San Francisco - A Local’s Travel Guide (TL Podcast #21) - The Travel Lemming Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
If you're planning a trip to SanFrancisco, this episode is for you.
Here's a 32nd intro of the episode.

(00:33):
Welcome everybody.
My name is Betty Hurd.
I'm your host and this isthe Travel Lemming podcast.
This is where we discuss the bestdestinations around the world so
that you can make the most of yourtrip, and the end goal is always
to make you a better traveler.
My guest today was born and raisedin the San Francisco Bay area,
and she just moved back after ayear long trip around the world.
Today she's gonna tell us all aboutthe ins and outs of San Francisco.

(00:57):
Welcome to the show, one of our seniortravel writers, Laura McFarland.
Laura, how are you today?
Hi, Betty.
I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me.
Yes, of course.
So Laura and I actually recordedan episode about Lombok Indonesia,
our top pick for places to travelin 2025 at the end of last year.
So check out that article and that episodeafter this, you don't wanna miss it.

(01:18):
We also just recorded an episodeabout the best places to road trip
in the American West, and Laurawas mainly our coastal expert.
She talked about driving the PacificCoast Highway, her travels through the
state of California and so much more.
So that's just a little bitof background on how much of
the state Laura has explored.
So I'm really excited to dig intoyour expertise on where you actually
grew up and where you live now.

(01:40):
So before we get into it, make sureto like and subscribe to our channel
so you can follow along with us aswe talk, travel every single week.
So first, Laura, can you please tellour listeners a little bit about your
role at Travel Lemming and about yourbackground and life in San Francisco?
I.
Yeah, of course.
So I'm Laura.
I'm a senior travel writer here atTravel Leming, and I specialize in
travel advice for the San FranciscoBay area and Northern California.

(02:04):
Like Betty mentioned, I have calledCalifornia my home base for 26
years, but then I've also spentconsiderable time traveling around the
world, including living in Croatia.
England, Australia and New Zealand,and taking long-term backpacking trips
around Europe and Southeast Asia.
And then for my background on why I'mthe San Francisco travel expert here.
My whole family is fromthe San Francisco Bay area.

(02:25):
So I grew up in the East Bay about 45minutes from the city, and then I went
to college in Berkeley, right across thebay from San Francisco, and then moved
to San Francisco after I graduated.
And I've been living in,working here ever since.
My first job here was in the nonprofitrealm, so I worked in a lot of different
community based organizations aroundthe city, which helped me really get
to know like every single neighborhood,not just the tourist hotspots.

(02:46):
So yeah, local, through and through.
So I'll start with a very basic question.
Why should somebodytravel to San Francisco?
Yeah.
I think San Francisco is one ofthe most unique cities in America.
The neighborhoods are whatmake it the most unique.
So it's like a collection of many.
Towns each with their own distinctculture and character, and then they make
up this patchwork quilt of a big city.

(03:08):
And I think a lot of people reallyneed to know that the best part of
San Francisco is not the downtown.
It's all the littleneighborhoods around it.
It's a very naturally beautiful city.
So you have all these houses andapartment buildings that are in
this like iconic, colorful, oldVictorian and Edwardian architecture.
There are gorgeous parks and greenspaces everywhere and there are
hiking trails literally in the city.

(03:29):
We have mountains in thecity where you can go hiking.
it's also surrounded by waterbecause it's on a peninsula.
So you get these beautiful wind windsweptbeaches all around where you can.
Go for a swim, a surf, or justtake a really long walk or run.
And then best of all, San Franciscois not just all looks because you
have this incredible diverse culture,underneath the surface that just
adds so much depth to the city.

(03:50):
I have met a lot of people whileI've been traveling that have
called San Francisco, one of themost European cities in America.
I think this is just because welike have public transportation and
it's walkable, but it is a really,really beautiful old historic city
Yeah, I would have to agree.
I actually lived in Daly City, which isone of the neighborhoods of San Francisco
for about nine months, last year.

(04:10):
And now I'm in Los Angeles.
Yeah.
And I really loved it and it'sso different from Los Angeles.
And I think before I movedthere, I kind of had this.
Idea of California, that all thebig cities are very similar and
they're pretty much the same thing.
And it's vastly different.
And you're right, it is very European,not only the architecture, but the way
that you can just get around all thesedifferent areas, like you said, with the

(04:33):
public's transportation, which is justnot something that you see in Los Angeles.
Yeah, it's like you mentioned, so SanFrancisco's on a peninsula, so it's very
compact and it's easy to get around.
The whole city is onlyseven miles by seven miles,
so it doesn't have that bigurban sprawl the way that LA has.
One last plug on why San Francisco'sfantastic to visit is that it was
recently named the Culinary Capital ofAmerica in a new list of the nation's

