All day parking in San Francisco

[seobaina]

hi

Just wondered if anyone could give suggestions for parking all day in San Francisco? Good prices? Places? Prebookable?

Thank you

 

[bcla]

Any general location in particular? San Francisco has many neighborhoods. I have a few "secrets" such as parking in certain neighborhoods all-day and taking public transportation once I get there. However, I don't arrive with a lot of luggage.

Private lots may have good rates, but the particular areas may or may not be sketchy. There are places well off downtown that have "early bird" specials on weekdays and better rates on weekends. Most aren't staffed on weekends.

The one thing I would warn about is that now parking meters operate on Sundays from 12 PM to 6 PM when they used to be free all day Sunday.

 

[GrandBob]

Check out the parking page of SFMTA:

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/pgar/indxpkgar.htm

There are a few places that have "early bird" rates - flat fee if you're in early enough. E.g. Moscone Center garage charges just $12 if you're in by 8:30am. I think there may be other such places too, since Moscone may not be convenient for where you're going.

HTH,
Bob

 

[seobaina]

Any general location in particular? San Francisco has many neighborhoods. I have a few "secrets" such as parking in certain neighborhoods all-day and taking public transportation once I get there. However, I don't arrive with a lot of luggage.

Private lots may have good rates, but the particular areas may or may not be sketchy. There are places well off downtown that have "early bird" specials on weekdays and better rates on weekends. Most aren't staffed on weekends.

The one thing I would warn about is that now parking meters operate on Sundays from 12 PM to 6 PM when they used to be free all day Sunday.

Thank you. We want to go on a city/alcatraz tour so prob pier 39 area and then visit the walt disney museum at the presidio.

Check out the parking page of SFMTA:

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/pgar/indxpkgar.htm

There are a few places that have "early bird" rates - flat fee if you're in early enough. E.g. Moscone Center garage charges just $12 if you're in by 8:30am. I think there may be other such places too, since Moscone may not be convenient for where you're going.

HTH,
Bob

Thanks Bob, I'll check it out. I assume they are all gonna be 'turn up on the day' and not pre booking?

 

[bcla]

Well - around Pier 39 the most obvious is the Pier 39 parking lot, but that's $8/hour with a max at $40 for up to 24 hours. You can get 1 or 2 free hours with validation at some Pier 39 shops.

Around the waterfront there is Port of San Francisco street parking with a maximum 4 hours operating 7 days a week. You can pay for them with credit cards, although I believe they're $3/hour until 7 PM. There are quite a few pay parking lots. Some have attendants and others have machines that accept payment for a particular parking space by a specific number. Some private lots still have a simple lockbox where one inserts cash into slots matching the parking space number.

The thing I'd say is that you'll probably have no problem finding a place to park, but the issue will be how much are you willing to pay for it. It's gotten so difficult for me to find a place to park for free that I take public transportation most of the time. I also live across the Bay, so I won't be paying bridge tolls either. On the weekend I'll be paying $5 to cross the bridge, who knows what on fuel and wear/tear on my car, and then pay to park. Weekends are often a time my wife gets to herself, so I'm only paying about $8 to take BART and maybe $2-4 to take MUNI. For example, yesterday I took my kid to the Exploratorium and then Fishermans' Wharf. The transfer/fare receipt I got from MUNI was long enough that we could get to FW to have dinner and check out some sights, then go back to BART. I wished I'd paid more attention to the private parking lot signs.

I won't even drive into San Francisco on Sundays now because of the meter enforcement. I was tempted to drive into San Francisco on Monday because it's a holiday, but I found out that they are still enforcing the parking meters (apparently only three holidays where it won't be enforced).

And as for my secret, I barely park there so here goes. My place is around the Castro somewhere where I can take the F-line. My kid loves the Randall Museum, and we park in the neighborhood around there. There's other residential spaces around there that don't require residential parking permits (two hour limit without them on weekdays and maybe Saturday) and it's easy enough to get around.

There are a few free parking spaces around Fishermans Wharf, but those are extremely difficult to come by. I remember the first time I'd ever taken the Alcatraz trip when they were still run by Blue and Gold at Pier 41-1/2. There was a half block across the street from the Holiday Inn without meters or any hourly limitation. I think the only thing they posted was street sweeping times. At such a space, it's universally 72 hours in almost every county in California.

 

[seobaina]

Thank you very very much, that is useful to know. We're thinking of staying at an airport hotel so I guess for doing a city tour I'd be best getting one that picks up there and does all day with Alcatraz then?

I'd heard that the WD Museum has $1 an hour parking. We're thinking of visiting just the presidio area, mostly the museum, on Saturday 21st Sept. Do you think we'll have issues if we don't drive in first thing in the morning?

Our 'tour the city/alcatraz' day is a different day...that's monday 30th sept just before we fly home.

Thank you

 

[bcla]

Thank you very very much, that is useful to know. We're thinking of staying at an airport hotel so I guess for doing a city tour I'd be best getting one that picks up there and does all day with Alcatraz then?

