San Francisco advice needed

[damo]

While in SF we want to go to Six Flags Marine World, Paramount Great America and also see the touristy things in the city. Should we stay at one central hotel or hop around. Where would you stay? We have about 4 days to spend in this area.

 

[din]

Paramount and Six Flags are at oposite ends of the bay area.

From the city it is about 45min to an hour depending on the time of day fro travel. Not sure where you are from, but traffic here can be a bear.

Not sure if you have been to SF, so I am going to assume that you have never been here. TO see all the typical touristy things in SF you can stay in the city near Union Square, amny hotels near by or by the famous Fisherman Wharf. This is a really tourist area but a couple of nice hotels close by.

Both location allow you can walk to some tourist site, and crive to the rest. A lot depends what you want to do and visit. If you have specific places in mind we may be able to provide other suggestions

 

[damo]

I'm from Toronto where traffic can suck but I don't want to be experience traffic jams while on vacation. So are you suggesting we stay in three different hotels? One near Fisherman's Wharf, another in San Jose and another in Vallejo? Or could we stay somewhere like The Residence in at Oyster Point South near the airport? We want to see Alcatraz, do the cable cars, see Fisherman's Wharf, that sort of thing.

We have two teens so we need a room with more than just two double beds. That seems to be a real issue with most hotels. I would love suggestions!

 

[din]

Toronto!!! We use to visit Toronto every summer when we live in Ohio.

It is doable to stay in the city and still be able to go all these places including the parks. Bofore I get into that details, I have heard good thing about this hotel suites:

http://www.grosvenorsuites.com/ Never been there myself so cannot comment but it is a good location to all the places you mentioned.

Now as for the city, you can get to it easily from the city or Osyter point if want to. Just note that in the morning during week days traffic can get busy going into the city and on weekends it can be busy also. If you stay in the city you can walk to some of these places or take a cab.

If you decide to visit some other locations like Marin County for Muir Woods, or Point Reyes National Park it is also easy access from the city. To see rugged coast line of California, you can take a drive along highway 1. You can also take a day and visit Monteray Bay, about 2 hours south of the sity and while you are there you can visit Carmel also and of course if you are a golfer drive through Pebble Beach!!

The good thing about driving from the city to the theme parks is that you will be going against traffic in the AM. For Paramount it will be against traffic part of the way until you get close to Santa Clara and San Jose you will run into a little traffic. You do not need to be moving from location to location.

Since you are from Toronto, Paramount here is not much different from the one in Toronto. Just a few different ride if I recall correctly.

Please let me know if this helps

 

[MandaMom]

The Oyster point area would be a good central location to visit all the attractions/sites you have mentioned. I live in Millbrae very close to SFO and we can get to PGA in Santa Clara in about 40 to 45 minutes with no traffic, takes us about the same amount of time to get to Vallejo give or take and Downtown S.F. is about 10 to 15 minutes. This of course is all dependent on traffic which not surprisingly is very bad during normal commuting hours. The biggest hassle you will encounter is traversing the Bay Bridge which is normally a huge CF at all times of the day.

Just got back from Toronto. Have relatives in Thornhill, Ontario
and my aunt lives on Degrassi and my cousins (7) are scattered all over Toronto some off Yonge St. etc. My family loves Toronto. I love the Bon Marche.

Anyway if you have any other questions feel free to PM me. I have had some friends stay at a hotel near Six Flags and they enjoyed it. Can't recall at the moment what the name of it was.

I think it would be easier to stay at one hotel and just drive everywhere you want to go. But if you decide to stay at 3 different locations I can recommend some places to stay.


MandaMom

 

[damo]

Thanks for all the help! The world is such a small place after all. I think I would like to stick to one location just because checking in and out is such a pain. We will be heading down to LA after San Francisco and will spend some time in the Carmel area.

We have to do Paramount Great America since my son is a coaster freak and he wants to ride all the roller coasters in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've read that it is really tough to park in the city's tourist areas, that would be my concern about not staying in the city.

 

[din]

Fisherman's Wharf has parking, moderate price, but it is available. Other areas can be a little tough. Most hotels in the city will have parking again for a fee.

