Stuff to do in San Francisco
polycounter lvl 9
So I'll be visiting San Francisco and attending GDC but I'll be staying there until March 22 so there'll be plenty of time for tourism and while I know about the tried and true tourist destinations in the city (Alcatraz, Golden Gate, SFMOMA...) I was hoping that Bay Area polycounters could chime in with more personal suggestions for stuff to do there. You know, those places you would never find in mainstream tourism websites and magazines that you only know about cause you live there. Many thanks in advance. :thumbup:
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Also, I wanna get me a Galaxy Nexus and an Android tablet, prabably the Transformer Prime. What's the place to go for electronics?
Tell the owner (short, old Chinese guy [you'll know em!]), that it's your first time there. He'll take care of ya.
I grew up in South SF and the outer cities (Pacifica, Daily City) but didn't really do much at that age (left when I was eight). I visited again in 2003. Riding the full track on the trolly is enjoyable and relaxing. Visiting China town is a great experience. Lots of trinket shops and a few good street food vendors.
Visting the museum of modern art was awesome - Rodin's "the thinker" was parked in the center of their massive courtyard, which was an awesome sight.
I'd avoid fisherman's wharf unless you don't mind tourist traps. There are some great stores and food to be had in the area, but there's also a lot of mediocrity, and it's crowded
Alcatraz is also a fun tourist thing to check out. If you go, go EARLY. First boat. Far less people.
Yeah, this place is awesome.
sfmoma was a disappointment imho. the stuff they had when I visited was very... very "modern". One piece was a single hair taped to a canvas. Maybe I'm just too stupid for this form of art...
edit: Chinatown is indeed great too. It's quite small but has it's own special atmosphere, and some restaurants are as close to real Chinese places as it gets. If you're out for a quiet and nice lunch, forget it though. Lots of people and noise and the waiters speak mostly cantonese when you head to one of the busy lunch places.
There's a lot of stuff to do within a few blocks of the convention center, so don't discount just having a walk around that general area. The Metreon has huge IMAX screens, though the ticket prices are pretty steep. Market street and Union Square have a large variety of shops.
There's a farmer's market at the Ferry Building on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and it's a great place to pick up some really good fresh foods. It's a bit of a walk from the convention center, but it doesn't require walking up or down any hills.
There's a mirror maze up in Fisherman's Wharf that's seriously cool, too. It might sound silly but I'd really recommend it
And Bigfoot Lodge does some awesome cocktails if you're in the area :P
http://museum.stanford.edu/view/rodin.html
Very true. It's just a fairly generic fish and chips joint and the only thing that sets it apart is the theme. Decent food, but nothing really special.
HAHAHAHAHA! This is the greatest thing I've heard all year!
Some of this advice will depend on your age / personal tastes I suppose.
Eats : Some personal favorites..
-- Swan Oyster Depot - ( yelp ) Always a crazy line, fresh seafood. Omnomnom
-- Grubstake - ( yelp ) Open til 4 am!!!! I go here a lot after a night out on Polk street. I get The Nugget... burger with a fried egg on it. Onion rings are really good!
-- Ike's Place - ( yelp ) Awesome awesome sandwiches. Should call ahead if possible, sometimes the wait can be a few hours...usually only happens on weekends.
-- Pearls Deluxe Burgers - ( yelp ) Great Burgers, great fries, great shakes! I think it's worth it to get something off the specials menu. Bula, Pesto Burger, Phat Bob personal favorites.
Locations : Going to talk about locations and a few particular places...
-- Union Square : Cable cars go up and down Powell street which passes right by Union Square. Nice hotels in the area, some department stores (Macys/Nordstrom) , Food / Bars, Art gallerys
-- Polk Street - Has it all, Food, bars, shops...usually a younger to middle aged crowd for the bar scene...A couple bars with dance floors, sports bars, upscale bars, dive bars, and a gay bar. Boutiques, smoke shops, Art gallerys yata yata.
-- Union Street - No where near Union Square. A little more mature of an area, a decent amount of wine bars, good amount of restaurant/bars, boutiques, most of the shops are girly..
-- North Beach - I don't go here too often mainly because I don't want to deal with the walk back up the hill. Has some cool spots though. It's the Italian district, very touristy during the day (especially on weekends). Some of the Italian places are really good others are total crap....pricey in general
-- Castro!!! - It's the gay district, I've gone there a few times with my girl and some gay friends. Strong strong strong cheap drinks at most of the bars, potentially could be groped while walking through a bar on the weekends..
-- Fishermans Wharf - Touristy, usually has street performers / street artists on the weekends.
-- Chinatown - As others said, pretty cool place, trinket shops etc... I'd check it out, not too far from Union Square.
- Alcatraz - Haven't been since I was like 12...cool to see and walk around.
-- Wreck Room - ( yelp ) Cool bar. 3 minute walk from Polk Street. Gets packed on weekends and some weekdays. Pool table, darts, basketball shooting game, shuffle board so you have some entertainment while you drink.
-- Legion of Honor - As others mentioned, been a number of times for certain exhibits. Wont go into too much detail...it's a museum.
-- de Young - Same deal.
-- Academy of Sciences - Never been, want to go. I've heard good things. The weekly Nightlife event is supposed to be cool.
-- SFMOMA - Self explanatory. When I was a student I got in for free, pretty cool. Exhibits are hit and miss.
All I can think of now, might add more later if I think of stuff... Hope it helps, enjoy!
-Oliver
Dude, I'm going to San Fran in June, and if you didn't mention that museum, it wouldn't even be on my radar.. I would have been bummed if I missed out on it.. So thank you very much!
union square, shopping in macys and the other stores around there. take lots of money.
go to Loris Diner - not even joking that shit is off the chaaaaain
ride the cable car..
go to the pier and eat clam chowder, maybe see the aqaurium
go to alcatraz - book your ticket onlin in advance, you'll never get a ticket if you show up on the day
go to chinatown
that should keep you busy for a while.
Also, there's the Presidio, awesome old fort.
There is also golden gate park, there is supposed to be some bison in there. I never got a chance to go there though as it got way too cold in the evening.
Another touristy place is Lombard street, it is the twisty downhill road, cool to see... Better in summer since there are flowers and junk to make it a nice photo place.
down fishermans warf there are lots of sea liions just doing their thing, kind of cool.. But there is also an old ww2 submaraine you can tour down there as well. right beside the submarine there is a private museum of coin operated machines. All functional, really cool.
and pearls is this sh!t, i love them so.
http://www.voy.com/201188/ :poly136:
Can't imagian what they were searching for. lol
The submarine mentioned is cool, $10 for it 12 for audio, takes only about 30 mins if you stop to take a lot of pictures as I did. - Pier 43
Walking is worth it even with the hills, you get a lot of nice views and see shops that would be missed on a bus or taxi. Going along this theme though buy yourself the plastic Clipper card better then its paper counterpart even if you only ever come to S.F once. Works on the bus and Muni/BART train system. Seems to be $2 to ride anywhere in the system but don't quote me on that
I don't recall if you said your in the city yet but, just don't get shocked when you see a ticket booth outside pretty mich everything. I know I was first day here, have been spoiled coming from D.C area where its pretty much free for every Smithsonian museum. Either way it is still all fun so far. Hope you have fun playing tourist also.
Plenty of that goes down in SF I hear lol.