Hotels Downtown - Top End 1. Pan Pacific - 500 Post Street tel 415 771 8600 plush 80's style hotel www.panpac.com 2. Westin St Francis - 335 Powell Street 415 397 7000 great location on west side of Union Sqoften does deals <$100/night making it reasonable! www.westin.com 3. Hotel Monaco - 501 Geary Street tel 415 292 0100 good location off Union Sq very comfortable www.monaco-sf.com Downtown - Mid Range 4. Hilton - huge place but reasonable prices, go to the restaurant on the top of the tower for the views www.hilton.com 5. Cartwright Hotel - 524 Sutter Street - +1 415 421 2865 good location with good service www.cartwrighthotel.com Fishermans Wharf - Top End 6. Hyatt - 555 North Point Street Tel +1 415 563 1234 plush, great location www.hyatt.com Fishermans Wharf - Mid Range 7. Holiday Inn - 1300 Columbus Ave Tel +1 415 771 9000 modern, clean and good location www.hiwharf.com 8. Tuscan Inn - 425 North Point Street tel +1 415 561 1100 nice and clean with great location www.tuscaninn.com Castro Mid Range 9. Village House - 4080 18th Street Tel +1 415 864 5686 bang in the heart of Castro www.24Henry.com Castro Budget 10. Twin Peaks Hotel - 2160 Market Street Tel +1 415 863 2909 basic and simple but good value Top Things to do out of town: 1. Whale watching off Point Reyes Between Oct to Dec can be brilliant 2. Route 1 drive head north over golden gate and take route 1 along the coast as far as you dare. Stop off at Stinson Beach. 3. Lake Tahoe Winter Skiing or summer on the lake about a three hour drive, but it's a beautiful area in the summer or winter. |
Hotels Downtown - Top End 1. Pan Pacific - 500 Post Street tel 415 771 8600 plush 80's style hotel www.panpac.com 2. Westin St Francis - 335 Powell Street 415 397 7000 great location on west side of Union Sqoften does deals <$100/night making it reasonable! www.westin.com 3. Hotel Monaco - 501 Geary Street tel 415 292 0100 good location off Union Sq very comfortable www.monaco-sf.com Downtown - Mid Range 4. Hilton - huge place but reasonable prices, go to the restaurant on the top of the tower for the views www.hilton.com 5. Cartwright Hotel - 524 Sutter Street - +1 415 421 2865 good location with good service www.cartwrighthotel.com Fishermans Wharf - Top End 6. Hyatt - 555 North Point Street Tel +1 415 563 1234 plush, great location www.hyatt.com Fishermans Wharf - Mid Range 7. Holiday Inn - 1300 Columbus Ave Tel +1 415 771 9000 modern, clean and good location www.hiwharf.com 8. Tuscan Inn - 425 North Point Street tel +1 415 561 1100 nice and clean with great location www.tuscaninn.com Castro Mid Range 9. Village House - 4080 18th Street Tel +1 415 864 5686 bang in the heart of Castro www.24Henry.com Castro Budget 10. Twin Peaks Hotel - 2160 Market Street Tel +1 415 863 2909 basic and simple but good value Top Things to do out of town: 1. Whale watching off Point Reyes Between Oct to Dec can be brilliant 2. Route 1 drive head north over golden gate and take route 1 along the coast as far as you dare. Stop off at Stinson Beach. 3. Lake Tahoe Winter Skiing or summer on the lake about a three hour drive, but it's a beautiful area in the summer or winter. |
San Francisco My Personal Round Town Guide |
Suggested things to do while in SFO |
1. Union Square - Great place to go shopping as there are loads of boutique places as well as all the chains, some are tucked down side streets, so worth exploring! 2. Coit Tower - Go up the tower for a great view. 3. Fishermans Wharf - worth a visit, its a bit of a tourists trap, but see the sea lions and Pier 39. A great place to eat crab on the many street "stalls" - but restaurants there are generally v high priced! 4. Cable Cars - a must do, take a ride on the cable cars 5. Visit Alcatraz - its a few hours of time well spent, worth pre booking tickets in peak season! 6. Golden Gate - walk across the bridge and you'll really feel its splendour. |
Great Views 1. Russian Hill Stairways - great view over downtown and Bay 2. North Side of Golden Gate - drive to north side of bridge, and on the west side a road climbs up to give you great views back over the city and bay 3. Mark Hopkins Hotel - 999 California Street -Take the lift to the top floor and there is a bar with great views |