(04:55):
best cities for food and drink.
San Francisco came out on top.
I think this is because we have a lotof local restaurants, very few chain
restaurants, and we have some of the mostdiverse cuisine in the country because
we have an incredibly diverse population.
Oh, that's awesome, and we'll definitelyget into some of your favorite
places to eat and drink in the citya little bit later in the episode.
So moving right along.
What are some of the bestthings to do in San Francisco

(05:17):
Yeah.
So number one thing to do, Iwould say visit the waterfront.
We have areas like theEmbarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf.
That's where you'll get these greatviews of the Golden Gate Bridge, all
these old historic fishing boats.
You can also walk along the piers.
You can take ferry tours around the bay.
That leads me to another greatthing to do in San Francisco, which
is to take a boat tour on the bay.
You can either do this by hiringa private boat company and

(05:39):
they have a lot of different.
Tours, San Franciscothat'll usuallytake you like around the bay,
underneath the Golden Gate Bridgeover through some of the islands.
That's really awesome.
It will be a little pricier, but youget like food and drinks on board.
You can also take a ferry rideup like through the public ferry.
That'll be a cheaper way to getout on the water if you don't
wanna pay for a pricier tour.
Another great thing to do atSan Francisco is you have to

(05:59):
hang out in some of the parks.
So areas like Golden GatePark, that's the biggest.
It's like our version of Central Park.
It has gardens, museumlakes, tons of walking pads.
Another really greatpark is Mission Dolores.
That is this big sprawling palm treedotted park on a hill with absolutely
gorgeous views over downtown.
It is the place to be.
On a sunny day, you will see tons ofpeople sunbathing and just hanging

(06:22):
out, playing music, playing spike ball.
It's awesome.
The other thing that you have to do inSan Francisco is admire the architecture.
This is one of my personal favoritethings about living in the city,
is that you can walk down prettymuch any street and see this like 19
hundreds Victorian style architecture.
They are all so elaborately paintedand they all include so much detail.

(06:42):
So like no two houses look the same.
And you'll get that by walkingpretty much anywhere in the city.
I think that's my favoritething about San Francisco is
how colorful all the houses are.
Yeah, it is absolutely fantastic.
You also need to ride a cable car 'causeSan Francisco's cable cars are iconic.
And I think that you should also go to abaseball game if you're not a sports fan.

(07:02):
It's still really fun.
Giant Stadium is right neardowntown San Francisco.
You can get there by publictransit and it has this like.
It's right on the water, so it hasthese beautiful views over the bay, and
especially being there for a baseballgame at Sunset is like just the most
stunning view and it's super cheap.
You can get tickets for like $20.
I feel like a lot of people don'tthink to engage in sports culture when

(07:23):
they're visiting someplace new, but Ithink it's one of the best ways to get
to know a more local side of the city.
And a lot of San Francisco localsare very passionate about the giants,
so it's a very fun thing to do.
Yeah, I would say I'm not a hugebaseball fan, but I did go to a Giants
game and it was so much fun becauselike you said, it's right on the water,
so you're already downtown, so it'sa great thing to do if you're gonna.
Do like an exploration of downtownand then go to a game after you

(07:45):
get dinner or something like that.
And it's so much fun just to be righton the water and see all the local fans.
Yeah, you kind of have to doit while you're in the city.
I would also recommend spendinga day getting out of the city.
One of the best things about livingin San Francisco is that we have this
incredible proximity to nature and thesebeautiful areas outside of the city.
So one of my favorite daytrips is to mere woods.
You can go see old Growth Coast Redwoods.

(08:06):
It's just about 45 minutesaway from San Francisco.
You can also take a day trip up toNapa Valley for the 21 and UPC crowd.
This is where you will getsome incredible wine tasting.
It's one of the most famouswine areas in the world.
And that's only about anhour from San Francisco.
And then if you're looking to get a littlemore far flung, you can go to places like
Yosemite National Park or Lake Tahoe.
That's only about a four hour drive away.

(08:27):
So definitely the proximity tothings around San Francisco is
another great reason to visit.
Yeah, absolutely.
And we'll definitely get intosome day trips from San Francisco
just 'cause there's so manyawesome spots, like you mentioned.
So if you could kind of roll allof that into five top attractions
in San Francisco, what wouldthose top five attractions be?
I.
Ooh, okay.

(08:47):
Golden Gate Bridge, obviously, number one.
You can see it from pretty muchanywhere along the waterfront in San
Francisco, but if you want to walkacross it, it is free to walk across.
So you can just go and walk and you'll getthese beautiful views over the whole city.
Golden Gate Park is also one of myfavorite areas in San Francisco.
It has things like the Japanese TeaGarden, it's this large Japanese style
garden with these koi ponds, Zen gardens,and a tea house where you can sit and

(09:11):
dine on like traditional Japanese snacks.
You can also visit the Conservatoryof Flowers, the California Academy of
Sciences, which is a natural historymuseum, and there's a fine arts
museum called the De Young Museum.
So all of that is inside GoldenGate Park, along with so much more.
So definitely visit Golden Gate Park.
The bison too.
I used to go to Golden Gate.
I love going there for that.
I used to go there like every singleweekend and I would just sit there.