I'd heard that the WD Museum has $1 an hour parking. We're thinking of visiting just the presidio area, mostly the museum, on Saturday 21st Sept. Do you think we'll have issues if we don't drive in first thing in the morning?

Our 'tour the city/alcatraz' day is a different day...that's monday 30th sept just before we fly home.

Thank you

That would probably work really well. Some airport hotels don't charge for parking.

The parking around the Walt Disney Family Museum is the parking at the Presidio Main Post operated by the Presidio Trust (and not the National Park Service). I don't believe the pay parking is enforced on weekends. It certainly wasn't when I parked there to visit the museum on a Sunday.

http://www.presidio.gov/visit/transportation/Pages/parking.aspx

Here's one of the signs (the museum is in the background):

So if you're going to be there on a Saturday, then parking will be free. Whether or not you'll find a convenient space is another matter. I'm a big visitor to the Presidio. There are still areas that are free to park all the time, but not near the Main Post. It always seemed a bit odd for me that they only charge for parking on the weekdays, because the peak visitation is actually on the weekends.

Another detail is that the Presidio is US government owned and some laws apply differently - especially those regarding open consumption of alcohol. When I visited the WDFM I arrived with beer and consumed it in front of the museum while my wife and child were taking a nap in the car. That would be illegal on the sidewalk in San Francisco, but not at the Presidio or most of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (with some exceptions).

 

[seobaina]

That would probably work really well. Some airport hotels don't charge for parking.

The parking around the Walt Disney Family Museum is the parking at the Presidio Main Post operated by the Presidio Trust (and not the National Park Service). I don't believe the pay parking is enforced on weekends. It certainly wasn't when I parked there to visit the museum on a Sunday.

http://www.presidio.gov/visit/transportation/Pages/parking.aspx

Here's one of the signs (the museum is in the background):

So if you're going to be there on a Saturday, then parking will be free. Whether or not you'll find a convenient space is another matter. I'm a big visitor to the Presidio. There are still areas that are free to park all the time, but not near the Main Post. It always seemed a bit odd for me that they only charge for parking on the weekdays, because the peak visitation is actually on the weekends.

Another detail is that the Presidio is US government owned and some laws apply differently - especially those regarding open consumption of alcohol. When I visited the WDFM I arrived with beer and consumed it in front of the museum while my wife and child were taking a nap in the car. That would be illegal on the sidewalk in San Francisco, but not at the Presidio or most of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (with some exceptions).

Fantastic, thank you sooooo much!!

 

[CPT Tripss]

Have you checked out Columbus Inn? It's in town and offers free parking. Convenient to public transportation and walkable, if you are a walker, to waterfront attractions.

Full disclosure, it was five years ago we stayed there, so check TripAdvisor for recent reviews.

 

[bcla]

I found something that might help. It's a parking search engine where various parking lots/garages and their rates have been compiled. I entered Pier 15 in San Francisco and got the following link:

http://en.parkopedia.com/parking/pier_15_17_san_francisco_94111/

You could enter different locations to home in on lots/garages closer to particular places.

 

[seobaina]

Have you checked out Columbus Inn? It's in town and offers free parking. Convenient to public transportation and walkable, if you are a walker, to waterfront attractions.

Full disclosure, it was five years ago we stayed there, so check TripAdvisor for recent reviews.

Oooh, I will check it out, thanks.

I found something that might help. It's a parking search engine where various parking lots/garages and their rates have been compiled. I entered Pier 15 in San Francisco and got the following link:

http://en.parkopedia.com/parking/pier_15_17_san_francisco_94111/

You could enter different locations to home in on lots/garages closer to particular places.

Thank you again, that is very useful

 

[Lemon Pie]

We parked for free in the Exploratorium lot (at the old location) about 5 yrs ago. It was about a 10-minute walk to the nearest bus stop though.

 

[alisonbestford]

We parked in an undercover car park just across the road from Pier 33 only last week.
It had an "early bird" price of about $14 all day if you got in before 9am but we arrived about 9.30 and had to pay $17. Still good though and convenient.
Just a heads up though to say it was extremely full so don't leave it much beyond 9am to ensure you get a place.

 

[seobaina]

Oooh thanks for those suggestions

 

[bcla]

OK - having been to SF a few times the past month, I'll spill the beans. I can't say that a space is absolutely guaranteed, but you could certainly try before heading for pay parking.

There's a long, long line of free street parking on the north side of Bay Street along Fort Mason. There's also quite a bit of 2 hour residential spaces a block or two south of Bay Street closer to Fishermans Wharf. On Sunday they are effectively all day because enforcement is only Mon-Sat. Now the issue is whether or not anyone leaves, because of course others may see them as all-day spaces too.

These are fairly close to public transportation options including the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde cable car turnarounds as well as the F-line streetcar and other MUNI bus routes.

 

[CanadianPaco]

We parked in an undercover car park just across the road from Pier 33 only last week.
It had an "early bird" price of about $14 all day if you got in before 9am but we arrived about 9.30 and had to pay $17. Still good though and convenient.
Just a heads up though to say it was extremely full so don't leave it much beyond 9am to ensure you get a place.

Great info!!! Thx for sharing!

 

[seobaina]

thank you