I wouldn’t exactly say I left my heart there but I have fond memories of San Francisco.
I spent four days in San Fran in 1997 with my mother. I was just 20 at the time and we had great fun. We house-sat a flat belonging to a friend of a friend in the Mission District and we played tourist. I remember the gorgeous colourful Victorian and Georgian houses in Haight Ashbury, having tea in the Japanese Gardens in Golden Gate Park, visiting a small museum in Chinatown about the history of the Chinese community in San Francisco, visiting a bath house and riding the trams up the crazy hills. The highlight for me was the day we rented bicycles at Fisherman’s Wharf and riding them along the bay, over the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito for lunch and the ferry back to town.
I always thought that San Francisco was one of the few US cities that I would be happy to live in. It’s a physically attractive city with a cosmopolitan atmosphere – quite a bit like my home town of Sydney but with fog. It’s also one of the few US cities where you don’t need to drive a car.
It’s funny the way life works out because now I am going to live there. My husband was offered a transfer from his company and we thought it sounded like a great opportunity for new adventures. We’ve been in London five years and we don’t envisage ourselves settling here permanently. We’ll probably move back to Australia at some point but San Francisco sounds like a great transition point – and it’s also a lot closer to home. (It’s a 14-hour direct flight from San Francisco to Sydney, as opposed to the 24-hour two-flight ordeal from London to Sydney).
My husband left for San Francisco yesterday and he’s there now, staying in temporary corporate accommodation on the bay. I’ll be joining him as soon as I sort out my paperwork with the US Embassy and have the appropriate visa in my passport (something that should be straightforward since I’m piggy-backing on my husband’s visa). In the mean time, I’m packing up things here and saying my goodbyes to London.
I would love to hear your best tips and recommendations for San Francisco. I’ve only spent four days there, 12 years ago, and my husband has never been before. So please tell us where’s good to live, and where are the good restaurants, cafes, book stores, clothing stores, markets, cool art galleries and museums, theatres, parks, sporting activities, day trips out of town and so on.
As an incentive I’m offering prizes – travel books and guides from my own bookshelves (so you’ll also be recycling and helping me reduce my packing). I will pay for postage but some books are heavy so I reserve the right to use surface mail if you are on the other side of the world. The books may be registered on BookCrossing.
You can enter in one of two ways. Either leave a comment for this post with your recommendations, or write a post about San Francisco on your own blog and include a link back to this post and my home page. I will acknowledge all contestants and link to their blogs in a follow-up post. Winners will get to choose their prizes from the list below and I’ll choose my favourites (with random draw as Plan B).
I have on offer:
Travel writing (world)
- The Best American Travel Writing 2007 (edited by Susan Orlean)
- Lonely Planet… On the Edge, Adventurous Escapades From Around the World (edited by Cecil Kuhne)
- A Writer’s World – Travels 1950-2000 by Jan Morris
Travel writing – Asia
- Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron (hardback)
Travel writing – Arctic
- The Snow Geese by William Fiennes
Travel writing – Africa:
- Red Tape and White Knuckles by Lois Pryce
- Traversa by Fran Sandham (hardback)
London:
- London, The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
- Walking Dickensian London by Richard Jones (walking guide)
- Veggie & Organic London by Russell Rose (restaurant and shopping guide)
- Eat London by Peter Prescott and Terence Conran (restaurant and shopping guide meets recipe book and map)
Guide books (non-London):
- Time Out Vienna (2003 edition)
- Time Out Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent & Bruges (2002 edition)
- Rough Guide to Europe (2002 edition)
- Lonely Planet Italy (2004 edition)
- Lonely Planet Walking in Italy (2003 edition)
- Footprint Uganda Handbook (2002 but actually still the current edition)
- Bradt Guide to Syria (2006 edition – current)
Of course, if none of the above books appeal, you can still take part for the fun of it.
Photos by Thomas Hawk and Anirudh Koul, published under a Creative Commons licence.
Tours of San Francisco with Urban Adventures
I don’t have any real tips about S.F. as I’ve only spent 3 days there myself. Love the city though, and looking forward to going back up there for a few days this coming Xmas.
BTW, you can look forward to these kinds of sunsets from now on!
Congratulations to the move and good luck.
I’m caligula03 on BookCrossing and I saw your initial announcement on the BCUK group. I currently live in the east bay part of the Bay Area near the San Mateo bridge.
If you don’t want to drive… then trying to rent in SF will be your best option. I can’t give specific suggestions because I’ve never tried living in SF.
