get a car. stay out of san francisco. get an airbnb innawoods. the bay area can be very comfy if you skip the tourists traps. san francisco is a complete shithole that can be navigated. it's possible to have a good time in san francisco but if you don't have a lot of street smarts you're going to end up in trouble. if you go to SF just stay away from the downtown and the gay district. the problems are everywhere but its worst there.
Giants game, Golden gate park, chinatown is fun for an hour or so, ghiradellhi square, ocean beach, pt bonita, pier 39 is decent. I like the hill by coit tower, its fun and kind of """off the grid""", if you can call it that. Honestly as long as you avoid market street and civic center its not THAT bad
how long are you going to be there?
first off, the homeless problem is true. just stick to yourself, don't be flashy and you should be fine. do not walk in areas where others locals aren't walking. i'd suggest ride share apps, but if you get your own car do not leave ANY valuables inside - visible or not. skip oakland, it's worse than sf.
this was my go-to day trip whenever i had family visit-
throw an ice pack, some plastic cups and napkins in my backpack.
start at the ferry plaza building:
grab some coffee at blue bottle and empanadas at el porteno for breakfast. walk around the building checking out the stores and scenery. before you leave get a loaf of bread at acme bread and some cheese at cowgirl creamery. grab some deli meat and a bottle of napa wine or local beer. (where you'll need the ice pack)
then walk along the embarcadero to pier 39. it's very touristy so skip it if you want, but head over to fisherman's wharf for a cool place to grab a seafood lunch. clam chowder is pretty good but the bread bowl if for homosexuals.
when you're done there walk along the coast to ghirdelli square to grab some chocolate then continue to crissy fields for a sunset picnic with the shit you bought at the ferry plaza and ghirdelli square.
this is only if i had one day to show someone around.
go to an evening giants game and try the different foods at the stadium. if you're not a sports fan go anyway but buy the cheapest ticket available so you don't feel bad if you leave early.
depending on where you're from, sf has some of the greatest ethnic foods in the country - specifically indian and asian. chinatown has some good restaurants. it's also close to napa so you'll be in wine/beer heaven.
if you want a beach experience go to ocean beach. lots of little stores around to buy drinks and food and it's also close to golden gate park. california academy of sciences is worth a visit too.
oh, i meant the wine in sf is good because it's so close to napa. but if op has a car and some cash, going to napa is worth a day trip. dress nice of you'll look out of place.
I'll be staying a month or two, I forgot to mention I'll mainly be staying in the Russian river area (specifically guerneville) but I wanted to know what options I have in the city since I'll have a car.
>guerneville
If you're going to be there for 2 months this year, you fricking have to do Yosemite. We had the best snowfall in 100 years. The waterfalls are going to be insane. Stay in curry village at a yurt or try to camp somewhere in the valley.
For food, go to Fairfax and eat at Village Sake. Order the grilled squid.
Jijime in SF is fricking amazing korean food. Tacolicious in the mission is expensive, but fricking worth it. Super Duper burgers and In and Out have the best burgers in Marin. The Russian River brewing company in Windsor is the good one.
Don't leave anything in your car visible, ever. Seriously, not even a charging cable. Not even hand sanitizer. Not one fricking penny. And stay out of Oakland.
The first thing you need to do is get a bike. There are some many awesome areas to bike. You park in Tiburon. Take the trail through Strawberry and down through Sausalito and then across the Golden Gate Bridge. You ride through Presidio park and through the Marina district to Fisherman's wharf and take the ferry back to Tiburon. It''s 18 miles total and my all time favorite ride.
Dude everything you said sounds so fricking fun and I can't wait til June. Also, how cheap are domestic flights? I might go to LA for anime expo and maybe go to Texas to visit some friends.
Domestic flights have been pretty expensive lately but LA you could visit by car if you have a place to stay the night. Definitely recommend driving north to arcata or south to santa cruz while you're here, big sur is unfortunately closed but there is still a lot of awesome coastline on either side of the bay area.
