San Francisco: My favorite things to do and places to go

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My favorite places and things to do in San Francisco:



Market Street Railway vintage streetcars

San Francisco's Municipal Railway has assembled one of the most diverse collections of vintage streetcars, trolleys, and trams in transit service anywhere. They go from Market Street (downtown SF) and run along the Embarcadero by the bay and end at Fisherman’s Wharf.

https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/

You can track some of the cars live - https://www.streetcar.org/live/



SF Cable Cars

San Francisco’s manually operated cable car system is the last of its kind in the entire world

TIP: to avoid the long lines at the downtown turnarounds, get on near Fisherman’s Wharf at the turnaround near Hyde and Beach Street.



Ferry Building

The Ferry Building survived the 1906 earthquake and now is a busy marketplace with shops and restaurants, and is still a ferry stop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Ferry_Building



Fisherman’s Wharf

Although this place is crowded with tourists, it is a landmark with lots of restaurants, and if you walk west (toward the Golden Gate Bridge) you can view historic ships at the Hyde Street Pier. Also, many boat tours and ferries leave from around the Wharf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Street_Pier



The Golden Gate Bridge

You can view it from a distance at Fisherman’s Wharf, but better views are Crissy Field, west of Fisherman’s Wharf. You can walk across the bridge, but the parking lot at the GG Bridge center fills up fast. http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/golden-gate-bridge.html?referrer=http://goldengatebridge.org/visitors/



Ferries to and from SF

This is my favorite way to get to SF. I would even recommend staying in a city that’s near a ferry terminal. I usually go from Alameda (east bay) to SF – there is also a terminal south of Alameda that’s called Harbor Bay, that’s less congested, although it doesn’t go as often as the regular Alameda ferry. http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/#

Ferries to areas north of SF: http://goldengateferry.org/schedules/



I’ve never been to Alcatraz, just seen it from boats and ferries, but I know that you need to reserve tickets ahead of time. Info on tours - http://www.inside-guide-to-san-francisco-tourism.com/alcatraz-prison-tours.html





SF has hop on – hop off tour buses which I’ve found are great to get an overall tour of a city; some are combined with other tours, such as Alcatraz. There are also these little 3-wheeled cars (GoCars) that have recordings of local sites that you can rent – they look dangerous to me, but I’ve actually never heard of anyone being injured driving one. https://www.gocartours.com/locations/san-francisco/

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