(09:34):
There's like a pen fullof protected bison.
I don't really know why they're there,but, you can just sit there and go for
a little walk in the park and watchthe bison just live in their lives.
Yeah, it's not part ofthe San Francisco Zoo.
You don't have to pay to go see them.
You can just walk right up and observethe bison that live in Golden Gate Park.
I love that.
Another, the other top threeattractions I would say, for

(09:56):
San Francisco, Alcatraz Island.
Like many San Francisco locals, I have notactually been to Alcatraz, but it is one
of the most popular tourist destinations.
It's this old, very famous prison on anisland, which has recently made headlines
again, because someone wants to reopen it.
that's probably not gonna happen,I would say because it's now owned
by the National Park Service.
But it is a super popular thingto go and tour Alcatraz Island.

(10:19):
You can see inside the old prison, it'snow a museum and you can walk around.
You can even do like night toursif you're into something spooky.
And you take the ferry to get there.
So you also get a boat ride onthe water while you're at it.
So visiting Alcatraz, definitely worth it.
again, even though I've never been,but I would love to go someday.
then the other.
two attractions.
I would say Pier 39 is reallypopular for little kids.

(10:41):
It's this big pier with likecarnival style games, and you can
go and see this colony of sealsthat hang out and live at Pier 39.
And that's kind of like a classicSan Francisco thing to do.
And then finally, the PaintedLadies is one of my favorite
viewpoints in San Francisco.
It is a collection of iconic Victorian.
Houses that are just like beautifullypreserved and they're right in

(11:02):
front of this gorgeous park andthey have like a view of all of
downtown San Francisco behind them.
That's like the postcardview of San Francisco.
Very cool.
Yeah, I think I've done all of thoseexcept for the painted ladies, so
I gotta go back and check that out.
It sounds awesome.
Are there any hidden gems that you wannatalk about that maybe somebody wouldn't
know unless they grew up in the area?
Yeah, I'm not sure how much of theseare hidden to locals, but they're

(11:25):
may be hidden for like tourists thathave never been to the city before.
I would go to the Twin Peaks lookout.
This is pretty popular.
It's the best sunset spot in SanFrancisco, so it's like up on a big
hill and you have pretty much 360degree views over the whole city.
You can hike up it or you can drive up it.
But yeah, definitely goto Twin Peaks for sunset.
Lands and Sutra baths and the Legion ofHonor is this beautiful area that used

(11:48):
to be these old Roman bathhouses thatgot washed away, but you still have
the remnants of these big, like baths.
It's really hard to explain, but if yougo, you have these beautiful views of
the ocean, you can hike a little paththat takes you to views of the Golden
Gate Bridge and to a really nice finearts museum called the Legion of Honor.
That's one of my favorite places

(12:08):
And for those watching onYouTube, we'll have, we have
some visuals up of these things.
And for anybody who's just listeningto the podcast, definitely make sure
to check out some pictures of LANs.
And it's one of the most beautiful placesI've ever seen in the United States.
You definitely need to check it out.
If you go to San Francisco.
Yeah, I agree.
It's one of my favoriteplaces in the city.
Another place that I really liketo go that not a lot of people go

(12:30):
visit is the Fillmore District.
This was actually once known asthe Harlem of the West because
there are so many jazz clubs.
Nowadays, it's definitelysmaller and less well known.
It's pretty much alwaysoverlooked by tourists.
It's a great place for some local livemusic and to learn more about black
history and culture in San Francisco.
Awesome.
Fillmore Coffee Shop, by the way,is one of my favorite coffee shops
there too, so check that out too.

(12:51):
Nice.
Nice.
This one is very, very particular, but forany French listeners out there, Le Maison
Blue is, it's called the Blue House.
It's in the CastroDistrict of San Francisco.
This French musician wrote a songabout living in a hippie commune in
San Francisco in the seventies, and itwas about this house that he lived in.
And so it's become kind of apilgrimage for French tourists to

(13:11):
go visit Le Maison Blue and like.
80% of people that live in San Franciscohave no idea what this house is.
But for anyone that like grew upwith French culture visiting La
Maison Blue is pretty much a rite ofpassage when you visit San Francisco.
also on the topic of music houses, becauseI'm a music nerd, the Grateful Dead House
and Janice Joplin's house are both in theHate Ashbury district of San Francisco.