>If you're going to be there for 2 months this year, you fricking have to do Yosemite.
this for sure. there's a small store on the way called mar-val in groveland. i always stop there to buy a sandwich, jug of water and a big beer then head to yosemite for an awesome day. before you leave grab a drink at the alwahnee hotel. get the park early because it can get crowded.
guerneville is pretty inconvenient unfortunately but maybe get hotels as you explore. if you like beer, russian river brewing will be close by. good pizza and some of the best beer in the world - make sure to drink a pliny. a short drive from there is lagunitas brewing which is pretty fun - try to go there when there's a concert. there's a cheap motel that's a walk away where i usually go pass out.
if you go to napa check out oxbow public market for some great food. try a wine flight somewhere. again, dress somewhat nice.
it will be a drive, but i suggest spending a day in santa cruz. the downtown has some descent shopping. grab lunch on the wharf, chill on the beach then head over to the boardwalk at night. last time i was there the homeless problem was pretty bad so be aware.
monterey is not too far from there if you end up doing a weekend trip or something. good seafood, the aquarium is pretty cool and some good beer in the city center.
from where you are, driving south can have some pretty ridiculous traffic so time your driving around rush hour - 5-9am and 3-7pm. especially the 101 and 280.
some of the other things i can second:
alcatraz
muir woods
big sur
south lake tahoe
carmel (17 mile drive)
The road collapsed in Big Sur. You can only go as far as Andrew Molera State Park, so you won;t see any of the good stuff like McWay Falls. It's closed indefinitely.
The good shit is
Alcatraz
Rent a bike and ride the Angel Island loop
Muir Woods
Tennessee Valley Trail to the beach
Palace of Fine Arts
Go to Healdsburg and float the Russian River in the summer. Russian River Adventures has cheap float trips with a shuttle. Afterwards, you go get a Pliny the elder at the Russian River Brewing Company in Windsor.
I'd also highly recommend driving out to South Lake Tahoe. There are some really insane waterfalls. The drive is amazing. The scenery is unreal. We camped at the Yurts in the Fallen Leaf Campground. The bike trail is epic, so definitely rent a bike.
I think your choices are excellent, but you might want to add that:
-- the Alcatraz ferry can be book up for weeks ahead of time. Book it as early as possible.
-- you also need to take a ferry to Angel Island, though that's not usually a problem. Tiburon, the ferry departure point, is an incredibly stuck-up community, and likes to treat tourists like feces.
-- Decades ago you could just drive to Muir Woods, park, and hike. Then it got so crowded you had to park elsewhere and take a bus. Now you have to make reservations to get in.
-- Floating down the Russian River can be fun, though I recommend doing it as early in summer as possible. The river level can drop badly around mid-summer, and the current becomes more like a pond than a river.
-- Tahoe used to be a lot of fun. I haven't been there in a few years, so I hope it's still good. Last I checked, getting a camping reservation is problematic at best. Any online booking is snapped up by bots almost instantly (but then that's just how it works with online booking).
So the bottom line is that California is popular, therefore it is crowded, and so you should plan on making reservations for whatever you want to do many months in advance.
Rent a car and leave SF immediately. Don't stop driving south until you hit Santa Cruz. Stay there for a couple nights and enjoy the nightlife and horny college girls and then continue south for Monterey and Carmel. If you enjoy camping and nature, camp out in Big Sur.
You can't drive up Route 1 through Big Sur right now. It's closed between San Simeon and Carmel, maybe for the whole summer. So when you hit Moro Bay, you go up the 101 to Carmel for that section.
Definitely do route 1 through Malibu. Stop at the Santa Barbara pier. Finney's is a good place to eat.
Solvang is a cool little tourist trap you should stop at. It's a recreation of a Danish town. There is a cool little 1 mile hike nearby called Nojoqui Falls that we did once years ago in a shaded canyon
Avila Beach is a very cool stop. There is a rad 1/2 mile hike to a Pirates Cove .
Moro Rock is a cool beach. You can walk around the giant rock.
Carmel is the best town on the coast. Super nice. Monterrey has some really good seafood.Capitola Beach is definitely worth a stop. The Santa Cruz Pier is cool. The drive up the coast on the 1 from Santa Cruz to SF is beautiful with a lot of pristine beaches. Half Moon Bay is pretty, but not much going on.
Winchester House in Monterey is cool. If you like driving in the twisties, diverging from the 1 and taking the 36 through Ojai and down into Ventura is pretty cool. Ventura is a pretty underrated little beach city imo.
