offwegooo.com
Travel guide
San Francisco
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to May, September to October
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Welcome
San Francisco, in a few days
A city of 800,000 people built on some forty hills at the tip of a peninsula, between the Pacific Ocean and a bay closed off by the Golden Gate Bridge, often lost in the morning fog. You explore it on foot and by cable car, from Chinatown to the painted Victorian houses, from the murals of the Mission to the cliffs of Lands End, changing climate from one neighbourhood to the next.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Golden Gate Bridge free · 2 to 3 hThe 1937 suspension bridge, 2.7 km long and painted International Orange to stand out in the fog, can be crossed on foot or by bike between San Francisco and Marin.
- Afternoon · Golden Gate Park free · half a dayA park larger than Central Park, reclaimed from sand dunes, home to the de Young museum, the California Academy of Sciences, the Japanese Tea Garden and a bison paddock.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Zephyr ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€200 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Mission District free · half a dayThe city's sunniest, Latino neighbourhood, with Mission Dolores from 1791, the murals of Balmy and Clarion Alleys, sloping Dolores Park and the birthplace of the Mission burrito.
- Late afternoon · Cable cars · about 1 hThe world's last manually operated cable cars in regular service, invented here in 1873, with three lines climbing the steep streets from Union Square and across Nob Hill.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Zephyr ↗€200 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Chinatown free · 2 to 3 hOne of North America's oldest Chinatowns, rebuilt after 1906, entered through the Dragon Gate, with Grant Avenue's shops, Stockton Street's markets, the Tin How temple and a fortune cookie factory.
- Afternoon · Ferry Building free · 1 to 2 hThe 1898 ferry terminal on the Embarcadero, now a food hall of local oysters, cheeses and sourdough, with a farmers' market three times a week and ferries to Sausalito.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Zephyr ↗€200 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Alcatraz · half a dayA rocky island in the bay, home to the most feared federal prison in the country from 1934 to 1963, visited with an audio tour of the cellhouse told by former guards and inmates.
- Late afternoon · Lands End free · 2 hA clifftop coastal trail at the city's north-west tip, past the ruins of the Sutro Baths, viewpoints over the Golden Gate and a stone labyrinth on the edge of the drop.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €250 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to May, September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/san-francisco
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.