The best advice one can get when visiting another city is to do that of the locals. Here are my top five places I believe are worth skipping when visiting my fair City and five I believe you have got to see.
#1 TO SKIP: Powell Street and Union Square shopping/eating.
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
This entire area outside of the Powell Bart station is infested with an overload of tourists and people who are just trying to get past them to get to work or school. Union Square and Powell are overcrowded and have nothing to offer that you most likely haven't already seen. Victoria's Secret, H&M, and any other name brand franchise (even Lori's Diner; There's one on every corner in SF) aren't going anywhere. Please, don't waste your precious vacation on going to the mall when you probably have one just like it in your own town.
#1 TO GO: Haight/Ashbury District
Photo credit: Mysi Ann (via Flickr)
Instead, mosey down Haight Street for
shopping/eating and relive the 60s at the little local boutiques, coffee shops, and eateries. Support the small businesses and you will be rewarded with their fun, quirky presence instead of being swallowed by mainstream commercialism.
(Here is
a cool community page from Haight/Ashbury featuring helpful, colorful, interactive links like "Local Events," "Shop Haight," "Art and Culture," and "SF Nightlife.")
#2 TO SKIP: Golden Gate Bridge
(Only if it's terribly foggy and overcrowded...but then when is it not?)
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
This is still and will always be a major landmark and I'm not saying you have to or even should skip it, but if it happens to be, as said, overcrowded and too foggy, you might need to. The postcard pictures can be picked up at any souvenir shop for miles around and as far as we know this beauty of architecture is not going anywhere either.
#2 TO GO: Bay bridge to Berkeley, CA
Photo credit: John Martinez Pavliga (via Flickr)
Instead, take a detour from your itinerary and take the Oakland Bay Bridge to
Berkeley for the day. No, it's not San Francisco but it's a close, nice digression from the bustling City. You especially might want to take a stroll down Telegraph Avenue. Reminisce of the Haight/Ashbury bohemian scene, only more of a college town (
UC Berkeley), Telegraph has many little treasures to offer and look at.
#3 TO SKIP: Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
This is probably four times as crowded as Union Square and is typically a zoo of kids and people clambering to the souvenir shops and restaurants. If you must, try the famous clam chowder and see the view -- go on a weekday morning or early afternoon.
#3 TO GO: Pier 33 to Alcatraz
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
Instead, you should not miss taking
a boatride from Pier 33 to Alcatraz Island. The eerie history and gorgeous views to and from Alcatraz are the pull here. Once a high-security prison home to famous gangster Al Capone, now an intriguing museum and overall great experience, Alcatraz is worth overlooking Pier 39, literally.
#4 TO SKIP: Starbucks
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
Don't tell me you've never been. Even if you haven't and somehow don't have one in your town, believe me you are not missing anything. Starbucks is the McDonalds of Coffee chains.
#4 TO GO: Peet's Coffee and Tea or any other local coffee shop
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
Peet's Coffee and Tea (based locally from Berkeley, CA), Blue Bottle Coffee Co., Philz, or Ritual Coffee Roasters are all the top choice places to get the best lattes and teas. (See again #1 of where to go and what I said about supporting local businesses.)
Finally, last but not least:
#5 TO SKIP: The standard tour of San Francisco (especially if on an obnoxious double-decker bus with one loud megaphone)
Photo by: Tearsa Joy Hammock
I don't even have to explain this one. You know you look ridiculous riding on a big bus that is zebra striped, barn red, or looks like a big duck.
#5 TO GO: Be the guide of your own itinerary and try something off the beaten path.
Photo by: Topher at GoCar Tours
Instead,
get your own itinerary,
be your own guide, and check out a couple of things the average tourist misses. For example, the little yellow, three-wheeled
GoCar Tour. A highlight I tried right before I moved to San Francisco.
But, don't take my word for it. Come see for yourself.
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