Your one stop destination for travel information....  

city stamp Reviews on San Francisco

When you have finished reading this review on San Francisco indicate if the review was helpful and please consider adding some comments or write a review...
Name: San Francisco, California, USA
Good Points: It doesnt get too hot - even in summer, plenty to offer the visitor.
Bad Points: Not a lot, except we managed to collect a parking ticket!
Review: We stayed on Fisherman's Wharf, which is an ideal location in many ways, but many of the shops in the area are a bit tacky, but if you're only in the city for a few days and you're planning to visit Alcatraz, which is a 'must see' attraction, then Fisherman's Wharf is a great location as the pier and embarkation point are actually on the Wharf. The pier is also a collection and drop off point for many of the city bus tours which are also highly recommended.

As for attractions, as previously mentioned Alcatraz is a 'must see' for any visitor. We have all seen the film 'Escape from Alcatraz' but until you actually visit the place you will never get the true feel for this foreboding place. I wasn't actually looking forward to my visit particularly, but I'm so glad I did, it really was an unforgettable experience, from the moment you board one of the many boats which service the island, there is a sense of mysteriousness about the place as it isn't unusual for the island to be shrouded in mist.

Once on the island you have the feeling that you've been here before, it's as if you're on the set of a film, which of course it has been, except it was also once home to some of America's most notorious criminals, it really is an eerie, ghostly place. Ensure you hire a headset, again highly recommended and reasonably priced, this negates the need for a tour guide, as the pre-recorded tape and route takes care of that, there's even sound clips from former inmates - which help to recreate the atmosphere of one of the world's most infamous jails.

A word warning, if you don't want to be disappointed pre-book your trip to Alcatraz as far ahead as possible as it gets booked up quickly, we booked 12 months in advance of our visit.

WE did Alcatraz in the morning and in the afternoon we took the boat trip to Angel Island, which although not well known is definitely worth a visit. The island sits in San Francisco bay and it isn't that far away from Alcatraz, it was formerly an immigration holding point, now it's a beautiful unspoilt national park. You can hire bikes and I believe with permission you can even camp on the island. Although Angel Island isn't that far away from Alcatraz it is a complete world away in terms of the climate and natural beauty. San Francisco remains cool even in summer, but on Angel Island you have an almost Mediterranean climate - well at least it was on the day we visited.

WE stayed at the Tuscan Inn which is a reasonably priced boutique hotel on the Wharf, it's within easy walking distance of the front and it's an ideal location. There's a fair selection of decent hotels in the area, so you shouldn't be short of choices.

For those who like driving, we had a car for the duration of our stay, we drove down the famous crooked Lombard Street, we also did the Golden Gate bridge - which is awesome. You can actually hire bikes from the pier and of course a bike ride across the bridge is a popular choice. San Francisco bay has 5 major bridges, you can take a journey across all of them in one easy journey as they are situated in a big loop, the journey probably takes just over an hour or so on a good day.

Other attractions include the world famous cable cars which add real atmosphere as they clunk up and down those well known hills of the city.
You cannot go wrong in San Francisco, it is a fabulous place to visit.

Only one minor point to moan about, we managed to pick up parking fine. One of our party is disabled and even though we had a parking permit for a disabled person on our vehicle it seems no one can park on certain roads on some days of the week, it pays to be aware of local parking restrictions as we found out to our cost!
Username: johnny_g (A BigEasy Travel Guide member)
Entry date: 9 Jul 2006
User Rating: stars
Helpful or Not?
Yes   No    
write a review Have you been to San Francisco before? IF so, let others benefit from your experience by adding your own review. Click here
loginlogin or register to post comments about the review above.
This review and/or comment is the subjective opinion of a member of the public, the content of the review and/or comment is not endorsed by BigEasy Guides Limited.
Login | Register


Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Contact Us, Become a Sponsor, Browser Support Write for BigEasy Travel Guide