Spent a decent amount of time there. My recommendations:
Ferry building
Alcatraz
Lombard street - scenic/rich area
North beach - poorer area but lots of bars etc. watch out for zombies
Japantown
Golden Gate Park - massive park, walks
California Academy of Sciences - big science museum
Sutro Baths or Marshall’s Beach - great sunset spot
Muir Woods
Disclaimer though, if you’re a coomer you’ll probably be disappointed, not a ton of women around, and the ones I met were probably the least friendly of any from my other travels
Only if you're a white guy who into fat Hispanics. SF and Marin county are super rough for dating.Most people who live in these areas are making serious dough. When I lived in Marin county, I went to the Christmas party of a guy who lived on top of the hill in Tiburon in a 10 million dollar house that some investment guy owned. They had butlers at the party. They rented out like 20 full sized arcade games for the kids. As the party wound down, in walks this group of 5 female nurses. These chicks make $150,000 in SF, but they were at that party to frick those dudes. The host breaks out a $1,000 bottle of wine. Then another. I left with my date before I saw how it played out, but I can guess. Those are the dudes you're competing with for a good woman in SF.
>get hotel outside of San Francisco probably by airport >Buy whatever pass that gets you on all the public transit >Travel by train and bus and trolly >Do NOT drive. It's miserable >Walk as much as you can, the city is smaller than you think >Golden gate park, Japanese tea garden, Chinatown, downtown, fishermans wharf, all the touristy things >Avoid the tenderloin, that's where all the bums are
It's a beautiful city. I want to go back one day.
Holiday inn is pretty good, has all you're asking for and is in walking distance of everything you could need. Obviously there's gonna be a little homeless but it's better than other areas.
bring a spare pair of sneakers in case you step in the poop
my friend from london went there and said it was absolutely shocking the amount of homeless, could never relax
enjoy the fentanyl zombies
get a car. stay out of san francisco. get an airbnb innawoods. the bay area can be very comfy if you skip the tourists traps. san francisco is a complete shithole that can be navigated. it's possible to have a good time in san francisco but if you don't have a lot of street smarts you're going to end up in trouble. if you go to SF just stay away from the downtown and the gay district. the problems are everywhere but its worst there.
Giants game, Golden gate park, chinatown is fun for an hour or so, ghiradellhi square, ocean beach, pt bonita, pier 39 is decent. I like the hill by coit tower, its fun and kind of """off the grid""", if you can call it that. Honestly as long as you avoid market street and civic center its not THAT bad
how long are you going to be there?
first off, the homeless problem is true. just stick to yourself, don't be flashy and you should be fine. do not walk in areas where others locals aren't walking. i'd suggest ride share apps, but if you get your own car do not leave ANY valuables inside - visible or not. skip oakland, it's worse than sf.
this was my go-to day trip whenever i had family visit-
throw an ice pack, some plastic cups and napkins in my backpack.
start at the ferry plaza building:
grab some coffee at blue bottle and empanadas at el porteno for breakfast. walk around the building checking out the stores and scenery. before you leave get a loaf of bread at acme bread and some cheese at cowgirl creamery. grab some deli meat and a bottle of napa wine or local beer. (where you'll need the ice pack)
then walk along the embarcadero to pier 39. it's very touristy so skip it if you want, but head over to fisherman's wharf for a cool place to grab a seafood lunch. clam chowder is pretty good but the bread bowl if for homosexuals.
when you're done there walk along the coast to ghirdelli square to grab some chocolate then continue to crissy fields for a sunset picnic with the shit you bought at the ferry plaza and ghirdelli square.
this is only if i had one day to show someone around.
go to an evening giants game and try the different foods at the stadium. if you're not a sports fan go anyway but buy the cheapest ticket available so you don't feel bad if you leave early.
depending on where you're from, sf has some of the greatest ethnic foods in the country - specifically indian and asian. chinatown has some good restaurants. it's also close to napa so you'll be in wine/beer heaven.
if you want a beach experience go to ocean beach. lots of little stores around to buy drinks and food and it's also close to golden gate park. california academy of sciences is worth a visit too.
>it's also close to napa
distancewise, maybe. its still at least an hour and a half drive depending on traffic
oh, i meant the wine in sf is good because it's so close to napa. but if op has a car and some cash, going to napa is worth a day trip. dress nice of you'll look out of place.
I'll be staying a month or two, I forgot to mention I'll mainly be staying in the Russian river area (specifically guerneville) but I wanted to know what options I have in the city since I'll have a car.
>guerneville
If you're going to be there for 2 months this year, you fricking have to do Yosemite. We had the best snowfall in 100 years. The waterfalls are going to be insane. Stay in curry village at a yurt or try to camp somewhere in the valley.
For food, go to Fairfax and eat at Village Sake. Order the grilled squid.
