San Francisco - First Solo Trip

I%26#39;m going to SF for a conference the weekend before Thanksgiving, Sat to Tues. In 4 days, I have to spend a total of 10 1/2 hours at the conference, and the balance of my time is free. I%26#39;ve never been to SF before, and have never been on vacation by myself. I%26#39;m staying at the SF Marriott on Market Street, and am looking for things to do that are within walking distance. Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf is 2.5 miles from the hotel, which is no problem for me to walk, but can I walk there? I%26#39;d like to find things to do that are within walking distance from the hotel, and are budget-friendly. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

San Francisco - First Solo Trip

Oops, the Marriott%26#39;s on Fourth Street.

San Francisco - First Solo Trip

You could definitely walk to Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf, but it would probably be more fun to take the cable car. The cable car turnaround is at Market and Powell, just a block or two away from your hotel.

If you do want to walk to Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf, take Kearney to Columbus to Mason, like this:

http://tinyurl.com/6o3y69

You%26#39;re in the middle of a very walkable area, but many of the things to do around there involve shopping. :) I%26#39;d head for the Farmer%26#39;s Market at the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street.

SF City Guides has free walking tours of San Francisco listed here:

http://www.sfcityguides.org/

Have a great time!

Do you enjoy museums? SF MOMA is close to you. I would go to North Beach for dinner and evening entertainment one night. San Francisco is a small city, so you can walk to many places, but the bus system is really great and easy to figure out.

In addition to the cable cars there%26#39;s Muni%26#39;s F-line historic streetcars to take you to and/or back from the Wharf. In addition to SF MoMA, there%26#39;s a number of museums opening up in or in close proximity to the Yerba Buena Center including the:

- Museum of Craft and Folk Art http://www.mocfa.org/ and the

- Museum of the African Diaspora http://www.moadsf.org/

Additionally just a few blocks away is the brand-new Contemporary Jewish Museum http://www.thecjm.org/ and my personal favorite, the Cartoon Art Museum Cartoon Art Museum http://www.cartoonart.org

Both the Ferry Building and the City Guide tours previously mentioned are also great options. Otherwise if you share some of your interests, I%26#39;m sure somebody in the forum will have an idea of where to find something that furthers them.

I know you didn%26#39;t ask where to eat, but Michael Bauer (resident restaurant critic) has some nice choies for the solo diner. There are more recs in the comments.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail…

Thanks everyone for your responses!

You certainly could walk to the wharf/pier 39 - and would be easy to combine it with a stroll north through Chinatown and/or swinging up Columbus Ave/North Beach.

Personally, I recommend against the cable car option suggested in a prior post, in my opinion the lines at the Market Street turnaround (and other ends) just too long most of the time (do you want to spend your time in SF standing in line). (On the other hand, sometimes the lines aren%26#39;t long and when I%26#39;ve seen than I have waited short periods to get on and in a least one case just hoped on a cable car about to depart).

For those that want a cable car experience, I recommend the California Line; you can get on and ride to the end in less time than you might wait in line at Market Street (and at the other end). As an alternative way to get to the wharf/pier 39 area (other than walking) consider the F Market historic street cars (takes you along the bay offering nice views of the Bay Bridge/East Bay and somewhat limited views of the SF skyline (since you%26#39;re so close to it).

Regardless of what cable car line you decide to ride, I do recommend you go to the Cable Car Museum (get to see information on history, the renovation %26amp; the actual workings), and if I remember right it%26#39;s free (can%26#39;t get more budget friendly than that).

More on the concept of ';budget friendly'; I%26#39;d also suggest you consider getting a ';Citypass.'; It combines a MUNI pass (3 day, 5 day?) good on all MUNI%26#39;s transportation (including cable cars) and ';free'; admission to about a 1/2 dozen museums/tourist attractions. The multi-day MUNI pass isn%26#39;t cheap and the standalone cable car fares can add up quick (as can admissions). Information can be found at: http://www.citypass.com/

This will facilitate getting around in general - saving some time and in case you get tired and/or find the hills too much - and a couple of trips ago I really enjoyed having the museum admissions. I finished a morning conference and had an hour or two to kill before meeting family/friends for a late lunch, I ended up going to an exhibit at SFMOMA; which I would not have done otherwise as the ticket price is something like $15-20 (much more than I would want to spend for such a short visit). Pretty sure it also covers the Asian Art Museum which is within easy walking distance of your hotel (Civic Center).

It also allows you to get into the deYoung (and Natural History?, will that be open by then?) for that time you go to Golden Gate Park (hint, hint, suggestion, suggestion).

Pretty sure it also includes a Bay Cruise on a ferry that departs from the wharf/pier 39 area, which since you%26#39;re planning on going to anyway . . . (and is a neat way to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city skyline).

Lastly, it%26#39;s such a deal that even if you don%26#39;t do everything it gets you into you still end up saving money.

I%26#39;d note that while there is a bunch of things to do within easy walking distance of your location, the bottom line having MUNI as a back up/option will greatly increase your choices.

And, in the interest of full disclosure, no I don%26#39;t work for Citypass, just think it%26#39;s a really good bargain.

I am going on a solo trip to San Francisco next month. It%26#39;s my first solo trip and one of my main reasons for choosing it is because it seems like a really great place to go for someone like myself, who%26#39;s not a driver. I%26#39;m staying in Union square, which seems to be central to most of the main tourist attractions.