If you want to live near but not necessarily in the city, you can live on the peninsula. Daly City and Pacifica are affordable and close to SF. BART is near by. Farther down the peninsula there’s San Mateo, Redwood City, Mountain View and other small cities. For them, there is CalTrain if you don’t want to drive into the City.
On the other side of the Bay (longer commute but more affordable) are places like Hayward, Castro Valley, Dublin and Pleasanton… all have access to BART for the commute into SF.
For more information about commuting, 511.org is a must. You can also use that website to get the FasTrak transponder if you have a car to prepay your bridge tolls.
If you want to ask me specific questions, send me a message through BookCrossing and we can either talk via email, twitter or telephone (once you’re local).
Caitin,
You certainly have a knack for living in beautiful cities. S.F. is definitely one of my favorite places in the U.S. One spot not to miss is the Ferry Building Marketplace http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/
Terrific food–most of it organic–and great views to look at while you eat it. I had a sandwich at Mastrellis Delicatessan that I still recall fondly. The view of the harbor from the bench on which I was sitting made my lunch even more memorable.
If I am a winner, I would like Susan Orlean’s “Best American Travel Writing 2007″. She is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed the Orchid Thief so much, I’m actually re-reading it now.
Hooray! You’ll love it. Why don’t you email me, and I can shed a little light on where you might look for an apartment. Remind me how old you are, what your monthly budget is, and where you live in London (and whether or not you like it). Will you be freelancing? Such exciting news…
I don’t have a tip about SF, only…HAVE FUN living there!!
I’ve only visited San Francisco and that was many years ago. I’ll leave the advice to those more knowledgeable. But you’ll be positioned to explore a beautiful part of the U.S., including California, Oregon and Washington coasts. Don’t forget to venture over to the southwestern desert country of Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Happy moving.
Welcome to SF! Check out my What a Trip, Travels from Northern California blog for plenty of things to see and do when you make it to San Francisco.
http://www.nancydbrown.com/journal/2009/3/17/i-heart-my-city-nancy-d-browns-san-francisco.html
I’m on Twitter, too, @Nancydbrown
Greens is an awesome vegan restaurant.
The Fairmont is a beautiful old hotel in the grand style, and they have a lovely high tea service.
City Lights Bookstore is a historic site as well as a fantastic independent bookstore, owned by beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Chinatown is awfully fun and, of course, you can get fantastic Chinese food at about a hundred different places.
Golden Gate Park is so awesome. You could spend every weekend there and never grow tired of it.
Museums! Museums! Museums!
San Francisco has maybe the second most interesting Halloween celebration (after New York City) in the country.
Muir Woods outside of San Fran makes for a lovely weekend outing. So does Saulsalito.
San Francisco is a great walking city. All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes and your own sharp eyes and you can be easily entertained for hours, just taking in the sights and the people and the action.
Oh, and even though it’s a tourist attraction, pay Alcatraz a visit. It really makes for a fun day.
Congrats on your upcoming move! San Francisco is a fantastic city — I went to school in California and spent a lot time making day trips to “the City.” Any advice I can give you is, I’m sure, wildly out of date, but know that since you’ll be on the West coast, should you find yourself Seattle bound, you know what to do…we have plenty of room for guest at Casa Nerd’s Eye View.
wander into tiny hole-in-a-wall restaurants and eat! (specifically in china town). or head over and wander around berkely’s campus. it’s beautiful.
So sorry, never been but now I know you’re going I shall be planning to come & pay you a call.
You might try the walking tour podcasts by Chris at Amateur Traveler – he’s a local
http://amateurtraveler.com/2005/12/31/sound-seeing-tour-1-san-francisco-part-1/
http://amateurtraveler.com/2006/01/09/sound-seeing-tour-2-san-francisco-part-2/
and for your more stylish self, there’s the Design Sponge guide
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/08/san-francisco-design-guide-2.html
PS – I’d like to go walking in Italy or see Antwerp
Many of the tips that I mentioned to you in person have already been mentioned, so I’ll just add a few details. I second Steven’s suggestion that the Ferry Terminal is brilliant. If you’ve got a sweet tooth like me, Recchiuti Confections is amazing. Brilliant chocolates. Suw always picks up a bottle of wine at the Wine Merchant there for me when she’s there on business.
Suw, who gets there much more often than I do these days, suggests Ritual Roasters. Peets is lovely. If tea is more your thing, Samovar is lovely. Cafe Flore in the Castro is good although the service is a bit laid back. If you like sushi, try Tokyo Go Go or Blowfish.