Jijime in SF is fricking amazing korean food. Tacolicious in the mission is expensive, but fricking worth it. Super Duper burgers and In and Out have the best burgers in Marin. The Russian River brewing company in Windsor is the good one.
Don't leave anything in your car visible, ever. Seriously, not even a charging cable. Not even hand sanitizer. Not one fricking penny. And stay out of Oakland.
The first thing you need to do is get a bike. There are some many awesome areas to bike. You park in Tiburon. Take the trail through Strawberry and down through Sausalito and then across the Golden Gate Bridge. You ride through Presidio park and through the Marina district to Fisherman's wharf and take the ferry back to Tiburon. It''s 18 miles total and my all time favorite ride.
Dude everything you said sounds so fricking fun and I can't wait til June. Also, how cheap are domestic flights? I might go to LA for anime expo and maybe go to Texas to visit some friends.
Domestic flights have been pretty expensive lately but LA you could visit by car if you have a place to stay the night. Definitely recommend driving north to arcata or south to santa cruz while you're here, big sur is unfortunately closed but there is still a lot of awesome coastline on either side of the bay area.
Texas would be pricey, but you can get $160 round-trip on Alaska Airlines or Southwest from SF to LAX pretty much all year.
other fun shit
Point Bonita Lighthouse
Musée Mécanique
rent a kayak in Sausalito
Carmel and Monterrey
South Lake Tahoe
Alamere Falls
>If you're going to be there for 2 months this year, you fricking have to do Yosemite.
this for sure. there's a small store on the way called mar-val in groveland. i always stop there to buy a sandwich, jug of water and a big beer then head to yosemite for an awesome day. before you leave grab a drink at the alwahnee hotel. get the park early because it can get crowded.
guerneville is pretty inconvenient unfortunately but maybe get hotels as you explore. if you like beer, russian river brewing will be close by. good pizza and some of the best beer in the world - make sure to drink a pliny. a short drive from there is lagunitas brewing which is pretty fun - try to go there when there's a concert. there's a cheap motel that's a walk away where i usually go pass out.
if you go to napa check out oxbow public market for some great food. try a wine flight somewhere. again, dress somewhat nice.
it will be a drive, but i suggest spending a day in santa cruz. the downtown has some descent shopping. grab lunch on the wharf, chill on the beach then head over to the boardwalk at night. last time i was there the homeless problem was pretty bad so be aware.
monterey is not too far from there if you end up doing a weekend trip or something. good seafood, the aquarium is pretty cool and some good beer in the city center.
from where you are, driving south can have some pretty ridiculous traffic so time your driving around rush hour - 5-9am and 3-7pm. especially the 101 and 280.
some of the other things i can second:
alcatraz
muir woods
big sur
south lake tahoe
carmel (17 mile drive)
skip san fran and just go to Big Sur instead.
The road collapsed in Big Sur. You can only go as far as Andrew Molera State Park, so you won;t see any of the good stuff like McWay Falls. It's closed indefinitely.
The good shit is
Alcatraz
Rent a bike and ride the Angel Island loop
Muir Woods
Tennessee Valley Trail to the beach
Palace of Fine Arts
Go to Healdsburg and float the Russian River in the summer. Russian River Adventures has cheap float trips with a shuttle. Afterwards, you go get a Pliny the elder at the Russian River Brewing Company in Windsor.
I'd also highly recommend driving out to South Lake Tahoe. There are some really insane waterfalls. The drive is amazing. The scenery is unreal. We camped at the Yurts in the Fallen Leaf Campground. The bike trail is epic, so definitely rent a bike.
I think your choices are excellent, but you might want to add that:
-- the Alcatraz ferry can be book up for weeks ahead of time. Book it as early as possible.
-- you also need to take a ferry to Angel Island, though that's not usually a problem. Tiburon, the ferry departure point, is an incredibly stuck-up community, and likes to treat tourists like feces.
-- Decades ago you could just drive to Muir Woods, park, and hike. Then it got so crowded you had to park elsewhere and take a bus. Now you have to make reservations to get in.
-- Floating down the Russian River can be fun, though I recommend doing it as early in summer as possible. The river level can drop badly around mid-summer, and the current becomes more like a pond than a river.
-- Tahoe used to be a lot of fun. I haven't been there in a few years, so I hope it's still good. Last I checked, getting a camping reservation is problematic at best. Any online booking is snapped up by bots almost instantly (but then that's just how it works with online booking).
So the bottom line is that California is popular, therefore it is crowded, and so you should plan on making reservations for whatever you want to do many months in advance.
