"3 Days in San Francisco - Our Itenerary " a San Francisco Travel Page by GeorgiaDawgs

We stayed at the Grant Plaza Hotel in Chinatown for location and convenience; arriving the night before. Day one consisted of walking through Chinatown including time on both Grant (tourist) and Stockton (authentic) Streets. Next, we headed to North Beach and the City Lights Bookstore, then on to Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower for a view of the city. Then we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Chowder's on Pier 39. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at the wharf before heading to Pier 33 for a night tour of Alcatraz. The tour was great, although it didn't really start to get dark until we left. We came back and had dinner at Nick's Lighthouse at Pier 45 before taking a cab back to the hotel.

Points of Interest Covered:
Chinatown
North Beach
City Lights Bookstore
Coit Tower
Fisherman's Wharf
Strolling Along the Embarcadero
Alcatraz

We walked a block north to the California Cable Car line and took it west to Nob Hill. There we toured Grace Cathedral and happened upon 1,500 people being sworn in as US citizens at the Masonic Auditorium across the street. After a brief stop by the Flood Mansion, we caught the California Cable car back to Powell Street. There we took a Powell Street Cable car to the Powell and Market Street terminus. We took the Powell-Hyde Cable car from there to Lombard Street where we walked down and back up the "crookedest street in the world". We then finished our trip on the Cable Car down to the wharf. We went by the Cannery and Ghiardelli Square (I now consider both a waste of time). We then walked back down toward Pier 45 where we caught the F-line street car around to the Ferry Building at Embarcadero and Market Streets. Lunch was at the Ferry Building, where the food was great. We then got back on the F-line and continued traveling toward the Mission and Castro districts. We got off at Church Street and walked down to tour the Delores Mission ($5). Then we headed up 16th Street to the Castro District and Milk Plaza. We headed up Castro to 14th and eventually into Buena Vista Park which was really nice. We walked across the park and down into the Haight, stopping by the Grateful Dead house. We walked up and down Haight Street checking out the stores and grabbed some ice cream at Ben and Jerry's on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. We then returned to the hotel by taking the 70 bus to Market Street, the F-line to Powell, and the Cable car to Pine. After changing clothes, we took the California Cable car to Embarcadero and caught the N-line to AT&T Park for a Giants game. Our trip back to the hotel consisted of the T-line from the park to Market/Powell and the cable car back to Pine Street.

Points of Interest Covered:
Nob Hill
Grace Cathedral
Masonic Auditorium/Flood Mansion
Lombard Street
Ghiardelli Square & the Cannery
Ferry Building
Delores Mission
The Castro District/Milk Plaza
Buena Vista Park
Haight/Ashbury
AT&T Park (Giants baseball game)
Cable Car Rides

This day is actually broken into two days because we left on a side trip to Lake Tahoe/Reno in the late morning and returned a few days later to spend a final day in San Francisco. We started the morning with a ride from Lorri's Shuttle to the airport to pickup our rental car. Despite information to the contrary, our research showed the cars at the airport to be cheaper than those in town. Once we got the car, we drove back into town and headed to Golden Gate Park. We toured the Japanese Tea Garden before heading north through the Presidio to the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped off at Fort Point (which was closed at the time) then headed up to the bridge area. We walked out about 1/3 of the way across for pictures and the views. Then returned to the car to drive to Lake Tahoe and Reno. We went up through Sausalito and took 580 to 80 up through Sacramento. (As an aside, Lake Tahoe was absolutely breath taking and the drive through the Sierra Nevadas and Donner Pass was also beautiful. Reno, on the other hand was disappointing. Nothing there but a cheap knock-off version of the Vegas Strip which was actually closer to the Fremont Street/old town part of Vegas.) We returned a couple of days later and stayed at the Conventry Motor Inn in Cow Hollow for the free parking. On our last day in town, we headed up to Muir Woods (get up there early, as parking is very limited) for the morning, then went down into Sausalito for lunch at Scoma's on the water. We walked around town and did a little shopping before returning late in the afternoon.

Points of Interest Covered:
Golden Gate Park
Japanese Tea Garden
The Presidio
Golden Gate Bridge
(Lake Tahoe/Reno side trip - 2 days)
Muir Woods
Sausalito