48 hours in San Francisco- what would you do?

[urbancowgirl]

Hi! DH and I are going to spend a couple of days in San Francisco in mid-December. We'll be there on a Saturday and a Sunday. What would you do and where would you stay? We've both been before, but not in years. Any "off the beaten path" things we should try? I'm interested in renting bikes, but I'm a little scared to ride a bike in traffic. (I ride a bike maybe once every five years, lol.) Also, I love to eat. TIA!

[ashap]

We stayed at the Intercontinental and I thought that was a great location and a very nice property. We had a similar amount of time and got in:

- downtown area
- street car rides all over the city
- fisherman's wharf
- golden gate bridge viewing area for some photos (we also did a walk from the street car drop off area along the water to see alcatraz and the bridge from a different vantage point)
- breakfast at Sears (which was amazing) and Irish coffee's where the street car ends on the way to the wharf.

Overall I would avoid biking the city unless you are super fit and up for a challenge

[balbacm]

we had 48 hours in SF as well and did as much typical touristy stuff as we could:

street car ride
GG Bridge
Fisherman's Wharf
Union Square
Alcatraz tour
drove up Route 1 to see the redwoods

we tossed around Napa/Sonoma but decided to save it - hoping to go this summer.

i can't remember all the places we had dinner (it was about 5 years ago) but we had an amazing breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe.

it was a really fun trip. i would love to go back soon and spend more time in SF and visit wine country.

[protozoa]

When I was in town for about 8 hours a few weeks ago, I did a food tour with Gourmet Walks, which was great. It's obviously mostly tourists but we went to neat little places in a neighborhood I wouldn't have gone to on my own. And the food was super good

I've also done the Alcatraz night tour and enjoyed it.

[urbancowgirl]

Loving these suggestions- thanks!

[frlcb]

We just spent 3 days there and stayed at the Grand Hyatt and it was really nice and we literally walked everywhere

[RoxMonster]

I wouldn't be scared to rent a bike! We rented bikes at Blazing Saddles and biked over the GGB to Sausalito and took the ferry back. Honestly the only stretch where we were riding on the road was downhill to Sausalito and not scary. The rest of the way there are paths to bike on. I never felt unsafe, and it was our favorite day of our trip to SF this July.

We enjoyed walking around North Beach and getting some yummy Italian food as well as exploring Chinatown. My favorite meal was at Frascati on Russian Hill--the stone fruit bruschetta was to-die for.

We stayed at the Westin St. Francis and liked it. We stayed in the new tower, which I'd recommend over the older rooms. It was centrally located near stores and restaurants with a cable car stop right out front.

[dawnyp]

There are tons of places to rent a bike down by the pier. A great bike path that takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge, then you can take a ferry back. THe ferry goes right by Alcatraz, so if you don't want to do the tour this gets you up close and personal with the island.

I really enjoyed Muir Woods on a recent trip, it is just north of SF.

[christy082]

We went in September and did a segway tour through the city (w/City Segway Tours), and it was my favorite part of our trip!

[justthetip]

I've always had good luck using Priceline to bid for a 4-star+ hotel in your neighborhood of choice. Union Square is handy walking distance to the Ferry Building for lunch & snacks. Or breakfast. It's a must do at least once for me. Slanted Door is excellent if you like Asian food. I'd also:
- pick a neighborhood to explore, depending on your interests. Hayes Valley, Little Italy, Castro...
- or take BART over to Berkley and have dinner at Chez Panisse
- hike the Lands End trail, depending on weather & your mood.
- I really like Nopa for dinner, but I'm no expert.
- I've always wanted to rent a bike and ride over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito for lunch, but I haven't done it yet.
That's my short list.