San Francisco - A Californian Summer - Part One

San Francisco is undoubtedly what you’d class as an attractive City. The pretty painted lady coloured houses, the striking red bridge of dreams, bikes, hills, trams and piers. Tony Bennett wrote a song about how he left his heart there and more than a few well-known films have displayed the iconic landscape from Mrs Doubtfire to Bullitt. Let’s be honest here who even remembers what that film was about? All people visualise now is the car chase, Steve McQueen and the City itself.

The start of our Summer in California meant flying into San Francisco and after enduring the US entry system and a long wait for our beast truck of a hire car to be ready we headed out to Japanese district where I found the coolest hotel my dollars would buy in a major City. It’s worth pointing out that everywhere in California adds on a tax to each night of your stay and sometimes a charge for parking your car, so make sure you include this into your calculations.

Whilst on the subject of parking let’s just discuss the sheer unadulterated beauty that is VALET PARKING. In California it was everywhere. You basically rock up right outside wherever you want to go, jump out and someone goes and parks your ridiculously large beast of a truck for you and then brings it back at the end. This literally saved us hours of finding car parks, then the actual spaces, and often the cost was ridiculously reasonable for such a great service. Especially in the heart of a busy City like LA. Imagine just dropping your car off in the middle of Oxford Street and having someone park it for you and bring it back for just £10-£20. Insanely good. Moving on.

Hotel Kabuki.
A boutique hotel in the Japanapese quarter of San Fran. We got this for a great price on booking.com. It’s not easy to find anything cheap in a City but this was a fair £350 a night for the 5 of us. It’s in a really laid back area away from the busy tourist areas and a short Uber wherever you want to go. There’s a really big problem with homelessness in the City but this area seemed to be far enough out to be removed from the worst of it. The hotel welcomes kids but it’s got a really hip vibe, not unlike a Shoreditch hangout. You could get a black and white Photo Booth selfie, sit back and peruse the coffee table books, or order artisan Pizzas and beer for a cheeky supper with tunes plus they served free coffee and a huge gym. I’d definitely recommend staying here if you don’t mind being a bit out of the centre of the City, but want to still be within the City. This was our second trip to the SF and if i was to come back i’d stay over the bridge nearer to Stinson Beach and Marin County or in Oakland/Berkley areas and just travel into the city for the day to do the sightseeing.

Experiences in the City

Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf reminded me of a glorified Seaside town. Something a little OTT and unsettling about the whole place. Maybe it’s the hoards of people or the homeless everywhere but the cars are bumping! Come early before the crowds and walk from Fisherman’s Wharf to Pier 33 where you can catch the boat to Alcatraz and you’ll have seen everything you need to see. It’s good for a stroll, an ice cream, buy some ridiculously overpriced fruit, or saltwater taffy but most people come here for the ferry to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz. One of the most famous prisons in the world. Take a jumper and a raincoat. It might be 80 degrees on land but on that boat it feels like the Arctic-winds are blowing in.
I didn’t think I’d like Alcatraz, just something to do to tick off the list, but I actually loved the experience. Without a doubt make sure to walk up the hill to start off with the audio tour. The narrators of your tour are former prisoners and guards. They tell you what to look at, where to walk and stories and tales along the way. Your group can all listen at the same time. It’s a fascinating experience. I’d heard that evening tours were the ones to get, but I think if the prison was dark it would have been a bit much for the little ones. In the gift shop there was a former resident of the Island, a former guards daughter. She showed us some pictures from her time there with the other 80 or so kids who also lived on the island! You have the opportunity to tour the whole island for as long as you want although I think after the 45 minute audio tour the kids were ready to stroll back and catch the ferry back. Bizarrely a visit to this former prison was definitely a highlight of the City for us all. I’d say from waiting for the ferry to getting back on land at Pier 33 allow around 3 hours. We even managed to spot some seals and rays from the waters below. Education and nature!