(13:32):
That's like the hippie dippy sixtiesarea of the city, that if you go, you
can look at the Grateful Dead Houseof where they lived when they, when
they were living in San Francisco.
Very cool.
So you've mentioned a whole bunchof different areas of San Francisco,
and that leads me to my nexttopic, which is where are the best
places to stay in San Francisco?
The best places to stay in SanFrancisco are Fisherman's Wharf, knob

(13:54):
Hill, union Square, or North Beach.
Fisherman's Wharf is the mosttouristy area of San Francisco.
It is right on the waterfront.
There's tons of kid friendlyplaces to go and things to do,
and there's a ton of hotels.
You're right next to the waterfront witheasy access to things like Alcatraz,
doing a boat tour on the Bay Pier 39.
You can also get these great viewsof the Golden Gate Bridge from pretty

(14:16):
much anywhere in Fisherman's Wharf.
The only thing is that it is themost touristy area of the city.
So accommodation will be a little bitpricier here and it'll be pretty crowded.
Another great place to stay is Knob Hill.
This is where all the luxury hotelsare because it's high up on a hill.
So you get these greatviews over the whole city.
It's very safe.
You will have to walk a lot of places.
That's the one thing,and it's super hilly.
But you can also take the cablecar, because the cable car does go

(14:37):
through Knob Hill, and this is wherelike famous old hotels like the
Fairmont or the Intercontinental.
Our, there's gonna bea lot of rooftop bars.
It's very swanky area.
Square is gonna have the mostoptions for accommodations.
So this is where you'llhave like a lot of hotels.
I do think it kind of lacks character.
That's my one criticism of Union Square.
I always kind of compare it tolike Times Square in New York.

(14:58):
But on a much smaller scale.
It's just like a lot of departmentstores and hotels, but there
are some really great museumsand restaurants there as well.
then North Beach is my favoriteplace to stay in San Francisco.
It has great nightlife cocktail bars.
Live music and like super cool old hotels.
It was known in the fifties aslike the Bohemian area of San
Francisco, and so it still kind ofretains a lot of that character.

(15:19):
Is North Beach also where like, theItalian district is, I, I think that's
where all the Italian restaurants are.
yes.
North Beach is the most Italianarea of San Francisco, contrary
to what the name suggests.
It does not actually have a beach,so it's not like on the waterfront,
but you're only like a 15 to20 minute walk from the water.
So you're also still really closeto all those tourist attractions.
Very cool and you can getsome really good food.

(15:40):
That's where I would always drive'cause Italian is my favorite.
So, out of all of these places that you'vejust mentioned, where should somebody
stay for their very first visit to SanFrancisco if they've never been before?
I would say you should stay inFisherman's Wharf or North Beach.
I think that both of these areas embodya lot of the essential San Francisco
ambiance, like waterfront areas,art, culture, music, diverse dining

(16:02):
options, fantastic views all around,and they're both relatively safe.
So I know the city is notoriouslyexpensive, so is there anywhere in
San Francisco that you recommendsomeone could stay on a budget?
I.
Yeah, so despite it being one of themost expensive cities in America, I
think San Francisco's actually a greatcity for budget travelers because so
many of the main things to do are free.

(16:23):
You can walk around Golden GatePark or the Golden Gate Bridge.
That's free.
You can ride a cable car for like $8.
There are tons of free museumdays, like at least once a month
there'll be a free museum day.
And so even though you might spendmore on food and accommodation, you
will actually save a ton of moneyon activities and transportation.
but in terms of saving on accommodation,I would say you should stay in a hostel.

(16:43):
There are a lot of hostels scatteredaround the city, so it's pretty
easy to find a cheap dorm roombed for like around $50 a night.
I've heard really wonderful things aboutthe Green Tortoise hostel in North Beach.
I hear it has a sauna,which is really enticing.
There are also hostels inFisherman's Wharf, but that's
gonna be a little bit pricier.
So just like caution around eatingand drinking out in Fisherman's
Wharf because it is gonna betourist prices, not local prices.

(17:05):
So you will pay more.
Great.
Any other notable placesto stay in San Francisco?
I really love the AlamoSquare neighborhood.
This is close to the Painted ladies.
Like I mentioned, di Visit Arrow Streetin the Alamo Square area has a lot of like
local cocktail bars, cafes, restaurants,little parklets and outdoor seating areas.
It's right in the middle of thecity also, so it's super easy

(17:25):
to access everything from there.
And then you can also stay in theCastro District or the Mission District.
These are a little bit further removed.
They are right next to each other,so they're adjacent neighborhoods.
There's not a lot of hotels over here,but there's a lot of little like bed and
breakfasts or you can rent an apartment.
It's a very local area.
So the Castro is the traditionallyL-G-B-T-Q area of the city.
And then the mission district istypically the Latinx area of the city.

