10 MUST KNOW TIPS Before Visiting San Francisco

like it or not san francisco changes every few decades the gold rush the summer of love the tech boom this city means something different to everyone the city or sf is a city of opportunity and innovation but it's also a city of wtf because it's full of dichotomies it's beautiful and dirty it's culturally diverse and homogeneous it's so expensive but has an ever increasing visible homeless population throughout the city i was born in san francisco and i've lived in and out of the city my entire life i've seen visitors come in and out of the city leaving san francisco with an absolute fascination dying to come back while i've also heard other people saying they didn't really like it much because they didn't really know where to go beyond all of the extremely touristy destinations that they may have seen on some travel blog about san francisco so in today's video we are going to talk about the top local things you need to know before your trip to san francisco [Music] [Music] if you are planning to visit here yes this is california but do not come to san francisco with shorts and tank tops san francisco is seven by seven square miles and we have something called micro climates every mile you go the weather changes on one block you could be sitting outside having a great brunch which is a pastime in san francisco wearing a t-shirt enjoying the sun but by walking just a few streets down the wind will start blowing the fog rolls in and it gets cold by california standards if warm sunny weather is your concern the best time to visit san francisco is september and october and no matter when you are visiting san francisco always bring layers jackets and sweatshirts are must pack items san francisco has an extremely open accepting tolerance of anything outlandish absurd and freaky we say more power to you if you want to wear a unicorn costume and walk through golden gate park on any given day do you we also don't care if you show up to dinner in leggings and a flannel or thigh high boots and a dress wear whatever you want to wear there's no pressure here you can also choose to not wear anything if your heart so desires because being naked in san francisco is totally legal and ever so often you might see someone exercising this right but it's not that common so don't get your hopes up if you want to get real freaky and you're here in september check out the folsom street fair this is a full-on leather festival if you know what i mean so be warned this is the freakiest public display you will ever see on stage out for free at a festival in san francisco good luck so what i'm saying is generally san francisco is a city of non-conformity but it does have many personalities each neighborhood has its own look vibe and feel so you can almost accurately stereotype someone based on the neighborhood that they live in for example if i were to say he lives in the marina we immediately picture a bro wearing a popped collar sandals probably khaki shorts and definitely talking about his old fraternity if you see someone wearing a t-shirt with a startup name and a puffy vest or jacket from let's say patagonia or any other high-end outdoor brand that is the tech sector uniform people in san francisco love to dress up in costume you might be entering a bar and everyone is in costume or you might be taking the bart and everyone is in costume every year we have the bay to breakers where people run from the bay to the ocean and directly after that morning race the rest of the city walks the race and it becomes a huge costume party most everyone is wearing a ridiculous costume or nothing at all in san francisco you do not need a car because public transportation is cheap and reliable enough keyword enough walking the city is really the best way to see the city and see all the different neighborhoods the city is linked by two main public transportations muni and bart muni is the bus and metro system that operate throughout the entire city operating buses trains and cable cars bart is the underground metro system and it doesn't always run on time you could be waiting for 5 minutes or 20 minutes sometimes so it's best to check the schedules and make sure you plan ahead with these public transportation options the last bart train runs around midnight so if you are late night partying you can probably just take a lift if you do have a car and you want to use it to get around the city that's totally fine but you need to do this before you do anything download a parking app to keep your car safe you need to do this because break-ins happen all the time every day don't ever leave anything visible in your car honestly don't even leave anything in the trunk it's just not worth the break-ins they do happen all the time so make sure that you download either of these two apps spot hero or parking panda i use spot hero and it's so great i can find parking in the city for like five sometimes ten dollars for entire 24 hours there's usually a parking attendant where i park or it's in a gated garage area so it's super useful and very necessary overall san francisco's neighborhoods are not dangerous however unlike cities where most of their homeless are relegated to one area of the city san francisco's homeless population is visible throughout the entire city and for this reason there's no single area that you can avoid if you don't want to deal with this there is a correlation between homelessness and psychiatric issues and drug addiction and people visiting are often unprepared or upset by some of these interactions so i recommend that you avoid a neighborhood called the tenderloin avoid it at all costs this neighborhood is known for its street drug trade and is dense with homelessness and people with drug addiction and psychiatric issues sometimes they can get aggressive the tenderloin does border some of san francisco's most prominent shopping and tourist districts and while there are many delicious restaurants in the tenderloin that i've frequented before if you're traveling to san francisco if you're a visitor here i just recommend that you navigate away from the tenderloin because there are a lot of people on those streets that are dealing with drug addiction the hills are real you will totally get your best calf workout ever by just walking around the city san francisco wouldn't be the city without these crazy hills but the great thing about walking around san francisco and hiking up all of these hills is well number one you gotta work out and number two you got views of the city and the bay from so many different vantage points i am in my favorite place in san francisco right now i'm sitting at the edge of the cliffs of land's end where there are a ton of coastal trail hikes this is one of my favorite spots to come to when i feel like i need to get out of the city because there's a ton of coastal trail hikes around here and it feels removed it feels kind of remote it's just very peaceful and quiet [Music] [Applause] [Music] if you haven't heard this a million times san francisco is a very expensive city but there are so many places that you can walk around for free and you can really enjoy san francisco on a budget from a local's perspective honestly i would say all the free spots in san francisco are the best spots to go to because you can enjoy the outdoors you can enjoy the nature the parks you don't have to be spending money every single day in san francisco walking around and going to all these free open areas is part of the whole experience so save your money and enjoy some of these free places that are also must-see spots in san francisco the palace of fine arts baker beach sutro baths golden gate park washington square park land's end within a day's drive of san francisco you have everything you could ever want meer woods is a very famous old grove redwood forest which is just across the golden gate bridge in marin county you can drive a little bit further north and visit napa valley and sonoma county which is our wine country you can also head east about four hours and visit yosemite national park during the winter months you can truly go surfing in the morning here in pacifica which is just south of san francisco and skiing in the afternoon if you head to lake tahoe where most of the ski resorts are in northern california there's really no end to all the adventuring here in san francisco and all the surrounding areas for all of you budding explorers or anyone that hasn't visited the san francisco bay area there are countless opportunities to venture further from the city which will give you that entire california experience there's really no reason not to visit san francisco you're gonna have a great time and it's guaranteed to be memorable for everyone watching if you're san francisco bay area locals comment down below if i missed some insider local tips to share with everyone else to share with everyone else in the world thanks for watching thanks for being here everyone and if you have not subscribed go ahead and subscribe to my youtube channel right there click the thumbs up and until next time take on the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Haley Takes On the World

Views: 246,300

Keywords: haley dasovich, haley takes on the world, san francisco travel tips, san francisco travel guide, san francisco travel video, things to do in san francisco, san francisco on a budget, san francisco best places to visit, free things to do in san francisco, san francisco things, san francisco vacation, how to spend 24 hours in san francisco, traveling to san francisco right now

Id: GJ1W0dXQuaI

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020