Three and a half days is probably just enough time to get a taste of what San Francisco is all about. But, as usual, I was keen to fit in as much as possible and so I had planned a fairly heavy itinerary which was high on tourist attractions and heavy on pounding the pavement. I can tell you by the weekend (I’d arrived in San Fran mid-week) I was totally knackered. Thankfully my cousin, who also kindly put me up for my stay, took the time to drive me around to see some of the other sites which were much easier to get to by car. Sure I could have got there on my own but going around by car made the hills of San Fran much more manageable and also made getting around to the attractions much quicker. She’d offered me the use of her moped but I didn’t really trust my driving skills – especially as I’d never ridden a bike before and knowing me I’d start driving down the wrong side of the road! And can you imagine me trying to do a hill start – yes, it was probably the right choice not to take her bike.

Photos are here.

Day 1	Day 1 was my biggest day walking wise as I basically walked from the west coast of San Fran island (starting at the beach near Sutro Heights Park clockwise around the Coast all the way to the east coast to the Embarcadero) with nearly 37,000 steps logged. It was beautiful weather (that is until late afternoon when the rolling fogs brought in the rain clouds and cold winds) and to be walking along the coast was fantastic. Some highlights along the way included: Walking the Coastal Trail in Lincoln Park. This trail gives you some fabulous greenery and is not too hard a trail for the casual tourist. If you haven’t already seen it, you can get your first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Palace of the Legion of Honor. This is San Fran’s fine arts museum and includes a great collection of Rodin sculptures. It was great seeing all the arts students in there sketching away. Discounted entry if you take the MUNI. The Golden Gate Bridge. No visit to San Fran is complete without a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge. You can walk or bike across. There were heaps of bikers but as the winds are very strong on the bridge quite a few people had to actually get off their bikes in order to get across. I was happy just to walk halfway and head back. The bridge is great and views from it to Alcatraz and back to San Fran are fabulous though you may need a good zoom on your camera to capture any detailed vistas. Most people got the bus to the start of the bridge and presumably caught the bus back to wherever they came from. However, there is also a nice walk that can take you along the coast. If you follow this you will eventually get to: The Palace of Fine Arts (POFA) and The Exploratorium. The Palace of Fine Arts is gorgeous and as you can imagine gets plenty of business from weddings. Apparently the POFA was built to host the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo but now houses The Exploratorium – San Fran’s science museum. I would have loved to have gone in but my experience from other science museums told me I would have needed at least a couple of hours in there, time which I unfortunately didn’t have to spare. Leaving the POFA delivers you to The Marina where you can see all the boats or you can turn to the waters and see some very cool wind and kite surfers. If you keep walking around the coast and through Fort Mason and Victoria Park you will eventually arrive at Fisherman’s Wharf. The Wharf is the most touristy part of San Fran but a visit there is a must. Things to occupy your time include the quirky, if a little bit creepy, Musee Mecanique – a collection of early 20th century arcade games, the sea lions out on Pier 39, the Aquarium, departures for visits to Alcatraz and also the numerous restaurants selling some quality sea food. If you want to see beyond the tourist attractions go behind one of the piers and check out the actual boats. The Wharf is also a great place to see the fog come in. Continuing past the Wharf and all the Piers will you get on to nice walking/running path called the Embarcadero which will take you to the Ferry Building – one of San Frans most famous landmarks.
