Where to stay in San Francisco?

davetrousers

Hello all, we will be visiting San Francisco for 2 or 3 days in June 2012. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where would be good to stay? It would need to be nearish to the sights and nightlife (reputable restaurants and bars) and also convenient for seeing the sights.

We will have a car so we could even stay in 2 different places.

What sights would you recommend? Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, Pier xx, the zig zag street, cable cars, alcatraz?

Thanks

richardw

Consider around Union Sq or Fisherman's Wharf.

TankEngine

As said, Fisherman's Wharf or Union Sq. Remember parking is about $30-40 a day!!!

cleofish

hi, me and my partner went to san francisco in april this year and we stayed in the comfort inn by the bay its on the corner of lombard street which is the crookedest street in the world.
The hotel was ok not luxury, but for us it was the location that we were looking for, you walk 5/10 minutes down a hill form the hotel and your right on the pier section where you can walk to pier 39 among other places.
One of the best things when we arrived in san francisco was doing the 5/10 minute walk out of the hotel down the hill, arriving at the pier and having the full view of alcatraz and the golden gate bridge, just appeared as you walked down the hill.
It was brilliant being able to just walk from the hotel to the local sights, we had the 'zig zag ' street that you meantion literally on our left and down the hill was the alcatraz pier from where the boat goes and there is a red and white boat trip that will take you under the golden gate bridge as well. other higlights that we found good as well was the cable car tour that you can get from the pier, you can either choose the traditional cable car, but there seemed to be a lot of people queing for this or we choose the bus that looked like a cable car that was open topped, it was brilliant for getting an idea of where everything was, they tell you all little bits of information along the way, you see little italy, downtown and get to ride up a hill or two!
oh and another thing that might be worth looking at if your feeling energetic and able to do a lot of excursions was the go san francisco card, you can save a bit of money on things by buying it before hand and if you want to go to alcatraz book the tickets before hand before you leave for your holiday as we were warned that alcatraz can get booked up really quickly (we booked before hand and were glad as it was packed on the day that we took the trip) and you dont really want to miss out on it when you visit. Hope you have a good time, i really enjoyed, its a lovely city!

davetrousers

cleofish wrote: »

we stayed in the comfort inn by the bay its on the corner of lombard street

Thanks for the info. Just looked at the website for 3 nights and it totals $654, ouch!

shaun_from_Africa

If at all possible, I would strongly suggest that you forget about a car whilst there.
The parking fees, lack of parking and traffic congestion will make it far more trouble that it's worth.

You can get all around the city very cheaply using either the street cars (trams) or cable cars, and you could also consider hiring a cycle for a day.
A very good ride that I would recommend is to get the bike, have a gentle ride around the bay front area, then go over the Golden gate bridge to Sausalito.
It's a reasonably easy ride and the only bit you may struggle on is the last bit leading up to the bridge. Don't worry about this as you will see loads of other people in the same situation who just get off and push their cycles a bit.

Sausalito is an extremely nice place where you could easily spend a few hours walking around. (there are plenty of places to lock up your cycle and they are all supplied with locks).
When you have finished, you don't have to cycle back as there is a regular ferry service (cycles can be taken on board ) back to Fisherman's wharf.

davetrousers

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If at all possible, I would strongly suggest that you forget about a car whilst there.

We're on a Fly Drive to LA, so we'll have a car with us.

travellerboy

You will not use your car in SF as it will prove too much trouble and hassle. It will cost you $80 /$100 to park it for 2days, so consider an airport area hotel (Parking free) and travel into SF by BART.

Fabulous eating place - JASS BISTRO, 44 Ellis Street. Fresh seafood and great steaks with free Live entertainment.

davetrousers

Having had a look round at Hotels near Fishermans Wharf they seem quite expensive (appx $135 a night then add the tax), how about the Union Square area, that seems a touch cheaper?

It seems that the best idea would be to not use the car for the time that we are there and use public transport, so finding a cheaper hotel with free parking and being a bit further out might be an idea, don't want to be in the ghetto though!

Mr_Wang

Radisson, Fishermans wharf.

Perfect.

nw_man

Mr_Wang wrote: »

Radisson, Fishermans wharf.

Perfect.

I agree we stayed there too.

As for Union Square, shopping hell for the likes of me