Stay in a Union Square Hotel if you can. There you will be near the Cable Car turntable, the SF Visitor s Center in Hallidie Plaza, the underground MUNI and BART lines, within walking distance of Chinatown via Grant Ave, Macy s and Westfield Mall shopping centers. Take one of the MUNI rails which you can catch at street level to the Ferry Building. When you leave, check the schedule because you can take a BART to the airport. If it s not possible, you might need to call the shuttle service to pick you up from the hotel. The manager or hotel staff can assist you with that.Drop by the SF Visitor s Center.Buy a visitor s passes for unlimited rides on the MUNI at the MUNI kiosk at the turnaround which is in Hallidie Plaza, Market Powell St. Tell them you want to ride the cable car too. It goes from there to Fisherman s Wharf.No matter how warm it is, be sure to take a jacket with you when you leave your hotel. Dressing in layers helps, too.Macy s opens at 10 am and there are eating places in the basement. Westfield Mall also has eating places. I know their coffee shop opens earlier but I m not certain when their restaurants open in the food court.
Public Transportation is the way to go. Bart connects from the airport to downtown for less than $10 per person. Even if you stay near the airport you can use the hotel shuttle to get to Bart and then Bart into the city.SF s hills, one way streets and nightmare parking present real challenges to visitors and most attractions are very easy to get to via public transport.
To expand on the good answers above, you can purchase Muni all-day passports for one, three or seven days. They give you unlimited rides on all buses and cable cars; just the cable car rides make it cost-effective, since their rides are $5.00 each direction. Here s info on the passports and where to purchase them (scroll down):http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passvend��Note that you can even purchase them at the airport Information Booth.Unfortunately, they don t cover BART, but you ll probably only use it to get to and from the airport.
Public transportation in SF is good. You can take BART from the airport to the city, and then Muni rail, buses and cable cars to get around the city.
San Francisco has the best public transportation in all of California. (About the only good thing I will say about the city I was born in.) You shouldn t have trouble getting around.
*_~ So glad that you re considering San Francisco for your vacation.Yes, public transporation is great here! I have a few friends who didn t have a car and maintance a outgoing active life. Also, Try google map under public transporation! Try to stay in Union Square. http://www.unionsquareshop.com/ When you arrive at the airport, take the SFO air train that goes around the airport, then you��ll get off when you see Bart, take Bart to Powell Station (should be about $6-9 and it takes 20 mins ) that��s Union Square. http://www.bart.gov/ for schedule..I just love the weather and the diverse culture here!! Traffic can be hectic but still bearable. Public transport is great! You can always take Bart, ferries, bus, taxi or cable car etc. However, if you don��t have much time or want to travel beyond the city �C I think a car would help a lot. Yes, you have to pay for parking, but save you time to go more places faster.. Try the ��City Sightseeing Open Top Bus Tour�� which is about $30. ��This unique open-topped bus tour of San Francisco includes four different routes, the Downtown Loop, the Golden Gate Loop, the Park Loop, and the Night Loop.�� You re free to hop on and off as often as you want on the downtown loop.Embarcadero is wicked nice, and it s not THAT far, so you could really just walk down it to the Ferry Building. http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/ On Saturdays they do a nice farmer s market and you can get lots of good stuff. Walk down to Pier 39.GET THE San Franciso POPOUT Maps�� I loves these POPOUT map- you get to see where you are- =) No Thinking required, especially on vacation. (Look at the pictures.)I have about 20 of these map of different cities.. It was so useful when I was in Europe! To Save money: get the ��Go San Francisco��, http://www.smartdestinations.com/san-fra�� Cable Car (Union Sq to Ferry BuildingPier 39Alcatraz or Angel Island Japan townLombard StreetChinatownCoit TowerFishermen s Wharf Union Square for ShoppingGolden Gate Park �C Walk across the bridgeAcademy of Science Union StreetOcean BeachExploratoriumPalace of Fine ArtsSan Francisco ZooWestfield Shopping CentreDeYoung MuseumYerba Buena GardensSF Giants Fair at AT T Park Take the ferry to Tiburon or SausalitoSegates is a great way to travel around the city.Gray Line s Yosemite in a day- Daily depart 7am San Francisco Giants- Baseball Game49ers- Football gamesWinchester Mystery House Mansion- overrated. Gray Line s Motorized Cable Car City Tour *_~ Unique places in San Francisco -�� Must be Open minded and bring your camera for tons of pics.!! We always bring our guest from out of town to these places. Have early dinner at Asia SF about 6pm and then a show at Beach Blanket Babylon.. They loved it and never forget SF. �� For half price shows/comedy/sports etc.. Try www.goldstar.com�� Academy of Science during the night time- $10 buy ticket in advance. http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-garden-san-f�� - Try the pho challengehttp://sf.backpage.com/community/classif��San Jose- Winchester Mystery House and Great Mall outlets in Milpitas. Santa Cruz area- 30 mins from San Jose and less than an hour away south of San Francisco Santa Cruz Beach Boalkwalk - http://www.beachboardwalk.com/ The Mystery Spot : http://www.mysteryspot.com/ Another 20 mins away- The famous Monterey Bay Aquarium/Pier- stay overnight. (Romantic)check out the beautiful shore of Carmel to view Pebble Beach.Napa Wine Country is about 2 hours north of San Francisco. They have wine tour that brings you there form any SF hotels. Visit their outlet and Wines tours. Yummy!