San Francisco is one of the most travelled places in the world. Ben and I came here mostly because there is a direct flight to Australia. I stayed for a week in San Francisco and had a mixed feeling about this city. I felt fascinated getting to know the good and bad sides of San Francisco.

This post shows the things that I did in San Francisco, and also some information for new travellers as well as how I feel about this city.

 

10 things I did in San Francisco

1. Joined the free walking tour

This is one of my favourite things to do when I arrive in a new city because I get to know more about the place. I chose SF wild walking tour due to its good rating on TripAdvisor.

I learned more about San Francisco from the tour. I also met this gal from Hang Zhou in China and we had a great chat during the tour. By the way, I feel that my tour guide looks like Chapman To (a famous Hong Kong actor) which adds more pleasure to the whole experience. 😂

>>Click here to read my blog post about the benefits of joining a free walking tour

 

2. Look for food in Chinatown and Little Italy

To my surprise, Chinatown is so big and authentic! It gave me a feeling of home. Most of the food here was cheap and tasty. Being able to speak and read Cantonese was a huge advantage here. My favourite dining place was Wing Sing Dim Sum, but anyway, there were so many restaurants around this area and I think they are more or less the same.

After having lunch, I like to have coffee at Caffe Greco in Little Italy as they have good coffee and WIFI and comfortable seats. There are many Italian restaurants around this area – Ben and I had delicious spaghetti at Franchino Restaurant.

Franchino Restaurant

Oh yeah, there is also a Japan Town nearby but I didn’t visit it.

 

3. Walked on Lombard Street

Many people said Lombard Street is the crookedest street in the world. Walking on Lombard Street is challenging because it is very steep! I should have taken a cable car instead.

The top of Lombard Street has a beautiful view of the sea and city. However, it was a bit crowded and took me forever to take the photo above! I was here in winter, and I can’t imagine how many people will be here in summer.

 

4. Took this unique cable car ride

To be honest, I still cannot differentiate the cable car from the trams in San Francisco as they look so alike. It is not cheap – $7 for one-way for a short distance. It is a unique experience because “the San Francisco cable car system is the world’s last manually operated cable car system.” (source: Wikipedia)

There are 3 different cable car routes and can be very confusing for the first-time visitor. I think this website summarises these routes well.

 

5. Tried to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

It is one of the most iconic attractions in the world. I have seen the Golden Gate Bridge in numerous postcards and paintings. It is amazing to finally see it with my own eyes, let alone actually walking on it.

I met this gal from Russia. Finally, I found someone who likes to take photos more than me! We took hundreds of photos in a day 😨. It was a nice companion though.

The length of the bridge is 2.8km. I initially planned to walk across the full distance but I didn’t, probably because the weather was bad and I was happy enough to walk a short bit of it with my new friend. 😊

 

6. Wandered along Fisherman’s Wharf

The wharf is big and oh my god, there are so many things to do here! There are many piers and each of them is labelled with a number in a sequence. Ben and I had a relaxing walk from Pier 45 to Pier 1. I like the vibe in the wharf though it is a bit touristy.

The highlights of piers that I like:

Pier 45 – I can get $5 margarita during the happy hours. I really like Lou’s Fish Shack as they have really amazing margaritas! It is really relaxing to sit here with a glass of drink and some snacks.

Pier 39 – it is the most famous pier (see #7 below).

Pier 33 – can take a ferry from here to Alcatraz Island (see #8 below).

Pier 7 – this is a long pier and I get to see a nice view of the Oakland bridge at the end of the pier. Also popular for fishing.

Pier 1 – see the ferry building.

 

7. Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf

I had to write this separately from #6 above because there is so much about it. Pier 39 is a shopping centre. It is very touristy – not a bad thing cause there are many restaurants and souvenir shops here. There are also other things here:

Sea Lions Bay Views – I love it. I used to see many sea lions in New Zealand, however, this is the first time I see more than a hundred of them together at one spot! Super lovely.

Fisherman’s Wharf is popular for seafood. I had a delicious dinner at the popular Fog Harbour Fish House with the friends that I just met. The most interesting thing is that four of us are from different countries: Malaysia, South Korea, China, England.

I also had a crab chowder at Crab House. To be honest, I thought the food was average.

 

8. Visited Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island was the federal prison/penitentiary in the mid-1900s. It has now become a popular tourist attraction and is only about 15-minute ferry ride from San Francisco city.

I think this is a very interesting thing to do (though a bit creepy) in San Francisco. I was very lucky to be able to visit Alcatraz Island because it was closed for 35 days due to the government shutdown, and it may be closed again after 3 weeks.

