San Francisco Travel Tips: Planning, Packing, Getting Around, What To Do

no big adventures for this week but we're going to talk about something equally as important what to know before you go to San Francisco travel tips read after this while being spontaneous is an awesome way to discover those little unexpected bonuses while you're on your adventure a little planning goes a long way in optimizing your experience as with any major city there are those activities that are so popular that they book up well in advance in San Francisco this includes the infamous Alcatraz Island tours which are only available for booking up to 90 days in advance and then are sold out almost immediately Tours can only be booked via alcatraz cruises which is the official concessioner of the National Park Service you can either book online or go directly to their booth which is on pier 33 in San Francisco if you go to any other tour vendor just make sure that it's legit and that what you're purchasing is an actual tour of the island and not just a ferry drive by now that you've got your activities all planned out pack accordingly so that you are not freezing or sweating your butt off while you're trying to enjoy your activities while we are in the beautiful sunny state of California San Francisco is known as the foggy City for a reason being by the ocean keeps the weather fairly temperate all year around and what that means is that there are not a lot of fluctuations from season to season it probably goes from a high in the mid 50 degrees Fahrenheit or about 8 degrees Celsius for the non-us folks in the wintertime to a high in the low 70s or around 21 degrees Celsius during the summer time however the temperature does change quite noticeably throughout the day it starts out fairly chilly in the early mornings with that legendary fog rolling in warms up quite pleasantly midday and then drops to somewhat more tepid temperatures in the evening and then hold at nighttime the key to preparing for all of these weather changes throughout the day is layers layers and more layers be prepared to strip off or put clothes back on as the need arises generally I will start with a base layer of a t-shirt or a tank and then put on top of that a long-sleeve shirt or a button-up shirt alternatively in the winter I'll also add in a sweater and then my outer layer is generally a light jacket during the summertime and a heavy jacket in the wintertime that I can slip on during the cold mornings and the cold evenings as well also sometimes carry a knit hat and knit gloves just in case also since San Francisco so hilly the temperature will vary dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood if you go up to Twin Peaks or mount Davidson the windchill up there will knock your socks off that same day you could head down to Mission District or Noe Valley and it will be sunny beautiful and t-shirt weather speaking of hills you will be doing a lot of walking up and down some really steep ones so pack sensible shoes while it may be tempting to wear flip-flops during the summer time what I find is that they don't stay very well on your feet when you're going uphill I would also advise against really tall heels for the women it's challenging enough trying to balance on those things without throwing in the complications of Hills and you don't want to ruin your vacation by stumbling and breaking an ankle so when you get here I really recommend that you do not rent a car parking in San Francisco is difficult and expensive if you're couchsurfing or staying at an Airbnb chances are you're going to be at the mercy of the street parking lots and if you're staying at a hotel it will cost an arm and a leg and they'll probably only have valet parking plus if you're staying within the city you don't really need a car there's plenty of other transportation options although it can be confusing for crosstown commutes public transportation is the locals option of choice I say confusing because here within the Bay Area there are like six different transit systems if you're staying within San Francisco most likely you'll be writing Muni which consists of buses Light Rail trains and cable cars I'll include a link to the Muni website in the description box below and definitely take a look and get to know the system in advance if you plan to use it also try not to take Muni at night more on that later in this video for medium distance commutes taxis and rideshare services like uber and lyft are super convenient and there are always a ton of drivers waiting around for fares plus the door-to-door is great and finally for short distances that are just a little bit too long to walk a scooter and a bike share services were recently introduced to San Francisco it's pretty easy to use generally they're just lying around on the sidewalk waiting for somebody to rent it you go ahead pick it up travel to where you need to go and then leave the bike there on the sidewalk ready for the next person to use they're relatively cheap to rent and I made a video on this not too long ago which I'll link to the end of this video in case you're interested in learning more if you plan to get out of town for some day trips you will definitely need to rent a car or arrange for some other type of transportation for the more popular spots like wine country there are a ton of tour buses that will happily take you out there however if you need your own set of wheels check out some car sharing services like zip cars which operate very similar to bike shares keep in mind though that they do require a pretty involved application process before you can rent so try to get that taken care of before you leave on your trip on the topic of getting around the city keep in mind that like all large cosmopolitan areas San Francisco has its share of homeless people and sketch neighborhoods you will sometimes find urban beggars hanging around major streets like market at the street intersections and even near Muni stations you may even encounter some beggars on the trains and buses to improve your safety and minimize your contact try to only take public transportation during the day switch over to taxi and ride-sharing services at night while it can be distasteful considerate part of the city's grittier diaspora as these encounters are largely unavoidable if you want to get around what you can avoid are some of the rougher neighborhoods San Francisco is such a tightly packed space that it's not unusual for some of the really nice neighborhoods to be right smack up against a ghetto the Tenderloin one of SF grittiest neighborhoods is right next to Union Square and if you wander too far west you may inadvertently end up there the Civic Center area is also not great but that's where you're gonna find City Hall the Public Library the Symphony Hall the Opera House in Asian art museum some neighborhoods like the Mission District have gone through gentrification over the last couple of decades and are generally safe however there are still some speedier elements around the fringes speaking of museums and performance halls while it has a nice collection San Francisco in general is not known for having a world-class arts and cultural so don't be spending a lot of time at the museums instead people come here for the wonderful outdoor activities the diversity of the neighborhood and for the fantastic foodie scene and here is my final tip as cosmopolitan as San Francisco is it tends to shut down early for the night most of the restaurants are done by midnight and the bars stop serving alcohol at 2:00 a.m. for the good and the bad most of the people come to San Francisco for the culture and the natural beauty of the place so partying really is just not a priority if you really want to enjoy San Francisco to the fullest do as a locals do and go to bed early wake up at the crack of dawn and take a magnificent hike and then go and explore some of the many historical working and thanks for watching and if you've any questions about your next trip to San Francisco feel free to leave me a note in the comment section down below until next time [Music]

Channel: Zeene InRealLife

Views: 115,677

Keywords: San Francisco Travel Tips, San Francisco packing, San Francisco what to wear, San Francisco weather, San Francisco homeless, San Francisco public transportation, San Francisco bad neighborhoods, Zeene In Real Life

Id: WTEFlmxtOww

Length: 8min 46sec (526 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 08 2018