Sounds like you will driving to LA and stopping by Carmel. You might want to look up Hearst Castle.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=591

A question: Is Bon Marche the same as Marche the Marketplace, the restaurant where you walk around to different stations to get food? Love that place also in particular the one downtown.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Damo,

Be sure to take a drive up Market Street to Twin Peaks. The view up there is great.

 

[damo]

Thanks for the suggestions folks, I'm writing this all down!

 

[hammertime]

If you are not staying in the city, I recommend not driving in to the touristy places in the city even on weekends it can be a drag. If you stay in South SF take BART(it's kind of like the subway in NY) Then from Bart you can bus it around SF. SF has these cool trolleys that will take you from BART to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Alcatraz(well to the boat and ticket office).

I think parking and driving in the city is crazy. I still do it sometimes but it's nice to take public transporation and even walk sometimes. A great place to park if your going to drive to Pier 39, Fishermans' Warf, Ghiradeli Square, Alcatraz is at Pier 27 (look for the Bauer Limo sign)I think it cost between $10-15 for all day and is about a 10 minute walk to Pier 39.

Couple of notes -

No matter when you come here always dress in layers. It can be cold and windy at want part of SF and then warm and sunny in another part. At the very least alwasy bring a sweatshirt with you.

In the past year they moved Hard Rock Cafe to Pier 39 so that might be something your teens might want to see.

You didn't say when you were going but it would be a good idea to check to see when the SF Giants (baseball team) are playing(www.sfgiants.com). If there in town Traffic can be really bad going both ways on the Bay Bridge and on the city streets of SF. If your teens are into baseball that might be a fun outing it's a neat ballpark about 3-4 years old. There's even a place in the outfield where can view(through gates) the game for free.

Hope my 2 cents has helped.

 

[damo]

We will be arriving around August 15 and then spending two weeks between SF and LA. Can we take public transport from Oyster Point South or is that too far out of the way?

 

[Xendancer]

If your son is a roller coaster fan, and you are heading down to the LA area, I recommend checking this place out:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain/index.asp

 

[din]

damo;

You would have to drive to the nearest BART or Caltrain station. An additional note it can get foggy in the summer, so if you are planning to visit Golden Gate bridge or visit twin peaks check out the weather first so that you can actually see the Golden Gate and the city.

 

[damo]

Originally posted by Xendancer
If your son is a roller coaster fan, and you are heading down to the LA area, I recommend checking this place out:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain/index.asp

Oh ya, we know all about Magic Mountain. He's been ogling that place for years!

Apparently there is a Bart station at the airport. Is it a real hassle to catch the train at the airport?

 

[din]

BART in the airport, and it depends if you can catch a ride to the airport. Otherwise I am not sure if you want to pay for the parking at the airport.

 

[damo]

Okay, I found another hotel that looks great. It is called the Argonaut and has great reviews at Trip Advisor, has a great price, queen beds and looks like it is in a great location. Any comments on this place?

 

[din]

Sorry not familar with the hotel itself. Looks like a great location: from a web site, and it looks like it is close to Marinetime park etc...

If you do not mind walking, you can get to the Fisherman's Wharf and the turnaround for the cable car. Even at you location there are a few things to do.

If you are looking for groceries, there is a store that you can drive to. Parking garage available for shoppers.

Easy access to Golden Gate and Lombard is just round the corner. A few miles to 101 to get you to Paramount. Easy access to I-80, Bay Bridge, to get you to Six Flag.

Hope this helps.

 

[hammertime]

I see your looking at another hotel right now. Sorry don't know much about it.

Going back to Oyster Point and BART. You don't have to go back to the airport to catch BART. There are a couple of stations that are probably closer that have free parking.

Here's a great guide from SFgate.com (that's the SF chronicle's website) http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/transportation/

It has info on BART, the Muni(SF city transportation) and other tourist info.

I also wanted to mention ( like most citie's) SF has those buses that you pay ($30 aperson) and you can hop on and off at the trourist locations throughout the day. I know you can pick them up at Pier 39 and Union Square. I took my cousins on it we had a fun time.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

[damo]

I kind of get the feeling that staying downtown might be smarter. Then on our last day we will head down to Paramount Great America for a day and then head south from there. I thought we would take the ferry up to Vallejo and see Six Flags Marine world.

 

[din]

Sounds like a good plan. Sorry not familiar with the ferry.

Have a good time visiting the bay area. Some day we will get back to Toronto for a visit.....