Touring San Francisco in 4-5 Hours

The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: Ghiradelli Square,
SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
* drove to Ocean Beach to catch sunset

And THAT consumed the day.

So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet are getting
off at SFO sometime before noon on 11 July---HOPEFULLY the arrival is on
time (they are flying in from New York after a week there, I believe). And
my mission is the give them the most with the least amount of time showing
the obviously ONLY the highlights of SF.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm, and
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx. 7-7:30
pm)?

Where would you be and at what times?

On Jun 10, 5:25*am, sevisen Adam -THIScom
wrote:
The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. *The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: *Ghiradelli Square,
* * *SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
* drove to Ocean Beach to catch sunset

And THAT consumed the day.

So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet are getting
off at SFO sometime before noon on 11 July---HOPEFULLY the arrival is on
time (they are flying in from New York after a week there, I believe). *And
my mission is the give them the most with the least amount of time showing
the obviously ONLY the highlights of SF.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm, and
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx. 7-7:30
pm)? *

Where would you be and at what times?


Drive to Union Square, park, have some lunch at Emporio Rulli, take
the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf, stay for about an hour, take the
Cable Car back to Union Square, drive to the marina through Lombard,
gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge, drive through the Presidio to Golden
Gate Park, park and walk around, then drive to wherever they need to
go at the end of the day.

assuming they are not entirely exhausted

That might be a big assumption. That's a long flight, and with the 3-
hour time change it's already mid-afternoon as far as they're
concerned. At the very least they may want to stop at their hotel to
freshen up & rest a bit, and they'll want to eat.

You might want to consider a guided tour. It's a good way to see a lot
in a limited time, you don't have to worry about traffic or parking,
there's professional narration, and they'll be sitting most of the
time which is good since they'll probably be worn out.

Gray Line has a 3-1/2 hour city tour that starts daily at 2:15, with
an option for a bay cruise too. That would give them time to rest a
bit and grab some lunch before the tour starts, and Gray Line will
pick them up at their hotel.

http://coachamerica.com/sanfrancisco...tours_city.cfm

After the tour, if they've got the energy you'd still have a little
time to show them anyplace else that you wanted.

James

"PeterL" wrote in message
...
On Jun 10, 5:25 am, sevisen Adam -THIScom
wrote:
The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all
day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: Ghiradelli Square,
SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
* drove to Ocean Beach to catch sunset

And THAT consumed the day.

So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet are
getting
off at SFO sometime before noon on 11 July---HOPEFULLY the arrival is on
time (they are flying in from New York after a week there, I believe). And
my mission is the give them the most with the least amount of time showing
the obviously ONLY the highlights of SF.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm,
and
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how
would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx.
7-7:30
pm)?

Where would you be and at what times?


Drive to Union Square, park, have some lunch at Emporio Rulli, take
the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf, stay for about an hour, take the
Cable Car back to Union Square, drive to the marina through Lombard,
gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge, drive through the Presidio to Golden
Gate Park, park and walk around, then drive to wherever they need to
go at the end of the day.
==================

Maybe use the F line rather than the cable car to get back from the Wharf?
I'd also be tempted to make a quick stop at Alamo Sq on the way to the
Marina.

In article ,
sevisen Adam -THIScom wrote:
The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all day,

You probably asked them about some of their interests.
It would help to know more about the 3 pax.
....
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
....
So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet
where? (Tea Garden redundant?)

I know people who would spend the entire time at the Exploratorium.
But I can't gauge that from your post.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm, and
A week day not a weekend?
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx. 7-7:30
pm)?

Where would you be and at what times?

Well I am headed up to see Spam-a-Lot in 5 hours....

Foreigners I deal with (Europeans: Italians, Swiss, et al) like to do
things like walk across the Golden Gate. Still others want me to take
them over to Stanford or PARC. Or now the Googleplex. Or other places.
It means most when you know what their interests are.

--

Looking for an H-912 (container).

"sevisen Adam" -THIScom wrote in message
...

The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all
day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: Ghiradelli Square,
SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio



* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there

That sounds excruciatingly dull. I'm glad you don't arranging my
sight-seeing for me :-)

tim

On Jun 10, 10:11*am, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message

...
On Jun 10, 5:25 am, sevisen Adam -THIScom
wrote:





The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all
day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: Ghiradelli Square,
SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
* drove to Ocean Beach to catch sunset

And THAT consumed the day.

So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet are
getting
off at SFO sometime before noon on 11 July---HOPEFULLY the arrival is on
time (they are flying in from New York after a week there, I believe). And
my mission is the give them the most with the least amount of time showing
the obviously ONLY the highlights of SF.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm,
and
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how
would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx.
7-7:30
pm)?

Where would you be and at what times?

Drive to Union Square, park, have some lunch at Emporio Rulli, take
the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf, stay for about an hour, take the
Cable Car back to Union Square, drive to the marina through Lombard,
gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge, drive through the Presidio to Golden
Gate Park, park and walk around, then drive to wherever they need to
go at the end of the day.
==================

Maybe use the F line rather than the cable car to get back from the Wharf?
I'd also be tempted to make a quick stop at Alamo Sq on the way to the
Marina.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Also, allow for long lines waiting for the cable car between
Fisherman's Wharf and Powell. Especially in summer, especially on
weekends, and particularly if it's not a foggy day.

