After four days in San Francisco we were glad to be home with our loved ones and our puppies! It was a very busy few days. On day one we flew into SFO and took the BART to our hotel and headed over to Macy’s of course tobrowse the merchandise and to pick up our CityPass.
The CityPass booklet gave us unlimited use of the cable cars (which are $7 a ride), street cars and buses. The booklet was worth its cost in transportation alone. There were also admissions to The Aquarium of the Bay, California Academy of Sciences and the SFMOMA as well as a ticket for a boat cruise AND coupons for several stores and bicycle vendors. If you are traveling check to see if there is a CityPass available for your locale. It also allows you to skip the lines for these attractions.
Originally when we planned this trip we each picked 5 MUST SEE LOCATIONS/EXPERIENCES. My top locations/experiences were: Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39/Aquarium by the Bay, SFMOMA, SF Botanic Gardens and to ride a cable car.
We made a few alterations to our itinerary for example we traded the SF Botanic Gardens for the Japanese Tea Garden on my list. And swapped out sushi for incredible dim sum in Chinatown on my best friend’s list.
We also added a TON of must see locations too!
-Foghouse Restaurant for a seafood feast
-Pier 45 to see an old battleship and submarine
-Ghirardelli Square
-Hyde’s Pier to see more historic ships
-Boudin Sourdough Factory
-Coit Tower & Greenwich stairs
-Shopping around Union Square: Target and Bloomingdales and along Powell Street: Sephora and Walgreens
-Octagon House
-San Francisco Brewery Company
-City Hall
-Haight-Ashbury
-Golden Gate Park
-Chinatown
-Alcatraz
1 Fisherman’s Wharf
-This area was super busy but boasted great restaurants and of course the Boudin Sourdough Factory where we were able to sample some, see how it was made and even take a quiz to determine our “bread type” (I’m a dusted wheat in case you were wondering). You could also see maritime history at its finest at the Wharf.
2 Pier 39/Aquarium by the Bay
-Lots of cute shops and yummy restaurants such as Fog House, Eagle Cafe, Bubba Gump as well as a huge candy store (Candy Baron) where barrels and barrels of traditional and funky flavored taffy abounded. The Aquarium here was alright however if you want a better experience I suggest the Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences (you get a much better value for money as the CAS has an indoor rainforest, planetarium, living roof and MANY other exhibits in addition to their Aquarium). The sea lions were quite the sight as well!
3 SF Museum of Modern Art
-Seven floors of incredibly interesting pieces. The only exhibit we didn’t make it to was the Magritte. Definitely a nice way to spend an afternoon to wind down.
4 Japanese Tea Garden
-The admission was $9USD but worth it. Set in gorgeous Golden Gate Park this hidden gem was originally built as part of a World’s Fair in 1894. It features a Tea House, Treasure Tower Pagoda, Moon Bridge and Rock Garden.
5 Cable Car Ride
-An unforgettable way to see San Fran. Cable Cars are a historic landmark of the city. The best time to take them is first thing in the morning and late at night; the line ups are very long so be prepared to wait! We took the Powell/Mason and Powell/Hyde Cable Cars. We would have liked to take them more but the Street Car (F) and city buses worked better for us in terms of our destinations.
We are both looking forward to our next trip together!!
