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Bloody work are sending me to San Francisco for 10 days next week!
Got an apartment down town so any good shouts for things to do within city?
Will also have a weekend over there, thinking about getting a car for few days to get to Yosemite but anywhere else to visit 2-4 hours drive of SF?
Bit saddened to see Cardiff-by-the-Sea being bit too far south!
The best bit of advice you will get is to take warm clothing. Mark Twain is attributed as saying "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."
San Francisco is an interesting place - Alcatraz, the pier area, good walks to the Golden Gate Bridge along the water front, good tram journeys in the city etc. but my geography and memory are not good enough to recommend locations to visit within 2 hours of San Francisco.
Go to the 'City Lights' bookstore in North Beach. Kerouac and Ginsberg and many other beat poets hung out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Namaste
If that's your thing of course
Hi, San Fran is fantastic one of my favorite cities, as mentioned Alcatraz is a must, but you have to book in advance it is not unusual to be fully booked up 10 days in advance.
Yosemite is a great shout, worth the drive just to stand underneath el capitan.
Lake Tahoe is also a nice place to go, nothing much actually there, but the drive and landscape is fantastic if you like that sort of thing.
I would jump on the southbound (1) road not to be mistaken with the 101 which is a major highway.
the 1 road hugs the coastline all the way down the coast with lots of interesting stops, including beaches full of seals and the Big Sur.
the road continues down to santa barbara and LA, but for you I would drive to Big Sur aprox 3 hours drive eachway from san fran.
I have always wanted to take a boat trip to the farralon islands off San Francisco and watch great white sharks as its a well known feeding zone for them but I still get scared watching jaws so that's a non starter
Tahoe would be awesome a month ago with the autumn colours. Yosemite and the Sierra national park are amazingbut dont underestimate the drive. There is a Mobil garage at the start of the Tioga pass that does decent food and is something of a landmark.
Given your limited time there are some things id not bother with: Napa valley; Monterey, and the big Sur. Monterey Aint that great and Napa is nice enough but not worth it if you only have a weekend. The big Sur is incredible but Not really sure what you would do for a full weekend if it's your only one there.
San Francisco itself Is good fun. The 49ers are having a brilliant year, are they playing At home and if so can you get tickets? Failing that you could try a raiders game.
Just walk around and explore the city. There's loads of cool and interesting stuff there. Eat Mexican food. Go to Chinatown. Take a raincoat.
I've been a couple of times, but on 3 week holidays so had a car and loads of time. I would just stay in SF itself if you don't have more than a week. Highway 1 & Big Sur are amazing but it's quite a drive down there and back again. Yosemite is also amazing but you'd definitely need to check how accessible it will be from now until late spring. We drove from Monterrey to Yosemite last year at Easter and some of the passes are closed. We drove from Yosemite all the way up to Lake Tahoe and Reno to get around the mountains as it was the only possible route over to Death Valley. As NYC says, there's tons of great stuff to see inside SF and definitely enough for a week. It's quite small in comparison to most main US cities. I'd rent a mountain bike and see the city that way. Ride over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausolito and take the ferry back with the bike. Get a bike from this place: https://basicallyfree.com/ You get the full value of the bike rental back as a discount in a huge sports outlet type place, located on the way to the GG Bridge called Sports Basement, really good cheap shop. Amazing deal. The bikes are also really good Specialized ones.
Check out The Castro gay district, loads of good pubs and restaurants round there. Big civil rights history to the area too.
Fishermans Wharf is super touristy but the sea lions are brilliant!
Definitely go to Alcatraz. Make sure you book in advance. The audio tour is fantastic and super interesting. Narrated by ex convicts who did time there. Way better than we expected it to be.
It's quite a manageable city on foot and the trams are also good to nip around the city. (not the historic ones, there's always big queues for those)
The homeless situation might be a bit of a shock to some. Not many places in the world have so much wealth and abject poverty literally living on top of one another!
Enjoy though, its a really fun city
One more recommendation. Get pizza from Golden Boy in Telegraph Hill/North Beach. Amazing pizza together with brilliant beers!
http://www.goldenboypizza.com/
The Columbus Cafe pub almost next door is good too.
Head up RT101 to the ‘Avenue of Giants’ , it’s a nice drive through the tall trees.Quote:
Originally Posted by Namaste
As for Cardiff by the Sea, I was there last week, there’s not much there, but the Italian restaurant on the main road is run by a guy who used to live in Cardiff.
Like someone else said, if you don’t want to go to far, hire a bike from one of the shops around fisherman’s wharf, take a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge and drop down the hill to Sausalito. Beautiful little village, with plenty of restaurants and then get the boat back over to Pier 39, passing by Alcatraz.
Is there some sarcasm in your first sentence?
I wish I had such work trips. My previous job included long stints in Tonbridge, Coventry, London and four months in the Las Vegas of the North...............'Middlesbrough'
Just got back myself (plus I have been recently on holiday too)Quote:
Originally Posted by Namaste
Take warm clothing!
Things to do:
Visit Alcatraz
Take a Bay Cruise (one hour takes you from pier 43 1/2 down to Golden Gate Bridge and back)
Hire a bike (or ebike really!) and cycle to Golden Gate Bridge, along the shore line to the financial centre - that bit is all flat. Good exercise and good fun.
Ride the trams
Hire a car and drive round the Monterey peninsular to Carmel and Pebble Beach.
Big Bus tour gets you all over the city with commentary - hop on and off. Good value.
Loads more....
My previous Job got me to Dubai 2 times, Australia, Texas, Italy, Spain and around the UK, the current Job has no off site destinations :frown:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peajay
Jim Kerr and the boys have announced a tour down under next year :biggrin:
26, November Kings Park Perth, it's highly unlikely that I can do it but it will not be for the want of trying, over 30 years following the band what a way it would be to end it :ayatollah:, we do have another trip planned health permitting, but not until 'er indoors' retires which is prolly 3 years.
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Neve mind Jim Kerr and the boys, have you seen who is supporting them??
Yes :hehe:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peajay
I went to Lisbon to see them last month, dont think I'll be allowed to go to Oz in Nov, although I'm on official count down to my trip down under in Feb ;-)
1st time I saw SM (1986) OMD were on the bill, the generator blew up whilst OMD were playing, OMD were on the tour a few years ago as well, you will enjoy down under guaranteed :thumbup: you should have waited though until the dates were announced :hehe:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peajay
I'll send you PM
Did Cardiff by the Sea on the drive up from San Diego to LA to catch a flight home to UK.Quote:
Originally Posted by Namaste
It’s a good surfers beach on the Pacific Ocean and was a good stop off on the scenic coast road.
Bought the tee shirt as well as taking the photo of the sign