San Fransisco
 

Hey guys, whats up? Me and 9 of my friends are hitting up San Fran for the summer and I can't wait! I was just wondering if anyone who is from/been there had any suggestions on fun stuff to do. We'll obviously be doing the usual touristy things but any other "top secret" non tourist stuff would be cool. We're going to be staying in the Berkely area so any tips on bars would be cool to, as being Irish we'll be getting our drink on!
Thanks for your help x

I don't think i've ever felt as scared at nighttime as I did in SanFrancisco. Hahah. I'm not sure why, maybe that was just the area we were in.. no idea.

I can't even remember what I did there..
Ohhh Alcatraz. That's mint, go there.

And there's a couple of real nice proper American diners there too, I think we went to "Cindy's". Which was just nice for the feel of it.

I duno. Have fun either way :] If I remember more i'll let you know..

Ohhh and hanging off the side of trams is wicked :]
Plus you can get cheap limos places.

I went there last year in December on the way back from Aus so found it pretty cold! But if it's summer you'll be alright.

Where are you staying? I stayed at the Sheraton in fishermans wharf- it was lovely & very central.

I definitely recommend Alcatraz although you'll need to book in advance as the boats out there get busy - & dress up warm coz its reeeally windy on the island.

Other things to do - Golden gate bridge, Pier 39 (where the sea lions hang out),
Ghiradelli square - mainly shopping stuff & the famous chocolate shop. Rainforest cafe in Fishermans wharf.
The famous tram.
LOMBARD STREET! (aka the crookedest street)
You could go to Castro - although you have to be gay or open minded coz all it is is gay cafes/pubs/clubs/shops - its very, very camp!
Union Square - shopping & night life

If you have Facebook you can see my (pm me)

[quote=Tears and Rain;708494]I don't think i've ever felt as scared at nighttime as I did in SanFrancisco. Hahah. quote]

ha ha - I had that feeling too!

...Where do people get this money from?

Where????

Dicky!

The street performers are great.
Go see the sea lions. Because they're SO cute. They frequent Pier 39.

Do some proper travel research before you go. (Y)

Go to Haight Ashbury. Yep.

I live in New York. I've been attacked with a bottle, a knife and a chair (put a beating on all of them). I've been chased by dogs, had drug gangs looking for me (because of guy I beat with the chair lol) and been in pubs were guns went off. I am not scared to go many places - but I will not go to San Fran except for maybe a day or 2, and I will wash my hands every half hour. If a once beautiful city ever needed a makeover San Fran is it.

hahahaha jack you're my favorite.

I'm from Oakland, which is right next to Berkeley. I don't have time to properly answer this though right now, cause I have to leave in a few minutes, but I'll come back to it this afternoon... I'm not gonna be able to tell you about bars at all though, cause I just turned 21 a couple month ago and have been away at college for most of that time so I've never actually been to any bars there...

Okay, so it looks like I have time to come back to this sooner than I thought...

So, in SF itself, I don't know what to tell you to do besides the tourist stuff, but a few tips about that at least...

If you're planning to go to Alcatraz (which you are, whether you like it or not, cause it's awesome), you need tickets in advance, especially during the summer. The island itself is a national park, and there's no entrance fee, but the only way to get there is by boat, which is contracted out to a private company (there's only the one company, so there's no point trying to shop around or whatever). You can buy tickets here: http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/

If you want to ride the cable cars, you actually don't have to wait in line for ever at one end... just get on at the next corner. I always think it's kind of funny to see tourists wait in line for hours when they could just walk one block and get right on.

If you want good Chinese food, there's a restaurant in China Town called Gold Mountain that has the best dim sum I've ever had, and is ridiculously cheap as well. It's on Broadway, near Stockton, which is at one end of China town. Incidentally, it's the opposite end from the Westfield shopping center, which is where the Powell Street BART station is, but assuming you'll be taking BART into the city, if you walk through Union Square and up Stockton (which is the main China Town tourist street), it's a totally doable walk, and you'll get to see China Town and Union Square.

Fisherman's Warf is like the main tourist spot. I think it's kind of fun, but you probably won't want to spend much time there, either. When you go to Alcatraz, you'll leave from that area, so I'd recommend just checking it out when you go to Alcatraz (I'm just assuming you're going - you actually have no say in that :-p). Assuming you're taking BART, you can walk to Fisherman's Warf from the Embarcadero station (that's what I always do), or there's a MUNI bus/train thingy that runs along the Embarcadero, which I've never actually tried, but I assume it would work. Also, the Ferry Building is right by the Embarcadero BART station, and it's kind of cool. It's mainly just really expensive/fancy food, so if you're into that stuff then it's great (my dad goes into SF sometimes just to buy specific food items from there), but otherwise it's just kind of a cool building if you happen to be walking past anyway. Also, Ghirardelli Square and the Cannery are down from Fisherman's Warf a couple blocks (away from the Embarcadero BART station and the Ferry Building), and those are cool. And the Ghirardelli store gives free samples when you go in (to the store part, not the restaurant part).

Go shopping, cause the dollar is really weak (thank you Bush), so your money is worth relatively more. Westfield shopping center (and the area around it) is great.

Golden Gate Park is nice. And the Japanese Tea Garden there has really good almond cookies (or at least they did as of last time I was there, which I guess was a few years ago).

In Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue (the part near UC Berkeley) is cool.

Great China (in Berkeley) has really good Chinese food. They also tend to be really crowded, but they take reservations if you have at least six people - otherwise you pretty much have to get there around 5. I don't remember exactly where it is though.

And I could probably keep going with this indefinitely, but I have to go to class. But if you have any specific things you want to know about (besides bars, which I can't help with), then let me know...

Ooh, and come to our Bay Area RYL meet we're planning :-p
Cause so far we only have two people, so we've gotta steal some people from elsewhere...

San Fran is wonderful but be careful where you go. Really.
If you're a bit of a geek or you like books in any way or form you HAVE to to City Lights. You have to. I was with two architecture geeks and got dragged inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the building thats interiors were used for The Towering Inferno that actually turned out to be pretty cool.

You must go to the de Young Museum, its an Art Museum but even if you don't want to see the art you have to see the building which is completely covered in copper and one of the most wonderful parts is the viewing platform which is 9 stories up, 144 feet high and gives you a complete 360 view of San Francisco, it really is stunning. If you do have even the slightest interest in art of any kind then you should take a peak inside, its so so wonderful, glass and light sculptures, paintings, surreal, abstract downright weird and the most wonderful sculptures. Very modern and so cool.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is also an amazing building with some stunning art by some really famous artists.

You have to go to the Levi shop...Levis come from SF.
Thats all I can think of at the minute that hasn't already been said.

Wow thanks so much guys I'd say all that stuff should keep me busy for a while! ~invisible~girl~ I'm totally going to alcatraz so don't worry, also if I'm not doing one of the cool things on your list I'll be totally there for the meeting you don't need to steal me lolz!