San Francisco, California🌁. Travel🧳 guide📔.

From its unpredictable weather and funky clothing to extraordinarily expensive prices for pretty much everything, San Francisco stands out amongst the rest of the United States. But here’s a fair warning: you just might fall in love 🥰 upon arrival.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN SAN FRANCISCO

Language: English is the main language spoken in San Francisco, but significant Chinese and Mexican populations mean that Chinese and Spanish are also spoken by many. Currency: The US Dollar ($)

Expensive Food and Foodies.

San Francisco has a lot of restaurants, but they do, for the most part, come with high price tags. Food at grocery stores is also pricier than many other places around the country, so be prepared to pay a premium for your food while you are there. But anyway, dining in San Francisco is an attraction in itself. Known as one of America’s best restaurant cities, San Francisco chefs excel at combining the freshest local ingredients, authentic international flavors and a touch of creative genius. Choose your cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Moroccan, Indian, Malaysian, Mexican, Greek, or “fusion,” a combination of any or all of these influences.

McCormick & Kuleto's Seafood & Steaks (so good restaurant) *tuna was so delicious.

Climate: San Francisco’s mild climate features warm but not unpleasant summer days and rainy winters, although the city is famous for the fog, “Karl the Fog,” that often rolls in from the Pacific. Mark Twain once said,

‘The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.’ Well, San Francisco tends to abide by those words, so be mentally and physically prepared to deal with a lot of fog and cold, even in the dead middle of summer. Karl the Fog has become one of San Francisco’s mascots, and is quite the well-known figure, so bring layers, but be sure to also bring some warm weather clothes, because you never know when the fog will blow away for a warm sunny day.Rainy season: While it rarely gets very cold in San Francisco, there does tend to be regular rain between November and March.Hot season: September and October are the warmest months in San Francisco

Helpful Tip: Typically, there can be significant weather differences in parts of San Francisco because of the city’s large hills and maritime location. Even on a sunny day, things can get chilly! I was in SF with my F*R*I*E*N*D*S in July and was so cold 🥶! Your best bet is to always carry a jacket or hoodie, no matter what season.

Traffic and Parking: The dreaded San Francisco parking is the bane of most visitors’ experiences. No one wants to pay $50 for parking for less than three hours, but that does in fact occur here. If you don’t want to deal with parking (especially parallel parking), it is possible to park at the overnight section of the airport for a lower rate per day than almost all of the parking in the city. If you are in San Francisco during a Giants game, give up on parking for any sort of reasonable price, and if you’re smart, just avoid doing anything that day.

You Can Rely on Public Transportation: While public transportation is a feature of every major city, few places have the sheer variety offered by San Francisco. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system is a mix of both heavy rail and subway and serves San Francisco, Oakland, and a variety of suburban areas. At the same time, San Francisco has hybrid Muni buses, Muni Metro Light Rail, cable cars, historic streetcars, electric trolleys, and a range of privately run options such as taxi, app-based rideshares, electric bicycles, and motorized scooters. Between the public and the private options, you will have an easy time getting to where you need to go. If you're traveling beyond the city, you can take a ferry, rent a car, or use Caltrain to access points beyond. Uber, headquartered right here, also provides fast and convenient travel in the city and throughout the Bay.

Though you'll want to opt for the most efficient route for most of your destinations, don't miss a ride on the historic cable cars. These are the only cable cars of their kind still in operation. The Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde and California lines all feature this iconic form of transportation. The best way to get a spot on these cable cars is to hop on en route, as the terminals typically have long lines. Morning and late evening hours are less busy, as well.

Driving. Renting a car and driving are easy in San Francisco; finding a place to park is not. Patient drivers will usually find on-street parking (outside of the financial district) especially after 6 p.m. when the meters go off duty. But if you're in a hurry, you'll probably end up paying $10 to $20 a day at a lot. Be wary of enterprising hobos who sometimes hang around, pretending to be attendants in lots that actually have self-service kiosks. (A sign at the entrance should let you know what you're dealing with.) For a big city, traffic is surprisingly manageable, unless you are entering or leaving the city during rush hour. And even then, it's not so bad.

Hills: If you are looking to get legs of steel, San Francisco is the place to do it. From the infamous Lombard Street to Twin Peaks, San Francisco is known for its hills, which also thankfully lead to amazing vistas. The city does in fact have streets with stairs instead of sidewalks, upon which you must park 90-degrees to the hill, so if that doesn’t put the steepness into perspective, then perhaps the fact that on these hills you cannot see the road over the hood of your car will.

GETTING AROUND SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco is separated into many different districts and neighborhoods; each offering a unique flavor of the city! The most popular communities worth visiting are:

Golden Gate: Named after the iconic bridge, this part of the city is where many visitors start exploring. Some of the loveliest residential areas are located here, as well as some former military posts – Fort Mason and the Presidio. Visit “The Marina” for some fancier bars and restaurants.

Fishermen’s Wharf: Another popular district for visitors, there are no longer fishing fleets operating here, but several museums and historic ships can be explored. Visit Pier 39 and note that the boat to Alcatraz Island also departs from this district.

Alcatraz: Alcatraz's reputation has been amped up so much in films that everyone wants to see it, in spite of the time it takes out of your sightseeing day. The only way to get to Alcatraz is by ferry. The round trip and tour take several hours.

Alcatraz Island Tickets. The only way to tour Alcatraz is with the company called Alcatraz Cruises, leaving from San Francisco. Other bay cruise companies can take you by, but can't stop. Find all the details and buy tickets at the Alcatraz Cruises website. Anyone else selling an Alcatraz Island tour is re-selling tickets and may charge a processing fee.

Baker Beach Golden Gate: It's not hard to see why Baker is one of the most popular beaches in the Bay Area. Baker Beach has one of the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge in all of San Francisco, so many visitors and photographers come here (especially at sunset) for the gorgeous vistas.

Point Bonita Lighthouse: A secret jewel of the Bay Area, the Point Bonita Lighthouse, built in 1855, was the third lighthouse built on the West Coast and helped shepherd ships through the treacherous Golden Gate straits. Today, the lighthouse is still active and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Discover Point Bonita's wild landscape, geology and fascinating history by hiking the partially steep half mile trail to the Point Bonita Lighthouse!

Twin Peaks: They're one of San Francisco's best-known natural landmarks: two towering “twin” peaks that rise above the city, providing spectacular views that stretch across the bay and as far south as the Santa Clara Valley. Largely undeveloped, the Twin Peaks are two hills with an elevation of about 922 feet situated at the center of the city and offering sweeping views of downtown and beyond. They form the second highest point in San Francisco, after Mount Davidson, so a drive to Twin Peaks to take in the view is a must for any visitor.

Painted Ladies: One of San Francisco's most iconic images of those candy-colored San Francisco Victorian style homes they call the Painted Ladies or "Postcard Row" viewed from Alamo Square Park. You know it on sight: the little row of pastel houses with the modern city skyline behind them. Those houses and others might make you turn your head and think, "hey, I've seen that somewhere." You could be looking at the home from the opening credits of Full House or the house where Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed.

Lombard Street: You could say the folks who nicknamed San Francisco's Lombard Street were a little "crooked" themselves when they named it the "crookedest street" in San Francisco, in the U.S. — and even in the world. On busy days, any of the hundreds of tourists who visit this 600-foot-long, red-brick road would see a passing car every 10 seconds, up to 350 vehicles in an hour. The never-ending two- and four-wheeled stream winds downhill, passengers squealing in mock fear at every turn.

Born to FLY🕊