(17:49):
They both have super fun nightlife,are really easy to walk around, and
they're both just like really, reallyfun local areas in the city, but they're
further away from tourist spots andthere's not that many hotel options.
Yeah, I can vouch forthe mission neighborhood.
One of my family friends lives thereand I've stayed with him multiple times.
And you're right, it's like the mostwalkable place I've ever stayed in.
It's right next to Mission DoloresPark, which is an awesome place

(18:10):
to walk and get city views andlike the best food I've ever had.
Every single restaurant is so, so good,which again, we'll get into restaurants
in a little bit, but I'm very excitedto talk about food in San Francisco.
Yeah.
And if you wanna know more about theneighborhoods of San Francisco and
where to stay in general, I did writea few articles on travel living.
One of them is called Where to Stay.
It's San Francisco.
So that breaks down all of theneighborhoods that I just mentioned

(18:31):
with my top hotel picks in each of them.
And then also I wrote a whole articlejust listing all the different
neighborhoods of San Francisco anddescribing the character of each.
So if you're curious tolearn more about the city's.
makeup, then definitely check outthose articles on travel Lubbock.
Yes, and also we discussed thebest things to do in San Francisco.
Laura also has an article on that, soif you wanna do a deeper dive into all

(18:53):
of her recommendations, make sure tocheck out the articles after the show.
We'll link everything in the show notes.
You've talked about all these placesto stay, what about places to avoid?
So if we could talk about safetyin San Francisco, which I know
is probably something that a lotof listeners are eager to hear.
So if you could break downsafety in San Francisco.
This is definitely a hot buttontopic safety in San Francisco.

(19:14):
I would say the places to avoid if youare a tourist visiting San Francisco would
be the Tenderloin and South of market.
but in general, there's not reallyany tourist attractions here.
So you don't really need to go asa tourist and it, they, these two
neighborhoods do have the highestinstances of violent crime in the city.
Again, you are unlikely to be avictim of crime if you're just a

(19:37):
tourist in the city, except for.
Certain things, which I willget into in a few minutes.
But yeah, just I wouldsay avoid the Tenderloin.
It's right in the middle of the city.
It's a very, very small neighborhood.
Just about like fourblocks by four blocks.
And then south of market between, Iwould say like fourth Street and ninth
Street can get a little bit dicey.
There is where there tends tobe more homeless encampments.

(19:59):
Again, homeless people in SanFrancisco probably will not bother you.
But if you want to avoid thoseareas, this is where they are.
Is the Tenderloin in south of market?
So yeah, be a little more vigilant ifyou're walking through these areas.
But again, as a tourist, youprobably don't need to go to them.
In terms of safety in San Francisco,I think a lot of people have
probably seen certain news channelsdepicting San Francisco as like the

(20:22):
zombie apocalypse for some reason.
Even though it's an incredibly beautifulcity with tons of super, super safe areas,
there are a few small areas, a few smallblocks where drug use is pretty rampant.
There's a lot of, people living onthe street, and a lot of this has to
do with the fact that San Franciscois one of the most expensive cities
to live in in the entire country.

(20:43):
We have.
Incredible problems with incomeinequality because people in the
tech industry make so much money thatrent is so high in San Francisco.
A lot of people cannotafford to live in apartments.
So we have a lot of peopleliving on the street.
However, a lot of people livingon the street won't bother you.
People that are experiencingdrug crises, avoid them.

(21:03):
Just go around.
Don't go into the areas that I mentionedbefore where drug use tends to be a
little bit higher and more obvious.
The things that you should worryabout as a tourist in San Francisco
are car break-ins or pickpockets.
Car break-ins have gone down inrecent years, which is great, but
we did have a pretty big problemwith car break-ins, especially.
Right after the pandemic, theywent up like through the roof.

(21:24):
So areas that are really big hotspotsfor car break-ins are touristy areas.
So like Fisherman's Wharfsees the most car break-ins.
So if you are a tourist and youhave rented a car in San Francisco,
do not leave anything in your car.
Not a jacket, not a water bottle, nota phone charger like your car will
get broken into if you have visiblethings in the trunk, in the backseat.
In the front seat, wherever.

(21:45):
If you need to leave things in your car,put it in like the glove compartment.
Make sure you have tinted windows or justlike, don't leave your luggage in there.
Don't come from the airport andsay, oh, I'm gonna park at this.
I wanna see the painted ladies.
I'm gonna park by the painted ladieswith my entire luggage in the backseat.
Your car will get broken into.
Do not do that.
yeah.
Before I moved to San Francisco, I can'teven tell you the amount of warnings I got

(22:08):
from people saying, oh, it's so unsafe.
You're gonna get your car brokeninto, you're gonna be robbed.
So many different things.
But like you said, I avoided theplaces that people said not to go.
I never had an issue in mynine months of living there.
And, I was in Daley City, whichisn't like the nicest area.
I walked everywhere all the time.
Like you said, neverkept anything in my car.