Have fun!
Rent a car and leave SF immediately. Don't stop driving south until you hit Santa Cruz. Stay there for a couple nights and enjoy the nightlife and horny college girls and then continue south for Monterey and Carmel. If you enjoy camping and nature, camp out in Big Sur.
Can anyone recommend places to stop driving from SF to LA? Planning on splitting the drive over 2 days, mostly along the coast.
You can't drive up Route 1 through Big Sur right now. It's closed between San Simeon and Carmel, maybe for the whole summer. So when you hit Moro Bay, you go up the 101 to Carmel for that section.
Definitely do route 1 through Malibu. Stop at the Santa Barbara pier. Finney's is a good place to eat.
Solvang is a cool little tourist trap you should stop at. It's a recreation of a Danish town. There is a cool little 1 mile hike nearby called Nojoqui Falls that we did once years ago in a shaded canyon
Avila Beach is a very cool stop. There is a rad 1/2 mile hike to a Pirates Cove .
Moro Rock is a cool beach. You can walk around the giant rock.
Carmel is the best town on the coast. Super nice. Monterrey has some really good seafood.Capitola Beach is definitely worth a stop. The Santa Cruz Pier is cool. The drive up the coast on the 1 from Santa Cruz to SF is beautiful with a lot of pristine beaches. Half Moon Bay is pretty, but not much going on.
Those are some nice looking suggestions, thanks. Carmel isn't somewhere I've heard of before but looks really nice.
I'll be going early spring next year so hopefully will be able to do route 1 the whole way.
A quick route plan: SF (leaving first thing in the morning) > Santa Cruz (Lunch) > Carmel > Overnight in Moro > Santa Barbara > LA
Splits up the driving so it shouldn't me more than 2 hours at a time, 3-4 hours to walk around each location.
Winchester House in Monterey is cool. If you like driving in the twisties, diverging from the 1 and taking the 36 through Ojai and down into Ventura is pretty cool. Ventura is a pretty underrated little beach city imo.
really sad how homelessness has gotten so unbeleiveably bad in California
Spent a decent amount of time there. My recommendations:
Ferry building
Alcatraz
Lombard street - scenic/rich area
North beach - poorer area but lots of bars etc. watch out for zombies
Japantown
Golden Gate Park - massive park, walks
California Academy of Sciences - big science museum
Sutro Baths or Marshall’s Beach - great sunset spot
Muir Woods
Disclaimer though, if you’re a coomer you’ll probably be disappointed, not a ton of women around, and the ones I met were probably the least friendly of any from my other travels
Isn't California a bawds paradise?
Only if you're a white guy who into fat Hispanics. SF and Marin county are super rough for dating.Most people who live in these areas are making serious dough. When I lived in Marin county, I went to the Christmas party of a guy who lived on top of the hill in Tiburon in a 10 million dollar house that some investment guy owned. They had butlers at the party. They rented out like 20 full sized arcade games for the kids. As the party wound down, in walks this group of 5 female nurses. These chicks make $150,000 in SF, but they were at that party to frick those dudes. The host breaks out a $1,000 bottle of wine. Then another. I left with my date before I saw how it played out, but I can guess. Those are the dudes you're competing with for a good woman in SF.
Literally any city in western civilization has normalized casual sex. Nowhere is that different from any other in this regard
Also, what's the best way to avoid zombies? And defend against them if worse come to worst
>get hotel outside of San Francisco probably by airport
>Buy whatever pass that gets you on all the public transit
>Travel by train and bus and trolly
>Do NOT drive. It's miserable
>Walk as much as you can, the city is smaller than you think
>Golden gate park, Japanese tea garden, Chinatown, downtown, fishermans wharf, all the touristy things
>Avoid the tenderloin, that's where all the bums are
It's a beautiful city. I want to go back one day.
Where is a good hotel to stay at?
Needs parking, the ability to get to fisherman's wharf (or just touristy bits in general) and avoids the worst of the homeless.
Holiday inn is pretty good, has all you're asking for and is in walking distance of everything you could need. Obviously there's gonna be a little homeless but it's better than other areas.
Had a look, sounds good. Pretty steep pricing but I've guessing that's unavoidable in SF (will only be staying for 2 nights anyway)
Just stay at Green Tortoise hostel you dumb homosexual, even a private room there is less than $90. They have a kitchen and laundry unlike holiday inn
>he wants to stay away from hobos
>recommends a hostel
???