Day 2	Day 2 saw me hit the main attractions of Alcatraz, Chinatown, and Downtown. The visit to Alcatraz was interesting and can be done in just under two hours including the ferry ride over and back. If you go definitely do the audio tour of the Cellhouse which gives you the history of the prison and some stories of the interesting occupants. There are also great views back to San Fran island from Alcatraz. I caught the cable car from Fisherman’s Wharf to Chinatown. I know its an extremely touristy thing (and relatively expensive) mode of transport but when in San Fran you might as well do it at least once. Besides it’s a great way to avoid some of those hills! Chinatown is fairly colourful and fairly large. With some planning you can make your visit there a little bit more interesting by researching some walks (available online) which can take you to some interesting highlights such as the very colourful kite shop, Canton Bazaar (one of the most popular knick knack shops), a fortune cookie shop (where you will see the women sitting down folding the messages into the cookies. A great tip is to bring a fortune of your own to put into the cookies and maybe take home a fairly cool souvenir for family and friends), buildings with historical significance and also can direct you to some nice cheap places for a snack or two (Chinese bakery or dim sum – whatever you fancy.) There is plenty of shopping to be had in San Fran (Union Square in particular) but my visit to Downtown was more about the interesting buildings and characters on the streets. From Chinatown you can walk down to the Financial District for some great buildings including the famous TransAmerica Pyramid. Nearby is the Yerba Buena Arts District. This area bounded by the Financial District, Union Square and the Yerba Buena Arts District is where you’ll find plenty of galleries and museums to pass your time in including the SFMOMA (Modern Arts), International Museum of GLBT History, the Cartoon Art Museum, The Circle Gallery (the prototype for the Guggenheim in New York) and so on. If you continue down Market Street (away from the water) you will sort of go through a seedy patch of road before reaching the Civic Center where you have City Hall, the Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall, and the Asian Art Museum. San Fran’s City Hall is AMAZING and I definitely recommend a visit (better yet be organized and go on one of their free tours) – beautiful on the inside and out it is infamously known as the site of Rosie O’Donnell’s marriage to partner Kelli Carpenter in 2004. Another spot that I really liked was the Yerba Buena Gardens complex. There are heaps of things to do at the complex including relaxing in the gardens and by the waterfall (views of SFMOMA), going ice skating and bowling, visiting an art gallery, going to the cinemas, and filling in time at Sony Metreon entertainment Center.
Day 3	Day 3 was car day! Yay. It was actually a really beautiful day so my cousin took me up to Twin Peaks. It may be cool so bring a sweater to keep your warm. The 360 degree view will take your breath away. I would actually recommend leaving going up there until you have familiarized yourself with the city as you would then be able to spot the places you have visited. It’s a great way to see the terrain of San Fran. After Twin Peaks it was off to the Castro for brunch. The Castro is a fun fun colourful place. Filled with lots of character (including people on the street and the beautiful buildings) there is great energy there. And I was in absolute doggy heaven with all these really cute puppies everywhere (and no, this last statement was not a euphemism for anything!) I’ve never seen so many French bulldogs in one place. So cute! After brunch it was a quick drive around to some major sites including Lombard Street (a LOT of tourists are here so if in a car be prepared to drive straight through), Coit Tower, and a visit to Danielle Steel’s block and her home at Spreckles Mansion. You won’t see much of her house (as it is covered by giant hedging but it was enough to look through the gates and see the impressive front door and the 7 (!) cars parked in the driveway. Actually, my cousin tells me that the neighbourhood got miffed that there was no parking available around the block because it was all taken up by the author’s maids and workers!
Day 4	My last day in San Fran wasn’t really a full day as I was flying out in the afternoon so my cousin took me to a local dim sum restaurant (yummy) and for a walk through Golden Gate Park. The Park is absolutely massive and absolutely natural .. that is except for the bison. Not entirely sure why they have a Bison Paddock but there you go. There is plenty to do in the park including visiting the Conservatory of Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden and the Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to see the beautiful flowers and gardens on this trip so I think another visit to San Fran is on the cards. If you follow the Park all the way to the West you will also reach Ocean Beach.
Final Words	Its hard to describe what I felt for San Fran but I can definitely say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Of all the places in the US that I’ve visited I’d probably say it was the most livable, though it may take me some time to get used to all those hills! What I totally fell in love with was all the gorgeous greenery in the form of their parks and also the charm of the individual neighbourhoods. My visit there was entirely too short and I can already thing of a ton of things I’d like to do next time, including actually visiting some of the art museums/galleries, some day trips maybe up to the Napa Valley, exploring more of the area across the two bridges and finding some more walking trails to tackle.