diy holiday to san francisco

Lova_2

Hi, I am planning to go to san francisco in june and would prefer to stay in a flat/small house instead of a hotel. I would like to go for 2 weeks and a friend will join me there from june 3rd to june 10th. Does anyone know a place where I can find a cheap accomodation? I prefer accommodations such as those on jamesvillas.co.uk (they don't do san francisco though) if they exist at cheap prices. I have already done some search here and on google but no success yet. Any tips on cheap flight also welcome. Thanks. Lova

Murphy_The_Cat

Lova wrote:

Hi, I am planning to go to san francisco in june and would prefer to stay in a flat/small house instead of a hotel. I would like to go for 2 weeks and a friend will join me there from june 3rd to june 10th. Does anyone know a place where I can find a cheap accomodation? I prefer accommodations such as those on jamesvillas.co.uk (they don't do san francisco though) if they exist at cheap prices. I have already done some search here and on google but no success yet. Any tips on cheap flight also welcome. Thanks. Lova

Hi lova

this link may help you in your search. To be honest, San Fran really wasn't my cup of tea - way, way to many weirdos and people who enjoy "ahem" openly alternative lifestyles for me to feel truly comfortable.

I much preferred Portland across the Bay.

MTC

Bob63

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/vac/

Use the neighbourhood pull down on this website to select the area of the city you are interested in. The rates quoted are per night.

Have you considered apartment hotels? These are a good alternative. I used to stay at Summerfield Suites in the San Francisco area quite frequently. Although there isn't one close to city. You might want to check out things like Marriot Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Embassy Suites etc. All have the same basic features i.e a bedroom, bathroom, lounge and kitchen(ette)

No advice on airfares other than to check Virgin Atlantic's web page. I really wouldn't recommend doing San Francisco with anything other than a non-stop flight. It is such a long way anyway that the hassle of changing aircraft in the US just isn't worth it.

p.s. I'm off there for 8 days on Saturday

Mike

Murphy_The_Cat

cheesy.mike wrote:

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/vac/

Use the neighbourhood pull down on this website to select the area of the city you are interested in. The rates quoted are per night.

Have you considered apartment hotels? These are a good alternative. I used to stay at Summerfield Suites in the San Francisco area quite frequently. Although there isn't one close to city. You might want to check out things like Marriot Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Embassy Suites etc. All have the same basic features i.e a bedroom, bathroom, lounge and kitchen(ette)

No advice on airfares other than to check Virgin Atlantic's web page. I really wouldn't recommend doing San Francisco with anything other than a non-stop flight. It is such a long way anyway that the hassle of changing aircraft in the US just isn't worth it.

p.s. I'm off there for 8 days on Saturday

Mike

Hi cheesy.mike

I hope you have a great time in San Fran, have you been before ? would you like a few suggestions (if not no worries).

Flying direct from anywhere outside London to San Fransisco in not possible (AFAIK), but you could do Man - (any hub airport i.e Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt etc etc) and do 1 short hop followed by a big leap. Or you could break your journey with a Man - American hub (Chicago, Philly, New York Boston etc, etc) and have a fairly long flight, followed by a not so bad internal. Going down route 2 MAY be a bit more pocket friendly.

MTC

p.s. the one stop route vs Virgin direct could save you over £200 if you were flying this weekend. Obviously the Virgin flight is diect & shorter, but £200 is a £200 and if there was 4 of you it is starting to add up a bit.
The cheapy price i found is with United Airlines - sometimes it shows as a direct flight and sometimes it doesn't !

Bob63

Murphy_The_Cat wrote:

Hi cheesy.mike

I hope you have a great time in San Fran, have you been before ? would you like a few suggestions (if not no worries).

I have been there close to 50 times plus I lived there for a year in 1985. However, I always welcome suggestions on things to do in my favourite city!

Murphy_The_Cat wrote:

Flying direct from anywhere outside London to San Fransisco in not possible (AFAIK), but you could do Man - (any hub airport i.e Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt etc etc) and do 1 short hop followed by a big leap. Or you could break your journey with a Man - American hub (Chicago, Philly, New York Boston etc, etc) and have a fairly long flight, followed by a not so bad internal. Going down route 2 MAY be a bit more pocket friendly.

Short hop / long hop is a really good suggestion and much better than changing flights in the USA. Amsterdam is probably better than Frankfurt as it is a shorter flight from the UK and is served by more regional airports using KLM.

Mike

Murphy_The_Cat

cheesy.mike wrote:

I have been there close to 50 times plus I lived there for a year in 1985. However, I always welcome suggestions on things to do in my favourite city!



Short hop / long hop is a really good suggestion and much better than changing flights in the USA. Amsterdam is probably better than Frankfurt as it is a shorter flight from the UK and is served by more regional airports using KLM.

Mike

ok Mike

Eggs teaching suck Grandma to springs to mind !

OK here's one I really enjoyed. Going around USS Hornet at Alameda Point was a great way to spend a few hours.

MTC

Bob63

MTC - nice tip, I haven't done that. I have time free on Sunday and then again next weekend before flying home on Sunday so I'll hopefully check it out.

Here are two must-do things in San Francisco as a thankyou...

1) Cross over the Golden Gate Bridge, keep in the right lane and take the turning for Sausalito. At the bottom of the sliproad take a left, go under the freeway and then double back as if you are taking the road onto the bridge again. Take a hard right almost immediately up a very steep hill. Follow this road right the way to the top and park up where the tunnel goes under the hill. Climb up onto the top of the hill. This is Hawk Hill. The view of the city, the bay, the ocean is superb. I make a point of going there on almost every visit. Here is the google maps link. Click on "Satellite" or "Hybrid" to see photos. Hawk Hill is where all the old gun emplacements are. You can see these and the parked cars if you zoom in.
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.828294,-122.49861&spn=0.006796,0.014462&t=h&om=1

2) Visit the Buena Vista which is located right at the bottom of Hyde Street next to Fishermans Wharf. The Buena Vista is famous for being the place that invented Irish Coffee. It is a San Francisco institution and is worth a visit for the best Irish Coffee you will have ever tasted!
http://www.thebuenavista.com

Mike

Murphy_The_Cat

cheesy.mike wrote:

MTC - nice tip, I haven't done that. I have time free on Sunday and then again next weekend before flying home on Sunday so I'll hopefully check it out.

Here are two must-do things in San Francisco as a thankyou...

1) Cross over the Golden Gate Bridge, keep in the right lane and take the turning for Sausalito. At the bottom of the sliproad take a left, go under the freeway and then double back as if you are taking the road onto the bridge again. Take a hard right almost immediately up a very steep hill. Follow this road right the way to the top and park up where the tunnel goes under the hill. Climb up onto the top of the hill. This is Hawk Hill. The view of the city, the bay, the ocean is superb. I make a point of going there on almost every visit. Here is the google maps link. Click on "Satellite" or "Hybrid" to see photos. Hawk Hill is where all the old gun emplacements are. You can see these and the parked cars if you zoom in.
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.828294,-122.49861&spn=0.006796,0.014462&t=h&om=1


Mike

Hi Mike

I did this one when we were over there - you're right the view is absolutely spectacular. When we went (In August 2003) it was the only time that we weren't lovely & toastie warm, such was the exposure to the Pacific breeze sweeping in. I seem to remember reading a plaque about the soldiers who manned machine guns at the top of the bridge to defend it in WW2 - now that would be really exposed !!

as for your tip no 2, when (if) I return to San Fran, I'll check it out.

By the way have you visited Alcatraz after dark ? well spooky.

MTC