gnawbone Loc: Southern Indiana

I was just there Saturday - OMG. If you are planning on going on a Saturday, don't bother. 1 hour and 40 minutes to go 3 miles (to get to the Golden Gate Bridge) from Lombard street. Muir Woods - no parking/lot was full, Fisherman's Warf - complete gridlock. 1 hour 20 minutes from downtown back to the airport - had a very frustrating day - won't go back.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

I'm sorry things didn't work out for you.

As a local, this is the nature of so many locations these days. Not just the Bay Area. It is important to plan ahead, not just show up and expect everything to be as you want it.

There is plenty of info on the internet that will help forward planning, but forward planning needs to be done. Everywhere.

If something needs a ticket (like Alcatraz) then book in advance. If you want to go to Muir Woods, go early, preferably mid week.

I apologize if this sounds harsh, and I don't mean it to seem unwelcoming, but the gods favor the prepared. Those with reservations do even better.

There is much to enjoy, and much for free, but Mr.Google can be your friend.

Good luck.

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

I don't think I mentioned when we are going, it will be September 23-25 Tuesday through Thursday.

We try to NEVER go to any touristy places on the weekend, for that matter we try not to go to the grocery store even!

Being prepared is why I really appreciate all the ideas, there won't be enough time to do everything, so we have to plan ahead and prioritize.

GT

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

I think you'll be fine, GT. Enjoy what you can and don't stress over what you might be missing. It's not like you have an 18 hour flight ahead. Look at it as an opportunity to go again and see those things you couldn't. :)

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

One final tip from me:

SF has a transit-first policy, meaning they do everything they can to dissuade people from driving their cars. Bicycles are encouraged, and the Muni (SF Municipal Railway) is fairly efficient. BART is also a good alternative to some places. If you are staying anywhere near Muni, try to use it rather than ending up paying a fortune for parking. That's not to say you can't use your car, but transit will create less of a headache. But regardless, you'll have a wonderful time here. And so will your camera.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Within the city, yes. Within the general area, absolutely not. The numerous public transit systems do not interconnect in any sensible way. SF has a transit-first policy, but it really is nowhere near as good as many other locations such as Portland, or Berlin (Germany), London UK or many others. It is very effective at causing you grief if you try to use a car in the city.

Mostly the people who designed it and run it should be taken out and whipped with a wet noodle at the very least. It is appalling when compared with many other metro areas around the world.

10MPlayer Loc: California

+1 on Monterey if you have time. SF is lovely. Go over to the Marin side and try to get a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city in the background. You've seen that shot a million times in movies and TV shows. Always nice if it's not foggy. Unfortunately it is foggy this time of year.

You can get shots like this all day long at the jetty in Monterey.

Monterey's Jetty

(Download)

Suspicious Sea Lion

(Download)

gnawbone Loc: Southern Indiana

Your comments are correct and we did plan all of the other days of our trip well in advance - but we did get to SF earlier on Saturday than we had planned. We actually didn't plan on getting to SF until evening but instead arrived around noon so we attempted to take advantage of the extra time.

Car traffic was bad but the 'human traffic' was as bad or worse. The gridlock at Fisherman's Warf was mostly caused by the huge mass of people and is typical of rude Americans - they didn't care about 'Walk' or 'Wait' lights - you could sit through numerous light cycles and the crowds would just continue flood the streets - "me first" was the prevailing attitude. Not surprised, I see it every day - manners are mostly gone.

You are also correct about most tourist locations these days - plan ahead. My wife was attending a conference in Portland which is why we were on the west coast this time of year. We usually travel in the first half of October - the weather is usually great anywhere in the US (except Glacier NP!) and the crowds are much smaller.

stumbo Loc: Prescott, AZ

The best time to visit San Francisco to minimize the fog is in the fall, late September to early December. To minimize the people, this time frame will also avoid the tourist masses. Try to drive after 9:00 AM and before 5:00 PM to avoid the commute traffic. If you're going to go to the center of S. F., take BART or some other means of public transportation as the parking garages will want your first born. Street parking is also expensive and the maximum time is 2 hours, if you can find it. While all of this advise is not absolute, it can certainly reduce the stress level when navigating the San Francisco area.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

gnaw, maybe you had forgotten that SF, along with NY, London, Paris and a few others is actually an international tourist destination and has to treated like one.
For example, many forget that on Friday there are 3 rush hours. In the morning coming in. In the afternoon going out. And at 7pm coming back in for dinner, theater, partying etc.! :lol:
SS

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

You say that like it is a bad thing. I remember someone commenting on that kind of value proposition and saying:

"Deal. He's twelve!"

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

hmmm,
I'm up for it, in theory...
I don't know if I could handle an all-nighter, I usually get up at 3am, makes late nights even later!

BTW all - just got our Alcatraz tickets, who thought we'd be happy to go to prison?!

GT