My wife and 15 year old daughter are going to to SF. Land Friday morning from NYC and have rest of Friday, Sat, and Sun (they are renting a car for Sunday and Monday). Monday my wife has business meeting for a few hours in Palo Alto (daughter plans on staying in hotel-maybe venture locally for food, etc.-slight chance my daughter accompanies her on the ride-not the meeting).
Any suggestions on what to do or not to do while they are there? Food suggestions (daughter has peanut and shellfish (crustaceans, not mollusk) allergies?
I/they have some ideas/plans but want to see what others say first . They are staying at the Hyatt Embarcadero.
Boat tour around GGB and Alcatraz
Ride Cable cars.
Visit Fishermans Wharf.
Drive Lombard Street .
Chinatown visit and eat.
Drive to Sausalito over GGB and maybe go to Muir Woods (doesn’t seem logistically easy).
Go to Boudin bakery and Ghiardelli (spelling ?). Daughter loves sourdough bread and chocolate.
Maybe drive up to Twin Peaks .
Maybe go to Cliff House.
Stick feet in Paciifc Ocean (first for daughter ).
Maybe Golden Gate park.
Maybe visit sites from TV shows and movies .
Exploratorium (Embarcadero)
de Young Mueseum (GG Park)
Aquarium of the Bay (GG Park)
Walk across the GG Bridge
Visit Muir Woods (need to make parking reservations in advance if driving)
As for the rental car: do not, I mean DO NOT, leave anything of value in the vehicle. Smash+grab break-ins are a huge problem in SF right now… especially in and around the Embarcadero.
Also, this is stupid good Chinese https://www.missionchinesefood.com
But the place is a dive. Reco’d to me by Josh Raynolds and I have been there twice now. Get the wings.
If your daughter hasn’t done it before, definitely drive over the GGB. There are long lines to get into the parking lot on the north side, but you can get all the views you need by just driving over, and turning around later off the highway.
Alcatraz is pretty cool, but on a weekend it will be packed, long lines, etc., will take all morning or afternoon to do it.
Second the rec to wander the Ferry Plaza on Saturday morning through the farmers market. There are numerous places to eat in the Ferry Plaza as well. Slanted Door is high on the list, though with peanut allergy that might be problematic.
Muir Woods has gotten way too crowded to attempt in the summer I think, unless you have a parking res, and even then would take most of their day to get there, walk around, and get back.
If your daughter stays behind on Monday there is always the big Westfield mall at Powell street and Market, huge Nordstrom and a bunch of other shops. Easy 1 mile walk from the Hyatt. If she wants to go to PA, she could wander the even larger Stanford shopping mall during the meeting. If, by some chance, your daughter likes walking/hiking, she could do the Stanford dish trail, which is pretty cool, with some nice views, and plenty of people walking it, very safe.
Screw Boudin. Get Acme at Ferry. may be difficult to get to Alcatraz (if they are planning on touring rather than floating by) unless they already have tickets. Also, Yank Sing for dim sum (there are better places, but their two restaurants are quite accessible
My wife and I were in SF for 3 days a few years ago. First time for my daughter. My wife booked a 1 hour boat trip for Saturday afternoon-no actual Alcatraz stop . We did that and ate and shopped our way though the Ferry market on a Saturday -yum. We ate at the slanted door; loved it but they will pass . They might try to do the Alcatraz night tour -if they can get tickets-via some 3rd party .
My daughter would love Muir Woods but seems too much planning/effort/time to make it happen this trip.
Will let them know about Acme .
Suggestions for Chinese restaurant in Chinatown ?
The place I remember was called Far Eastern or Great Northern (something similar-2 words and the second one was a direction).
Also any suggestions for place that would have a good cheeseburger and something non-beef? For sake of ease was thinking Gotts at the Ferry building but certainly open to other suggestions .
And please keep all the suggestions coming. Thanks all.
All good suggestions above, especially Acme Bread in the Ferry Building given your daughter’s sourdough preference. Buy some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery next door to go with it.
Someone has to suggest In-N-Out Burger, so I guess I will. If they aren’t familiar with it, check out the “secret menu” before going there.
Another possible excursion is a tour of UC Berkeley if there’s any potential interest on the part of your daughter. It’s a lovely campus. Cheese Board in the Gourmet Ghetto down the road a piece is a great place to get pizza, but closed Sunday and Monday.
FWIW, walking or biking across the GG Bridge is very safe, plus it’s much less annoying than dealing with the traffic in a car.
My wife will not drive across a bridge in the right lane unless she has to; no way will she walk or bike across. And she had the pleasure of me being the driver and her being the passenger last time-which allowed her to take in the scenic views.
Skip fisherman’s wharf and Ghiradellu, Other than perhaps to turn around on the cable car. The number one thing to do in San Francisco in my opinion is the tour of Alcatraz (not just the boat ride). Drop as many things as you need to to fit it in. The tour is very very well done and interesting. The views from the ride over are the best.
By trinkets in Chinatown, eat Chinese food elsewhere. Yank Sing is close to the hotel and a good recommendation
Far more fun to draw to walk down Lombard Street then to drive. With a little planning, you can take the cable car to near the top of Lombard Street, walk down Lombard to Columbus Avenue, down Columbus to North Beach, get a clam and garlic slice of pizza at Golden Boy pizza, and continue down Columbus to Montgomery and you are just a few blocks from the hotel.
SF is a walking city , keep the car travel to one day to see the Cliff House (overrated) and the ocean.
The Ferry building never disappoints - esp during Farmer’s Market but I also recently went to Japantown and really enjoyed it. The primary “sight” is an indoor mall that covers three full blocks or so. There are a few super good ramen options and all kinds of odd little shops - with especially great ones if your wife and daughter are into “Kbeauty” and similar Japanese products. The whole scene is not polished or fancy but I had a grand time.