San Francisco is the kind of destination where you have enough attractions whether you opt for 1, 2 days or even a week. Our stay there lasted two days, which in my opinion is enough to get to know the main points of the city.
Marking the middle of our road-trip through California, the big city came to break a little the scenery of the natural parks that marked the beginning of our trip (leaving Yosemite National Park – USA).
Arriving in San Francisco – California
As soon as we arrived, we went straight to our hotel. Herbert Hotel, one of the best choices, as we would not be using the car in the city and the location of this is excellent: one block from Union Square and along the Powell Street Cable Car Line.
Bags in the room, car in the parking lot, sneakers on your feet, “let’s go” discovering the city…
San Francisco – California
Day 1
Pier 39 – San Francisco – California
As almost half a day had already passed, between arriving in the city, going to the hotel and then we left for the Pier 39.
Reading this, you may have quickly associated this place with a stinky, fishy-smelling place, dirty and full of newly arrived boats with the day's catch.
If you really thought about all this, you were wrong. There's nothing stinky about the place, except for the smell of the sea lions that are sunbathing around there and showing off for tourists. The place is a kind of open-air mall, with a nautical 100% decor, it was no wonder.
The place is perfect for lunch or dinner, quite touristy, but impossible to resist. Perhaps the ideal place to buy the good old souvenir you promised your mom, dad, cousin, uncle, grandma and your coworker.
If you're the type that loves the blonde or the very cool brunette, I have the tip – beer 39, very tidy bar / pub style, the place offers a great tasting of craft beers.
It is also on the pier that practically throughout the day you will see and hear the most diverse attractions, from music to street dancing.
The pier is not just a place to visit, it is the place you should go to stay and get to know it calmly, enjoying the weather.
This is where almost all the boat trips around San Francisco depart from, including the trip to Alcatraz (I didn't do the tour). And it is from there that people like to admire the most famous tourist spot in the city, the famous Golden Gate.
Still strolling through the complex, there is a place that is the meeting point for the sea lions of the region! Maybe because the city hall feeds them and so the animals are posing for the tourists' photos. There are many of them, and I didn't resign myself when I saw that even though they smell bad and make a super noise, they manage to attract tourists who are seated in a kind of bleachers admiring the animals.
Cable Car in San Francisco
Every self-respecting tourist has to ride a Cable Car in San Francisco. Luckily, the cable car exit is next to the Pier, on the maps the point: Powel Mason.
The advantage of taking the cable car at your first stop is that you can choose where you want to go, of course if you are not the last in line. And if you hate getting to
bus and not find a place to make your trip sitting, in the Cable Car it will be the opposite. All you want most is to hang outside, living that experience exactly the way it was meant to be lived.
Riding a Cable Car through San Francisco can be much more than just touring or living this experience. It's living an adventure! San Francisco is a roller coaster, up and down and when you take the cable car, the roller coaster becomes real. Several times I thought that the cable car would not stop and that we would crash at the intersection, but it didn't stop!
If you read carefully the item where I told you about my hotel, you will remember that it is on the Cable Car route and therefore, our return from the pier was smooth and we got off in front of the hotel.
Union Square in San Francisco
Back at the hotel, we explored the neighborhood and walked around Union Square. Unlike our goal, which was to spend the dollars, Union Square is San Francisco's financial center, the place where most rides and money is made.
It is there that the city's large companies are located, as well as large stores such as Macy's, Luis Vitton, Dior and etc… as my wallet wasn't that full, between those three I stayed with Macy's, just to take that basic little walk that no woman would deny.
We then discovered that on the top floor of Macy's there was nothing less than a cheesecake factory, do you really think that there was any doubt about where our end of the night would be ?
The view from up there is stunning, even more so at night: you can see the entire city lit up. And if you still don't know this divine work of God (ops man), you need to know. The place offers food and also the best cheesecakes in the world.
Day 2
The day started at the park! For those who follow me here, you know how much I love to start my days in the park! Even more when we have shows like Golden Gate Park in the middle of the city!
The park has 412 hectares and is constantly compared to its partner Central Park, which is 20% smaller in size, that is, 315 hectares. The time you will dedicate to the park varies a lot from what you like to do. I like to dedicate 2 to 3 hours to this type of activity.
In addition to enjoying walking and discovering the corners of the park, I like to see how the locals behave in this place, living their lives normally!
When I recommend two to three hours to stay in the park, I'm talking about the park, walking, walking through it. But it is possible to stay much longer if you are interested in visiting the various attractions that exist inside: from the museum to the Japanese garden.
If you are there in the fall, spring or summer, you are likely to be able to see a show at the Music Concourse Area, a very beautiful square where the main point is the Spreckels Temple of Music.
Golden Gate Bridge
Leaving the park we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge. For this, we chose to take the car. We went to the bridge and passed very slowly to admire it, as far as possible, since it is part of a busy road that enters and leaves the city. The advantage of having a convertible car was that all we had to do was look up and have it all to ourselves! Poor driver who couldn't lose his attention.
If you're heading out of San Francisco, as soon as you finish the bridge there's an exit to your right, it's a Point View! As you can imagine, the place is crowded with tourists and it's hard to get a good click from you + the bridge! Save those who can or have the patience to get your photo.
The bridge can be crossed in three ways, they are: car, bicycle and on foot. Just choose the best option for you and be happy. Each one has its own limited space, so bicycles are only allowed on one side, as well as walking is only allowed on the other.
This stop also serves as a break for those who opted for physical exercise, there you will also find a restaurant and bar.
Sausalito
From there, we continue to Sausalito. A neighboring city, practically a neighborhood of San Francisco. A lot of people recommend this city for its charm, which is true it's pretty cute, but my expectations were very high based on what I had read.
Our tour was quick, we bought a snack and saved it to eat at the place with the most beautiful view of the city of San Francisco.
When returning from Sausalito to San Francisco, at the last exit before entering the bridge, there is a beautiful road that leads to the top of the mountain, and from there there is a beautiful view of the Golden Gate, it was click rain from the most charming bridge .
Lombard Street
We set off for Lombard Street, the crooked street in the world?? It is possible to walk up and down this street and, to be honest, I don't think it makes much difference between driving or walking, but we decided to do it by car. A street with 8 extremely sharp turns.
It's kind of funny to go there by car: while tourists who chose to do it on foot, are watching and doubting that the vehicle makes the curves.
We liked Pier 39 so much that we came back to finish our stay in San Francisco, no place would better close our stay there than that place.
I recommend that you leaves to go to the Pier at the end of the day, or if you choose to dine there, preferably arrive before sunset. Next to it, there is a lawn, the Black Point, where people sit to watch the sunset, with an incredible background: the Golden Gate.
It's the most beautiful and tastiest thing to end the day. If you're still lucky, there's sure to be someone playing a little guitar on the lawn.
That's when you bring your bottle of Californian wine or beer (if you prefer), have an impromptu picnic and toast to this! And can a day end better than this?
What did you think of our tour?! Comment here:
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