5 fun days in San Francisco -- with pics!

[lisah0711]

Just back from five fun nights in the City by the Bay aka San Francisco.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at Fisherman's Wharf. This is a very nice hotel ideally located near two trolley stops and within walking distance of the wharf, a Safeway, Walgreen's, liquor store and restaurants. We had a family suite so had a little room to spread out. If your family are DVC snobs like mine, this was a good value, because SF hotels can be very, very expensive.

Our flight arrived on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. into Oakland. We drove north across the bay to Mill Valley in Marin County for lunch then on to Muir Woods to see the redwoods. A quick stop at the old batteries by Golden Gate Bridge and we were off to our hotel.

Golden Gate Bridge from old battery fort on the north side of the bay.

 

[lisah0711]

On Sunday we drove down south to San Jose to see Winchester Mystery House. It took a lot longer than we thought but it was worth it. We did both the mansion and the behind the scenes tour although the mansion tour was much better.

Winchester Mystery House

We took the trolley to dinner at a great restaurant called Nob Hill Cafe -- it was so good we ate there twice!

Monday was our Alcatraz day. Be sure and order your tickets ahead of time on the website or you might not get to go. We took the first boat out at 9 a.m. and were glad to get there early. It is very picturesque and interesting. Be sure and get the audio tour although it is funny to watch everyone turning and following along in the same spots!

 

[lisah0711]

Tuesday we went to the California Academy of Sciences. This is the newly opened facility and it was fantastic. Get there when it opens and have one person get passes for the planetarium show while saves your places in line for the rainforest. It's like the Toy Story Mania line at WDW or DL -- it will only get longer as the day goes on!

The living roof at the Science Academy

We also visited the conservatory and the tea gardens which are both at Golden Gate Park.

Wednesday was the Exploratorium -- a must see if you have school age kids. But don't make the mistake that we did and go on free day -- it was a zoo!

The grounds around the Exploratorium are beautiful.

 

[lisah0711]

Wednesday we also went to Chinatown to go on the fortune cookie factory tour. This is another one that I would skip in the future. The fortune cookie factory is down a scary alley and the "tour" consisted of standing in the doorway -- and it was 50 cents if you wanted to take a picture!

We then went for a little drive down the twisty part of Lombard Street.

The big hit of the trip was riding the trolley cars. Thanks to our central location we were able to ride them everyday.

Riding the trolley

Coit Tower

Thursday was quick trip to Coit Tower to see the views. Then on to the wharf to see the aquarium. They have a big grand opening of new exhibits later this week so several of the areas were closed. If you were going to the Monterrey Aquarium you could probably skip it.

Fisherman's Wharf

Then it was back to Oakland to catch the 5 p.m. flight home.

Two things that we did were lifesavers for us. First, we had a CityPass. This got us admission to the Science Academy, Exploratorium and aquarium. It also got us unlimited rides on the trolleys and buses, a big help. The other lifesaver was the $70 we spent for GPS. It saved lot of arguing and sniping as we navigated the twisty, hilly streets of San Francisco.

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to try and answer them!

 

[KCmike]

Nice report. We are heading there the first week of June but only for one day. We are going to visit the GGB and ride on a cable car then off to Yosemite.

How far north were the redwoods? Approx how long after you get off the bridge? Are there any redwoods between Monterey and San Fran?

 

[lisah0711]

The Muir Woods were about an hour north of the bridge on a twisty, winding road. They have redwoods but not the giant sequioas, which are really spectacular. Since you are going down to Yosemite it looks like there are some sequioas that you could see on the way http://www.fodors.com/community/uni...ntryredwoodscoastal-scenery-advice-please.cfm If I were you, I would hold out for the sequioas. We did the redwoods because we were staying to the north.

I will be interested to hear how your trip goes as we are thinking of returning some time to do the southern things, i.e. Yosemite, Monterrey, Hearst Castle.

I second the extra trip to DL, too, it is hard to be relatively close and not go.

Have a great time!

 

[SanFranciscan]

Your pictures are lovely Lisa. I have lived in San Francisco since the 1980's and often wondered what the tourists did all day for the three-day average stay.

The Palace of Fine Arts is indeed a lovely site for the Exploratorium, but the best time to see the Palace of Fine Arts is at night. The light reflecting into the lagoon and the image of the structure reflected there is so romantic that even someone alone is going to notice that.

 

[perdidobay]

I so enjoyed your trip report and photos. It's been 5 years since we vacationed in SF and I miss it!