Golden Gate Bridge
We were lucky to get there while the skies were clear. As we walked back the mist rolled in and you couldn’t even make out the lines of the bridge. You need to plan your journey. We couldn’t find bikes to rent because you have to pick them up further out and cycle uphill to get here. We got an Uber in and took some advice from the welcome centre to walk across instead. A little easier with all the kids and if you are short on time you can just walk to the first tower and back to get the views, the feeling, and the 360 degree view of San Fran. To walk the entire bridge and into Sausalito takes around 1 hr 30 minimum so we took the first tower option then caught the local 28 bus from right outside the welcome centre back to the City. If you decide to cycle across you’ll be treated to the Sausalito experience. You can cycle, drive or a ferry ride across the bay, offering boutique shops, hotels, art galleries, and cafes. Stop for an ice cream or stay for a day. Oh and I did I tell you already to carry a jumper and a coat whatever the weather in San Fran? The winds mean it can change in a heartbeat.

Lombard Street. Walk the zillion tiny steps up to the top of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. Totally manageable though, because the tiny steps make it feel easy breezy. Reach the top and be treated to an amazing view of the city. Take a selfie of the view after the climb for a cracking background view. They actually have people controlling the traffic and groups of people to stop people getting run over whilst you stand in the road for a photo! Failing this you can drive down it, though i don’t think it’s quite the same. Just a warning though. Walking up to the bottom of Lombard Street also involves a radiant climb!

Cable Cars. You can’t leave the city without at least one ride on a cable car. Sit down and enjoy riding the hills or hang off the side if you think you’re cool enough.

Union Square. The main shopping square if that’s what you’re looking for. You know with Macy’s and an Apple Store, Tiffany & Co and The Cheesecake Factory. Which heads up…book or be prepared to wait awhile!

The Museum of Ice Cream. Probably one of the funniest ways to spend $35 in San Francisco. Two hours of crazy ice cream madness, with a maze of fun experience rooms leading to the Sprinkles pool fun slide! Definitely for adults and kids alike. We walked past the giant pink hued building one day and knew we had to come back for the experience ourselves.

Muir Woods. We drove to Muir Woods on the way out of San Francisco to check out the Redwoods. It’s the closest place to see them on our route and a short drive from the City. Google maps might say 30 mins but it’s actually more like 1 hour because of the windy road to get there. You need to prebook your tickets and parking in advance - in a bid to control the amount of visitors and traffic but it’s the best place to see the redwoods so close to San Fran. If you visit find the guide Linda. She is a font of all information 🖤 Thanks Linda! You don’t need long here but its worth a stop and a great morning detour if you are driving North out of the City to your next destination.

A more serious side of the City. The current state of San Francisco is City of darkness and light. The homeless situation must be at an all time high. Nowhere compared to what we experienced here. They are everywhere, every street, every bus, everywhere you look. We saw them so high it looked like the videos you’ve seen online, we saw them walking round like zombies, crazy people, near death. A local told us they hand out millions of needles every year to stop the spread of disease yet don’t require them to return their box of sharps? Families are moving out as their City playgrounds become homes for the hoards of homeless and drug addicts pouring in for free needles and cooler temperatures. Sand playgrounds are being taken out to stop dirty needles hiding in the children’s play areas. She even advised us not to wear sandals around the city because the needles are everywhere. We never actually felt unsafe although we were happy to have used taxis when we realised the amount of cars that are broke into every hour in tourist areas, though we saw no police. It’s a fabulous City bathed in shade. We hope it manages to turn itself around again.

If you are just here for the basics, 2-3 days is plenty. Just remember if its your first stop, your jetlag game will be strong for the first couple of days. Don’t expect to book things all day and all night!

Would I come back one day? Sure, if the opportunity arose. I’d happily stay in the Japanese area at Hotel Kabuki or I’d stay outside of the City and just travel in for the tourist stuff. Berkley to the East across the bridge or across the bridge in the Northern areas near Stinson Beach would be a great shout.

From Muir Woods we headed East to our next stop, Lake Tahoe (via Sonoma and the Californian Vineyards).