(22:29):
But I parked in mostly well-lit spots.
I didn't go walking around in themiddle of the night and I wasn't
going in looking for trouble.
So, you know, it's, a lot of thingsare like common sense where you
can really avoid getting into abad situation in San Francisco.
But people kind of like hear theselittle bits and pieces of things going
on there, and then they think that that'sthe entire city and it's just not true.

(22:51):
Like I never saw any really, really badstuff going on in my time living there.
So that's something to keep in mind.
Yeah.
And I would say that if you're not usedto living in a city where people are
homeless, like that is something to getused to when you visit San Francisco.
Again, a lot of people can't affordplaces to live, but the majority of
the time, like, do not bother them.
They won't bother you.

(23:11):
They are people living on the street.
It's fine.
Like you don't need to engage.
Something else that I want to touch onis just that San Francisco actually has.
pretty low crime rate compared toother major cities in America because
we're a pretty mid-sized city.
Like San Francisco is less than amillion people in the actual city itself.
and compared to similarly sized cities,we have a pretty low crime rate.

(23:34):
So it's not something to be afraid of.
Definitely don't let safety stopyou from visiting San Francisco.
The majority of the cityis lovely, very safe.
I have never gotten my car brokeninto because I'm smart and I
don't leave thing in the backseat.
In general, yeah, don't let safetystop you from wanting to visit.
It's a beautiful place and Ijust wish that it was portrayed

(23:54):
a bit differently on the news.
Absolutely, and I'm glad you'reshedding some light on that too,
because it really is so great.
It's beautiful.
I think also now is a reallyexciting time to be visiting San
Francisco because things havestarted to change a little bit.
Right after the pandemic, a lot of peopleworking in San Francisco went fully
remote because the city is so heavilycharacterized by the tech industry.
So we had, like, we lost a lot ofdowntown foot traffic and the city

(24:17):
felt kind of empty for a few years.
It was weird.
But now a lot of offices arehaving people come back to work.
And we also just got a new mayor who'slike, one of his main things seems to be
revitalizing the downtown and having more.
Foot traffic.
So he's actually started doing a lotof like block parties and shutting down
whole streets to have street partieswhere all these restaurants open up

(24:38):
and you can like wander around and havelive music and drink in the street.
It seems to be one of his main priorities,so that's kind of exciting to watch.
I'm not sure how it's gonna go, butit's a really cool time to be, to be
visiting because there's a lot of newthings happening in San Francisco and
crime is going down and people arehanging out more, which is really fun.
That's awesome.
Well, I'm very happy to hear that.
When is the best time to visitSan Francisco and how much time

(25:00):
do you need to visit the city?
September and October are thebest times to visit San Francisco.
This is when you willhave the best weather.
So if you like warm weather, Septemberand October tends to be like when you
get these 70 degree plus sunny days.
This is also when there'llbe a lot of music festivals.
So like Outside Lands Music Festival is inAugust, so a little bit before September.

(25:21):
But then we also have hardlystrictly Bluegrass, which is a free.
Three-day music festivalin Golden Gate Park.
That's always the firstweekend of October.
We have Fleet Week,which is when the navy.
Planes decide to fly all aroundthe city and it's incredibly
annoying to everyone that livesthere, but like fun for tourists.
So Fleet Week is always in October.
And then we have another music festivalin September that's like an EDM 21

(25:44):
and up music festival called Portola.
So if you're into like festivals inevents, September and October, best time
to visit and for good weather as well.
Spring is also a really nicetime to visit because you won't
get the summer tourists yet.
And it's still gonna be nice weather.
Summer is fine.
Summer's just alwayscold, so prepare for that.
If you're coming in the summer,you are not gonna get a California

(26:04):
beach summer in San Francisco.
I'm so sorry.
It is gonna be 60 degrees and foggy.
And we'll talk a little bit aboutweather in different microclimates later.
But yeah, in terms of how much timesomeone should spend in San Francisco,
I would say three to four days to seethe city and then tack on an extra
day or two to do one of these daytrips that I talked about earlier.
Rent a car and go up to Muir Woods,go up to Napa Valley or Sonoma County,

(26:25):
two of the best wine regions in theUnited States, or go down to Santa Cruz.
That's this really popularbeach town where you will get
like palm tree lined beaches.
Really good surf, more the traditionalCalifornia beach town feel.
But I also really recommend Tamales Bay.
That's a less popular day trip from SanFrancisco, but it is my personal favorite.
It is one of the biggest oysterproducing areas of California.

(26:45):
And so you can drive up to these shacks onthe water and just like eat farm to table
oysters that are the best you've ever had.
You can go kayaking.
There's all these mossyforests and hidden beaches.
It's a really great place.
It's only an hour north of San Francisco,so yeah, three to four days in the city
and then like a day or two for day trips.
Very cool.
And just to add on to those day trips,I have a couple recommendations as well.