I’m a big fan of North Beach. There are a couple of great Italian coffee shops right across the park from Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio got married.
You’re going to have a great time. Suw and I swing might be heading out that way next year. Keep in touch!
Hi! I was recommended to write you a post through 101ofawolf. I’ve lived in San Francisco for the last 3 years now. I hope my experience helps you out!
. You can also look up James Beard award winners and SF Michilen Guide winners.
Living:
I’ve lived in the Mission since moving here. My girlfriend lives in Upper Haight (Haight & Ashbury to tourists). I much prefer the Mission because of the diversity, central location, easy access to light rail (J-Church), BART and buses that go downtown and to the ocean. Parks of the Mission are rather gritty, though, so if you want something “low-risk” or nicer I would recommend Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights or even North Beach/Telegraph Hill. Mission is proud to be one of the hippest neighborhoods in the city. Growth here is mainly in gourmet street food (literally restaurants with carts), bicycle design shops, and DIY everything. There are also a lot of good cafes and baked good shops (Mission Pies, Four Barrel Roasting, Revolution Cafe, Phillz Coffee).
Restaurants:
My girlfriend and I eat out a lot. I this last night and counted only 8 places I had been on the list. The Bay Area is full of uh-mazing food. I don’t know what price range you’re looking for, but I’ll go from high to low for restaurants you have to go to: French Laundry in Napa County, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Michael Mina, Baretta, El Raigon, Burma Superstar. Start with those as guides
Cafes: (I’m assuming you mean quality coffee and good ambiance..with WiFi).
1. Blue Bottle Cafe in Mint Plaza
2. Revolution Cafe in the Mission
3. Four Barrell Roasting in the Mission
4. Cafe Trieste in North Beach
5. Phillz Coffee in the Mission
Book Stores:
1. City Lights in North Beach
2. Green Apple in The Richmond
3. Walk on Valencia St. from 17th to 22nd and you’ll run into my favorite 4.
4. Forrest Books in the Mission
Clothing Stores:
Union Square for the biggest boutique stores you also have in London. Haight St., Marina, Pacific Heights and (once again) Valencia St. for the rest.
Markets:
1. Ferry Building Farmer’s Market Friday-Saturday
2. Civic Center Farmer’s Market Wednesday and Sunday
3. Crocker Galleria on Tuesday?
4. Alemany Farmer’s Market on weekends.
5. Rainbow Co-op for all things veggie and cheese.
6. Whole Foods for overprices things.
7. Drewes Bros. for meet.
Theaters:
Majors in order of greatness: Kabuki Theater in Japantown, Embarcadero Center on the Waterfront, Metreon in SoMA and Westfield Theater in SoMA. Indie: Rid Vic Theater in Upper Haight, Castro in the Castro, Lumiere on California and the Roxie, Victoria and Brava in the Mission.
Parks:
Dolores, Golden Gate Park, Presidio, Glen Park, South Park, McClaren
Sporting:
Get a bike and some running shoes, this city is full of amazing trails and bike paths. I’ve seen football/soccer, sailing, softball, baseball, rugby, squash, tennis, biking and running groups. There are plenty of gyms in every neighborhood and in the universities. Almost every park has at least tennis court (there are something like 54 court areas in the city). There are a few golf courses, disc golf and of course…surfing!
Day Trips:
There is no way I will do any justice to this list. I can give you the three major directions and what’s within a 2-3 hour drive though.
North: Sonoma and Napa wine tasting. Muir Woods for hiking, Mt. Tam for hiking, biking, etc. Beaching galore!
South: Santa Cruz Mountains (ever read “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests”?), Santa Cruz, Monterrey Aquarium, Pebble Beach golf course, Big Sur State Park.
East: Central Valley (boring), but then the Sierra Nevada Mountains and especially Lake Tahoe.
I may not have giving you descriptive things do to time, but I would recommend you look a few of these up.
However, you will find that the people you meet will be more than happy to answer your questions or to tell you about what they love in the Bay Area. I have left my heart here and I don’t know how I can imagine leaving at this point. You should have my email if you have any questions.
My roommate is a bookseller, so I’m not looking to win any books unless you need to get rid of them
.
Good luck and welcome!
Wow what a fantastically detailed comment – thanks for taking the time. – Caitlin.
I went to San Francisco for my honeymoon after eloping… beautiful city, I didn’t want to leave! All the big things have been mentioned, but my favourite thing to do was hunting down all the locations for one of my favourite Hitchcock films, Vertigo – http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/v/vertigo_1.html
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