San Francisco and Cable Cars

[RallyMonkey]

Hello,
I have been reading the DIS boards for a little while, and my need of your help has brought me out of lurkdom!
My husband and I and our daughters (ages 5 and 7) are going to be in San Francisco on Saturday July 14th for the afternoon/evening. We would like to experience a ride on the cable cars. I have been looking at web sites and am interested in taking the Powell Hyde to the Aquatic Park area. I see that parking is an issue in San Francisco. Well, we have an even bigger issue. We will be in a mini van towing a small tent trailor!

So, is there parking available near the terminal at Powell and Market?

Should we park in the Aquatic Park area and take our ride on the cable cars there and back from Aquatic Park instead?

Will there be a place long enough to park our van and trailor in these areas of SF or are out of luck?

Thanks!

 

[scooter15]

We've done this with our 3 kids (all under the age of 5).

It will be extremely busy on a Saturday especially during the summer. Be prepared to wait in a long line. We never had to deal with a trailor but parking is horrible. We usually park all the way by Fisherman's Wharf and walk towards the Powell/Hyde line (Aquatic Park). We have a minivan and parking spots are the structure. You can try to find one along the street but since its saturday, I don't know how lucky you'll be. You might want to look at the city website to see if there's a parking lot near one of the lines to accommodate you.

 

[debabe723]

I personally would not drive into the City and try to park. Whenever I need to go to SF, I take BART. I'm not sure where you will be staying prior to Saturday morning, but I would park my car and trailer at the BART station in Millbrae and ride into the city. You can get off at the Powell street station and walk down Market Street to the cable car turnaround (this isn't the best part of SF but you will be safe during daylight hours). I checked the BART website and it looks like its $3.80 round trip per person (and parking should be free at the BART station). I think your kids might enjoy riding it also. If you're coming from the east bay area, just find a station on that side and ride it into the City. For more information, check out www.BART.gov.

HTH

 

[RallyMonkey]

Since we will only be there for a short time, and will be towing the burdensome tent trailer, we probably will not ride the cable cars this time. We'll probably drive around over there just to get more familiar for when we are more prepared to visit the city, so I appreciate your replies and tips which will be helpful for us in the future, because we will definitely try this another time!
I've driven through SF maybe nearly a dozen times in my lifetime (a few times by getting on the Bay Bridge by mistake instead of the Richmond Bridge, ooops!) on my way to and from northern CA but never really stopped and visited! I think what we will do is actually stop and walk on the GG Bridge this time instead of just driving across, I think that would be interesting. I was doing some research on-line and I see that the parking lot on the south-east side of the bridge could accommodate us, and if it is full I read that there is a gravel lot nearby, which I actually can see on Google Earth. Anyone familiar with parking and walking on the GG Bridge? Any more tips are appreciated.

 

[debabe723]

I have parked in that lot and walked over the Bridge before. It is stunning! I don't remember how big the lot is but if there is a gravel lot nearby, I'm sure that would work for you (sometimes you do have to wait for a parking space to open in the regular lot). We only walked a little over half way across the Bridge because you do have to walk back LOL.

Make sure you dress in layers because you never know what the weather will be like in San Francisco and depending on what time you are there, it might still be foggy, especially on the Bridge and it is very windy on the Bridge all the time. Have a great time!

 

[RallyMonkey]

Thanks!!!

 

[dwheatl]

I just wanted to post a couple of bridge pictures from last week to get you excited. Have a great trip.

Approaching from the north:

Heading into the fog (so bring a sweatshirt!)

 

[RallyMonkey]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Danielle! )