(27:07):
Sausalito just north of San Franciscoacross the Golden Gate Bridge is one
of my favorite places to walk around.
And you have a view of downtownSan Francisco, but you're on
the other side of the bay.
Really great food there thatI've had and really great like.
Milkshakes and coffee, and it's justlike such a fun place to walk around,
on like a really good sunny weather day.

(27:27):
Also to the South Pacifica.
I always went to Pacifica.
That's where I would drive and go getmy coffee to have it on the beach.
There's also the, the famousTaco Bell that's on the beach in
Pacifica, which was the reasonI went there in the first place.
And then I discovered, oh my God,Pacifica's like an incredible place.
All its all on its own.
But, there's a Taco Bell Cantinawhere you can get beer and margaritas

(27:48):
and like these slushies right onthe beach and it's incredible.
Yeah, people have called it the mostbeautiful Taco Bell in the world.
Easily.
I love going to the TacoBell Cantina in Pacifica.
It sounds really silly,but it is like so fun.
So yeah,
it's, yeah.
for Sausalito is that you cantake the ferry to Sausalito.
So yay, public transportation.

(28:09):
Moving right along.
You just mentioned the ferry.
What are some of the best waysto get around San Francisco?
Yeah, so again, we have a reallyrobust public transportation
system, so I would not recommendrenting a car in San Francisco.
Parking is notoriously difficult.
It is expensive, and again, carbreak-ins can be difficult to avoid
if you're in really touristy areas.
So I would just use public transportationif you're planning on staying in the city,

(28:32):
there's a few different methods of publictransportation, so I'll break them down.
Bart is the trains that gofrom the suburbs into the city.
There's like five stops in the city,but it's not the most efficient way
for getting around San Francisco.
It's great to get.
From outside of SanFrancisco into the city.
So that's the BART train.
is going to be the best wayto get around San Francisco.
Muni operates buses and trams.

(28:52):
Buses go everywhere.
It's $2 and 75 cents, I think, to ride.
the trams are.
A little bit more limited.
There's only five main lines, but theygo underground and above ground and
they transport you like throughoutthe main areas of San Francisco.
So Muni trams are really great andthey're quick because you don't get
stuck in traffic like buses, cars.
You have to take a cable carwhen you're in San Francisco.

(29:15):
They are not the best way for actuallygetting around, however, because they're
pretty slow and there's only three lines.
They're all in downtown or likeKnob Hill, fisherman's Wharf area.
So it's a great thing to do if you'retrying to get over the hill from
Fisherman's Wharf into downtown.
But you can't take them everywherebecause there's only three lines.
There are also street cars, whichare different than cable cars.

(29:35):
It is confusing.
Street cars mainly run on MarketStreet, which is the main downtown.
Street in San Francisco that runs fromlike the Embar area all the way through.
It's like the main drag.
and street cars go along Market Street.
It's the same price as the bus and thenobviously the ferry that is on the water.
The ferry departs usually from thepiers in downtown and they go from San

(29:56):
Francisco to Oakland, San Franciscoto Sausalito or San Francisco to
Angel Island, which is this beautifulnatural island in the middle of the
San Francisco Bay that you can go andlike hike around or bike ride around.
So definitely take a ferry to AngelIsland if you want a really fun
little day excursion from the city.
Lovely.
And I know that, like Ubers and Lyftsare pretty expensive there, right?

(30:16):
They're not too bad.
They're like, I don't know, nineor $10 for a 20 minute ride.
from the airport, I knowthat they're pricey.
Oh yeah.
But my, my tip is to take a, a hotelshuttle from the airport to one of
the hotels, and then Uber to whereveryou're going, you'll save like $20.
So that's my little pro tip.
Yes, anything coming from the airportis gonna be like jacked up prices.

(30:37):
But in terms of using Ubers orLyfts around San Francisco itself,
I don't think it's that expensive.
We have Waymo's theyare self-driving cars.
You get in and there is literallyno one behind the wheel.
It drives itself.
They're also all electric, so they'relike a relatively sustainable option.
Not as sustainable as publictransportation, but in terms of.
Gas cars versus electric cars.

(30:59):
Waymo's are all electric.
And it's super weird because youjust get in, you call it like an
Uber, and you get in the seat andthen this car drives itself away.
It is freaky and fun.
And so San Francisco.
Yeah, Waymo's are wild.
I've actually still never been inone, even though I've lived in three
of the four cities where they are.
So they're in Phoenix, LosAngeles, San Francisco.