Coit Tower |
Fishermans Wharf |
Alcatraz |
Bars in Castro 1. The Cafe - 2367 Market Street on edge of castro - youngish crowd but relaxed bar, and opens late! 2. The Metro - 3600 16 st - upstairs bar with a real mix - also decent chinese food at the restaurant at the back 3. Midnight Sun - 4067 18th St - 30's crowd video bar 4. Badlands - 4131 18th street one of the best bars with a good bar, with small dance area at back. 5. The Pilsner Inn - 225 Church street - near the big Safeway on Market St relaxed atmosphere with billiards. Clubs 1. End up - Fag Fridays and T dance sundays - 401 Sixth St., Tel +1 415 357 0827; Fag Fridays: 10 pm-5:30 am; Sunday T-Dance: 5:30 am-2 am, Great place to go. 2. Palladium - 525 Harrison every Saturday - busy body proud crowd. Fun Nob Hill Theatre - 729 Bush St - a few blocks north of Union Sq, Live stage show. |
Food These were some of my favourite places to eat, they are spread around the city but worth seeking out. 1. Ton Kiang - 5821 Geary Bvld tel 415 387 8275 - Best Dim Sum place in SF, a little out of the centre buteasy to get to! 2. Betelnut - 2030 Union Street - tel 415 929 8855 - trendy thai fusion place 3. Frascati - 1901 Hyde Street - Nice fine dining 4. McCormick and Kuleto's - 900 North Point Street - tel +1 415 929 1730- Great seafood and view of bay, fishermans wharf 5. Rose Pistola - 532 Columbus near Union Street - tel +1 415-399-0499 - blend of calif and italy 6. Gary Danko - 800 North Point Street - tel +1 415-749-2060 If you want to treat yourself go here! 7. Fuzio - 469 Castro St. - trendy pasta joint the Castro |
Beaches/Parks 1. Baker Beach - Great beach with views of the golden gate...always busy with walkers even in the winter has a nude area on the east side. 2. Golden Gate Beach - It is a great beach...well three small coves right next to golden gate...is worth while going even in winter as its a lovely walk...its a slightly steep decent and a bit of a scramble down to the beach but a lovely place for pics etc. To get there you take the very last northbound exit before going over the golden gate...literally about 200 yards before the bridge! You enter the viewing area.. there is a small road going through a tunnel under the 101 above you...go through that and out and round the other side and then when you have to give way turn right and go up the hill a few hundred yards and park in the big gravel car park ... the routes down are numerous from there...best to ask someone or you can just head cliff wards there are several paths!! 3. Ocean Beach - Facing the Pacific, this is an expansive beach, often very windy and even more prone to the fog. Also can go walking in the forest area between the two windmills! 4. Blacksands Beach - This is a really nice beach, actually made up of three separate bays which you can just about scramble to from the main beach. Go to the viewing area on the north side of the Golden Gate and then onto the road on the west side (actually the last exit before you cross the golden gate coming south) there is a small road going up the hill with fab views back over the golden gatekeep going all the way and down the one way road until you see a small car park with a small building/toilet. Park here and go down the track to the beach. The end nearest the Golden Gate seems to be the busiest! 5. Golden Gate Park - Huge park stretching across the city with all sorts of attractions |
This page was last updated on: 14/3/03
7. Transamerica Building - Go up SFO's tallest building, 600 Montgomery St 8. Lombard St - Walk or drive down the world's cruckedest street 9. Sausilito, drive there and have lunch in one of the waterfront restaurants, its the first exit on the north side after the golden gate 10. Napa Valley - drive to Napa and do some wine tasting!!! 11. Marina district - Go walking around the marina, you can walk along the water front all the way to golden gate in about 30 minutes. Great to watch windsurfing etc 12. Fort Bragg - visit this old fort that is right under the golden gate 13. Ansel Adams center for photography, great place if you are into photography - 655 Mission Street |
