San Francisco.....

shoppaholic_returns

I would definately do a night tour,more atmospheric and scarier!!:eek:

We didnt book in advance,but I know the evening tours were more popular,so if you can book I probably would,just to make sure.

I've also been in the day,and obviously there is a better view of everything,but not for me as good as night!

_Andy_

Another vote for the night one - much less crowded, you get to see more, and far more atmospheric. The tour of the hospital wing was excellent.

ceepee1

I went for a month to california a few years ago. Agree alcatraz a must. Fishermans wharf is very nice. Went to Malibu, Monterey and Carmel which were all lovely but I wouldnt recommend LA. San Fransisco much nicer. LA bit of a let down to be honest. I couldnt wait to get away from it. Hope you have a great time.

RichTeaBiscuit

Another vote for the alcatraz night cruise.
To travel that distance and not spend at least 2 days in Yosemite would be criminal, I spent a full 3 days there in september and i'm just booking some flights to return again this year. Get a car and do Yosemite at your own pace, I'd hate to have to share my time with others at somewhere so inspiring.
Head down to Monterrey, do the aquarium, grab some chowder and head down Hwy 1 past Big Sur to overnight in Cambria. Next morning turn around, do Hearst Castle and either retrace you route back up Hwy 1, grab photos at Mcway Falls and Bixby Bridge.. or cut across to the quicker 101 and head north back to San Fran.

Say hi to Buffy in Jacks Bar down on the Wharf from me will ya and apologise for my hogging of the jukebox.

n57602000

Thanks for all the advice very good. I will def be doing the Alcatraz trip without a doubt.

Please can you give me some more information on Yosemite and Monterrey to say how far it is from San Francisco and what is there and what i should do there and length of stay.

Thanks for all this very helpful advice.

flutterbyuk25

skint_manc wrote: »

How far in advance would you have to book for an Alcatraz tour? We have a few days in San Fran during our tour of the West Coast and am not sure which day we'd be going on? would a few days in advance be ok or pushing it?

I booked mine online 2 days before I wanted to visit Alcatraz with no problems.

If you turn up and want to go on the day then it's unlikely they will have any tickets left (at least in peak times) so it's best to book in advance.

Online is easy to do, but you need to print off the voucher and take the payment card with you. Or you can go to the ticket booths and buy there for other days.

x

poorandindenial

Another vote for alcatraz here too - we did the first of the morning and that was cool too (although in the dark would have been amazing) - make sure you do the audio tour as it is one of the best I have experienced.

If you want to do the aquarium and museums etc then you can get a book called a city pass that gives you free travel on trams and buses and also has entry to several attractions. If you do lots of them then it works out a good deal, but you obviously need to see what is included first to see if it is a good deal for you.

I loved San Francisco and there is a teeny shop in chinatown that makes fortune cookies, you can buy bags of them but you can also see the women making them. Probably not worth a special visit but worth popping in if you are in the area (and it is is a cool place to walk around)

Golden gate bridge is predictably awesome and when I went we did a sonoma valley wine tour which was great fun (and we were frankly hammered by the end of it despite trying te retain some semblance of class) and we met some very entertaining people from all over (and bought some lovely wine from a couple of the vineyards/producers) Our trip included going to see the redwood forest - beautiful.

There is a small village/harbour town (whatever you want to call it) sort of a place over the golden gate bridge that is really pretty (we had lovely ice cream there despite it being Feb), I can't remember the name and I have lent my guide book to a friend so hopefully someone can help out with the name.

Enjoy your trip.

Jasper27_2

You can drive to Yosemite in around 4 to 5 hours depending on traffic. You need at least a whole day to just make a dent in the sights so stay overnight. If you like hiking you might want to stay longer and do some walking. I went on a mule trek in Yosemite which was great, very back to nature riding through the woods.

If you drive down the US101 it's only a couple of hours to Monterey, longer by the coast road, so you could do it as a day trip. If you stay a night or two you'll have time to take in Carmel too. That said there's lots to do in the area it depends how long you want to stay. I'd also second RichTea Biscuits recommendation to take in some of the coast. Hearst Castle is wonderful, I wish I could have stayed there back when it was a private home. Poorandindenial sounds like they paid a visit to Sausalito or Tiburon, both only a short drive over the Golden Gate Bridge or reachable by ferry if you fancy a boat ride.

stu_iow

Hello,

We have 5 days to spread around Yosemite and San Francisco.

What would poeple recommend - 2 Yosemite, 3 SF or the other way around.

Can anyone recommend anywhere to stay in Yosemite?

Cheers.

n57602000

Anyone can recommend a nice cheap hotel for 3 nights?