On Jun 10, 10:11*am, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message

...
On Jun 10, 5:25 am, sevisen Adam -THIScom
wrote:





The last time I gave someone the once-over of San Francisco, I had all
day,
starting early in the morning and going to sunset. The program went
something like this:

* parked at Embarcadero (road along Fisherman's Wharf)
* took the Gray Line sightseeing city tour
* strolled around Beach near Polk: Ghiradelli Square,
SF Maritime Natl Park
* drove through Presidio
* drove to Palace of Fine Arts and walked around there
* drove to Golden Gate Park to Japanese Tea Garden or along there
* drove to Ocean Beach to catch sunset

And THAT consumed the day.

So a group of three adults from on the other side of the planet are
getting
off at SFO sometime before noon on 11 July---HOPEFULLY the arrival is on
time (they are flying in from New York after a week there, I believe). And
my mission is the give them the most with the least amount of time showing
the obviously ONLY the highlights of SF.

Assuming I can make it back to The City sometime between 12:30-1:00 pm,
and
assuming they are not entirely exhausted from the NY-SF journey, how
would
YOU show someone SF between the hours of 1:00 pm and sunset (approx.
7-7:30
pm)?

Where would you be and at what times?

Drive to Union Square, park, have some lunch at Emporio Rulli, take
the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf, stay for about an hour, take the
Cable Car back to Union Square, drive to the marina through Lombard,
gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge, drive through the Presidio to Golden
Gate Park, park and walk around, then drive to wherever they need to
go at the end of the day.
==================

Maybe use the F line rather than the cable car to get back from the Wharf?
I'd also be tempted to make a quick stop at Alamo Sq on the way to the
Marina.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Also, allow for long lines for the cable car both at Fisherman's Wharf
and at Montgomery. Especially in summer, especially on weekends, and
particularly if it's not a foggy day.

Forest
www.savesutro.wordpress.com

In article
,
JamesStep wrote:
Adam wrote:

assuming they are not entirely exhausted

That might be a big assumption. That's a long flight, and with the 3-
hour time change it's already mid-afternoon as far as they're
concerned. At the very least they may want to stop at their hotel to
freshen up & rest a bit, and they'll want to eat.

You might want to consider a guided tour. It's a good way to see a lot
in a limited time, you don't have to worry about traffic or parking,
there's professional narration, and they'll be sitting most of the
time which is good since they'll probably be worn out.

Gray Line has a 3-1/2 hour city tour that starts daily at 2:15, with
an option for a bay cruise too. That would give them time to rest a
bit and grab some lunch before the tour starts, and Gray Line will
pick them up at their hotel.

http://coachamerica.com/sanfrancisco...tours_city.cfm

After the tour, if they've got the energy you'd still have a little
time to show them anyplace else that you wanted.

I'd second that suggestion. The 3-hour city tours go to/past many of the
interesting views, are in comfortable vehicles, and driving and parking
are not issues. Afterwards, depending on where their hotel is or where
you park to meet the tour, you could wander around the waterfront or
take them on a cable car, or maybe to the new California Academy of
Sciences building if they're likely to be interested.

Another tour company is Great Pacific:

http://www.greatpacifictour.com/index2.htm

I've been on I think a total of 4 of their tours and haven't had a bad
one. I would NOT, however, recommend Pacific Excursions - I once booked
with them (thinking to get some variety) but they never arrived at the
pickup location, and despite repeated phone calls over a period of
months they never returned the up-front credit-card charge.

Geoff

--
Actually, I do have spots.

On Jun 11, 7:00*pm, (Geoff Rait) wrote:
In article
,





JamesStep wrote:
Adam wrote:
assuming they are not entirely exhausted

That might be a big assumption. That's a long flight, and with the 3-
hour time change it's already mid-afternoon as far as they're
concerned. *At the very least they may want to stop at their hotel to
freshen up & rest a bit, and they'll want to eat.

You might want to consider a guided tour. It's a good way to see a lot
in a limited time, you don't have to worry about traffic or parking,
there's professional narration, and they'll be sitting most of the
time which is good since they'll probably be worn out.

Gray Line has a 3-1/2 hour city tour that starts daily at 2:15, with
an option for a bay cruise too. That would give them time to rest a
bit and grab some lunch before the tour starts, and Gray Line will
pick them up at their hotel.

http://coachamerica.com/sanfrancisco...tours_city.cfm

After the tour, if they've got the energy you'd still have a little
time to show them anyplace else that you wanted.

I'd second that suggestion. The 3-hour city tours go to/past many of the
interesting views, are in comfortable vehicles, and driving and parking
are not issues. Afterwards, depending on where their hotel is or where
you park to meet the tour, you could wander around the waterfront or
take them on a cable car, or maybe to the new California Academy of
Sciences building if they're likely to be interested.

Another tour company is Great Pacific:

http://www.greatpacifictour.com/index2.htm

I've been on I think a total of 4 of their tours and haven't had a bad
one. I would NOT, however, recommend Pacific Excursions - I once booked
with them (thinking to get some variety) but they never arrived at the
pickup location, and despite repeated phone calls over a period of
months they never returned the up-front credit-card charge.

Geoff

Oh, this is going to be useful. I have houseguests coming who might
like one of these.

Forest
www.savesutro.wordpress.com