auntie might like :)
http://deyoung.famsf.org/

Exploratorium
Golden Gate Park
Pier 39
California Academy of Sciences
At&t baseball park

Have fun!!

napa is where I grew up...pure beautiful! Hope you have a lovely time!

I grew up in Santa Cruz and visited SF quite often. If you are planning on driving down to do either the beach in Santa Cruz or down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I'd recommend Roaring Camp which is up in the Santa Cruz mountains, and take the train down to the beach http://www.roaringcamp.com/

ohh.. Jake would LOVE this!! I never knew that was there!

Darn it! I don't think 6 days there are enough! haha

Looking forward to your travel pages now! :D

I confess I did not read every response, but I searched for "city pass" and didn't find it. :) My husband & I went a couple of years ago and got a city pass. It includes cable car passes, which can be a good way to get around and is fun. We went on a bay cruise, to the aquarium (the one at Fisherman's Wharf is pretty small but fun, maybe good for Aunt?), and we really liked the Academy of Sciences.

I remember on our last day there we tried to do Alcatraz, but MAN was it booked to the rafters. We did Muir Woods and a Sausalito tour, which I enjoyed, and it only took a half day for both places :)

Well, we are in day 3 of our trip... Thank for theses suggestions!!! So far we did the train ride.... Which was so much fun and j got to pan for gold! We also got to the ocean near half moon bay.... Where grandma got wet when a wave knocked her over and took her shoes... We got the shoes back and only lost a sock. Then we ended our day with the Winchester house.

Today we are planning the jelly bean tour and the tour if the city by the cable car.

Can anyone recommend eating places? We would like places that are California... grandma doesn't care for Mexican.... But we are open to other types of foods.

Thanks!!!


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I was going to recommend the Swan Oyster Depot but the lines are usually long and it might be too difficult for your whole family. If you do like seafood, though, San Fran is a great place to find a restaurant with fresh seafood.

I'm bumping this up again because this is somewhere I can fly to really cheap.. it doesn't look like hotels are very affordable here though?

Hotels are expensive in the city and I wouldn't stay in the cheap ones *shudder*

Go all out and stay at the Fairmont!

are there more affordable areas not far from the city?

I'm not a native so I can't answer that, but getting in and out of the city can be a PITA and then you have to worry about renting cars or being close to BART. It's doable.

Oh and parking in hotels can be $60/night with no in/out priveleges lol

wowzers. :O

When we go to SF we stay in Sunnyvale which is 45 mins to an hour away from downtown but it is more affordable AND it's gorgeous. Lots of nature activities nearby like going to Big Basin. It's a gorgeous area, far away enough to be not so expensive, close enough to get to the city to spend the day and then go back to rest up. Hope this helps!

I stayed at the Marines' Memorial Hotel, it was awesome. We used the City Pass and I can't recommend it enough if you're planning on doing a lot in the city proper.

We stayed at the Hyatt at the airport - not the cheapest, but hubby was working on getting "diamond" status with them, so that is where we ended up. It bugged him to no end to have to play for parking, though - at least there, it was just a flat daily fee, so you could come and go without added cost.

condos/apartments
 

When we travel to SF we always rent a condo or apartment. Cost less than hotel, and we get more amenities. Granted, we are always going for the baseball games, so we like to stay in that area.

I used the www.vrbo.com website or www.homeaway.com