 

[lisah0711]

Your pictures are lovely Lisa. I have lived in San Francisco since the 1980's and often wondered what the tourists did all day for the three-day average stay.

My DH actually took a lot of the pics -- he is the family photographer!

I so enjoyed your trip report and photos. It's been 5 years since we vacationed in SF and I miss it!

It is a lot of fun. It is much easier for us to vacation on the west coast but we always are happy to head over to our "west coast lodge" in Orlando at VWL (I see you are a groupie, too).

 

[Claire L]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We spent 5 days in SF back in 2006 and want to go back again as there is so much to see and do

Claire

 

[teampierce]

wow. your husband took some great pics! i've lived in the bay area all my life so reading your itinerary was really cool... there are things on it that we have yet to do!

 

[onelilspark]

Thanks for posting! I leave Monday for 6 days I can't wait, looks fabulous!

 

[lisah0711]

Thanks for posting! I leave Monday for 6 days I can't wait, looks fabulous!

Have a wonderful time!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Lisa,

If you don't mind my asking, how long did you stay at the Winchester Mystery House in order to see everything. We are thinking of stopping there on our way back to the airport in San Jose. Did you need more than 2 hours?

Thanks.

 

[lisah0711]

Lisa,

If you don't mind my asking, how long did you stay at the Winchester Mystery House in order to see everything. We are thinking of stopping there on our way back to the airport in San Jose. Did you need more than 2 hours?

Thanks.

Nope, don't mind at all. You really do need more than 2 hours because I think the main tour is 2 hours long. You could just see the grounds and the garden in less time but with all the nooks and crannies, you wouldn't get the full effect. There's always next trip . . .

Have a great time!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Thanks! One more question, I see you did both tours. How long did the house tour take?

 

[lisah0711]

The main house tour is 2 hours long. If you got there right when it opened at 9:00 a.m. you would probably get the first tour. They call it the mansion tour. This is the best tour. We also did the behind the scenes tour which took about an hour -- after the mansion tour with a 1/2 hour break. The behind the scenes tour was the one that wasn't that great. The garden tour is free and you just wander around the grounds. Here is a link to the tour descriptions http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/tours.html
I think that you really have to do the mansion tour because you go all over the house.

We got there around 10 a.m. and left around 2:00 p.m. It was about an hour back to Fisherman's Wharf, we rested and then rode the trolleys and had dinner.

Whether you'll have time depends on traffic (you live in Chandler, you know about that ) and what time your flight is. We flew in and out of Oakland so I can't tell you anything about the San Jose airport.

Have a great time and no matter what it will be cooler than where you are!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Lisa,

Thanks for all your help and the info. We are coming up from Monterey with a stop at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Timing probabaly won't work that we can take the tour. We'll see. Our flight is at 4:20 PM. I know the mansion is really close to the airport and it is a smaller airport so we don't have to get there way too early.

We are looking forward to the cooler temperatures for sure!

Thanks again!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Lisa,

Thanks for all your help and the info. We are coming up from Monterey with a stop at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Timing probabaly won't work that we can take the tour. We'll see. Our flight is at 4:20 PM. I know the mansion is really close to the airport and it is a smaller airport so we don't have to get there way too early.

We are looking forward to the cooler temperatures for sure!

Thanks again!

I can help with San Jose area info. Driving time from Santa Cruz to San Jose is approx. 30 minutes in good traffic on Highway 17. It's a winding road with 2 lanes in each direction and can get backed up quickly so I would give yourselves ample time. At least you'll be going against commute traffic in that direction. The airport is about a 10-15 minute drive from the Winchester Mystery House. The San Jose Airport isn't so small anymore! There are now two main terminals and a third is being added between them. Just be aware that there is construction going on that can result in delays. Hope you have a great time!

Funny thing - I've lived in SJ nearly my whole life and have never been inside the Winchester Mystery House! I drive by it all the time but still haven't actually been there. Maybe one day...

 

[mamacatnv]

Funny thing - I've lived in SJ nearly my whole life and have never been inside the Winchester Mystery House! I drive by it all the time but still haven't actually been there. Maybe one day...

I grew up in San Jose and I have never been there either. We used to go to the old Century Theaters that were right next door. The jeweler that made my wedding ring was in the old Town and Country and still....never been inside the place, don't think it ever occured to us to go in

My Bro got married in The Santa Cruz mountains a couple of years ago and we drove 17 OMG I do not know how I survived my teen years. I remember being with friends and "flying" over that road in mustangs and camaro's with no seat belts.....Yikes