It is not possible to visit the island without taking the Alcatraz Cruise. I think this website has a good summary of the different tours and how to purchase the tickets.

Alcatraz Island is not only about prison. The island also offers a nice view of the city of San Francisco! 🙂

 

9. Painted Ladies

This is one of the most photographed places in San Francisco. Actually, I did not spend so much time here because it was raining. I believe I would fall in love with this place if I had the chance to really explore it. I will visit this place again if I ever come to San Francisco again.

 

10. A short tour to Yosemite National Park

I joined a 2D1N tour to Yosemite National Park from San Francisco. I have yet to write a blog post to Yosemite National Park…… (TO BE UPDATED!!!!!)

My roommate did a 1-day tour to Lake Tahoe. Her photos look amazing! I was thinking about doing it as well but ran out of time since I only had a week in San Francisco. This is also in my to-do-list if I visit San Francisco next time. 🙂

Another thing that I also want to do next time is to visit the Golden Gate Park.

 

Info for first-time visitors

About Transportation

There are 2 main public transportation agencies in San Francisco: BART and Muni.

BART – Mainly for longer distance. Pay by distance.
Muni – Includes bus, trams, metro and cable car. Pay by each ride regardless of the distance, $2.75 per ride or $7 for a cable car ride.

The most annoying thing about Muni is that you need to have exact change. If you give $100 to the driver, they won’t give you a change. The best tip that I received from the free walking tour is to install the MuniMobile app on your phone. With this app, I can pay by card and also the ticket was cheaper.

For 1-day passport, the price difference is $11 ($23 vs $12).

Taking muni around the city is good. I was travelling in San Francisco for the first time, and I can take the trams suggested by Google Map to get to the places without any issues.

UBER is also well-used in San Francisco. I usually don’t have to wait long to get a driver. Using Express pool – the shared ride is much cheaper.

 

About Accommodation

I stayed for a total of 7 nights: 2 nights at Fitzgerald Hotel Union Square (a very small queen room for US$150 per night), and 5 nights at HI San Francisco Downtown Hostel (4-bed female dorm room for $48 per night).

It is very expensive to stay in San Francisco. For the same amount of money, I can get at least 3-5 night stay in a similar room in New Zealand.

I think it is not a bad idea to stay a bit far away from the town since public transportation is quite cheap.

And most importantly, avoid staying in the Tenderloin region at all cost. Ben stayed here before because it was much cheaper and he regretted it!

 

About Activities

Since I blew my budget on my Yosemite tour, I mostly looked for free/cheap things to do in San Francisco. Most of the things that I stated above were mostly free or low cost, except the Alcatraz tour (US$39) and also having a meal at the restaurant (around US$50 per meal). It is cheaper to book the Alcatraz tour online than to buy it from the ticket booth.

Here is another thing that I learned from the free walking tour. Look for the ‘Public Open Space’ logo in the building – our tour guide brought us to The Sun Terrace at 343 Sansome Street and we could enjoy a beautiful view of the city from the open rooftop.

 

What I feel about San Francisco

Some said San Francisco is one of the best cities to live in the world. I have a mixed feeling about this.

Personally, I had a great time travelling for a week in San Francisco. I like the rich culture as there lived people from different parts of the world. I like coastal cities. The weather was pleasant even during the winter. I also like drinking and having American fast food. There is almost everything in San Francisco – how can I not love it?

Yet, this city has downsides. Here are them:

Homelessness is depressing.

I feel very sorry for the homeless people. I understand this is a huge problem in the U.S., but San Francisco is worse. (read Business Insider)

San Francisco is a very expensive city to live in.

The average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in the downtown is over USD$3k per month which is crazy! I have stayed in many backpackers’ hostels before, but this is the first time I stayed in the same dorm room with a homeless person. And I got to hear about her stories.

It seems like this country has all the luxury things, yet missing the basic things for some of its own people.

I can’t just wander around as I did in many cities.

I was scared that I would accidentally walk into the Tenderloin region (a place where the homeless people gather). One of my roommates at hostel actually did it – she wandered around the city and went to Tenderloin and was scared!

I don’t feel safe going out at night either, later I learned that I was not the only one who thought the way.

In addition, the city is hilly and at risk of earthquakes.

The city is steep and hilly due to the earthquake. I love to walk so it is too tiring to walk here. I am also scared of the earthquake after experiencing it a few times in New Zealand.

Yet, I still like San Francisco.

But of course, I was just a tourist and had only stayed for a week in San Francisco. There is so much more about San Francisco that I do not know. I still like San Francisco. Perhaps my feeling for San Francisco is like the first picture at the top of this post: beautiful but covered in cloud.