(31:19):
I've lived in all three ofthose and then Austin, Texas.
I, I have yet to do it ' causeit freaks me out and one of
these days I'm gonna do it.
But, yeah, it's like, it's so weird tosee them driving up and down the hills,
especially 'cause San Francisco's kindof a crazy driving environment, but
they're really well programmedbecause I think that they're virtually
like unproblematic in the city.

(31:40):
So it's a nice, safe way to drive,especially if you feel uncomfortable
having a, a random driver,picking you up with Uber or Lyft.
So moving right along into food and drink.
So I know that San Francisco isrenowned for the foodie scene.
It, there's some of the bestfood in the whole world there.
There's lots of differentdistricts with different cultures.
And also I know great bars and coffee.

(32:00):
So if you can talk a little bit moreabout the best restaurants, coffee
shops and bars, that'd be awesome.
Yeah.
So in terms of naming actual, likespecific restaurants, you should try,
definitely go to my article on the bestrestaurants in San Francisco because
there's too many to break down here.
But for different regions.
Where you will get famous cuisine.
The Mission district, I would say,has some of the most exciting up and

(32:21):
coming new restaurants in the city.
It's very trendy right now.
And then it also has the best Mexican andcentral American food in the city because
traditionally it's a more Latinx area.
So if you want like a latenight burrito, you have to get a
burrito in the Mission District.
Don't get it anywhere else.
Go to the mission district.
North Beach is gonna havethe best Italian food.
Chinatown, which is right acrossfrom North Beach or like right

(32:43):
adjacent to North Beach, is gonnahave obviously the best Chinese
food and dib some in the city.
It's actually the largestChinatown outside of Asia.
So we have like incrediblefood in Chinatown.
Downtown or Embarcaderoor Fishermen's Wharf.
Just anywhere by the water is whereyou're gonna want to get seafood.
we have like clam chowder in abread bowl is the classic that
you can get anywhere downtown.

(33:05):
And you can also get like fresh seafoodwhere they literally like bring.
The fish off the fishing boatinto the restaurant while
you're sitting there eating.
So, that's really fun.
Bakeries are also really popularin San Francisco Arsal Bakery.
I'll plug, I will shout them out.
They do have the bestcroissants in the city.
They're like widely knownto have the best croissants.
And then there's a new bakery calledButter and Crumble that has just

(33:26):
like popped off in the past year.
It always has a line that'slike multiple blocks long.
I haven't tried it yet, but I heardthat it is extremely worth it.
So if you can make it to butterand crumble, I hear it's great.
and then the thing that you like haveto drink if you're in San Francisco
is Irish coffee at the Buena VistaCafe, which is down by North Beach.

(33:47):
People say that Irish coffee wasinvented in America at the Buena
Vista Cafe in San Francisco.
So definitely get an Irish coffee.
Absolutely.
And I actually have, an article on thebest coffee shops in San Francisco,
if you guys wanna get into that.
Like we said, there's just not enoughtime to go over all of these places in
this podcast, but you can definitelycheck out the articles after the episode.
Where is the best place to go outfor nightlife in San Francisco?

(34:11):
Yeah, so if you wanna go to aclub, go to downtown or Soma,
those are where the clubs are.
But then in terms of like.
Rooftop bars, fancy bars,those will mostly be downtown.
And then for like neighborhood barsand just fun DJ bars with dance vibes.
The Mission district has areally good nightlife and North
Beach has really good nightlife.
And then the marina is the best placefor like early twenties I would say.

(34:32):
There's a lot of bars that are reallyclose walk, so it kind of is the only
place in San Francisco that you can likedo a real bar crawl is in the marina.
But yeah, marina, mission District,north Beach, super popular for going out.
Fantastic.
Yeah, lots of places to try.
So definitely make sure you saveroom in your budget for going out to
the bars, getting some really goodfood, and drinking some really good
coffee when you visit San Francisco.

(34:54):
Yes.
Do you have any other tips that peopleshould know before visiting San Francisco?
Yes.
These are like my top five tipsfor visiting San Francisco.
One.
Don't call it San Franand don't call it Frisco.
It is San Francisco sf or the city.
That's the only thing that people call it.
You will immediately outyourself as a tourist.
If you call it San Fran, it's fine.
You'll just get some stares.

(35:14):
Number two, always bring a light jacketwherever you go, no matter what the
weather is because it gets foggy.
three, SF weather.
This is where SF can be a littlebit different compared to a
lot of places in California.
So San Francisco, it's not rainylike the Pacific Northwest.
It's not sunny like SoCal.
It is kind of just always temperate,like it's always around 60 degrees
and it gets foggy in the morningsand foggy in the evenings.

(35:36):
So the middle of the day will benice, but if you're going out in the
evening, you need to take a jacketbecause the fog will come in and it'll
immediately drop like 10 degrees.
what's its name?
The fog's name is Carl.
Carl with a K, and hehas a Twitter account
Yes,
has a Twitter account, and so if you goto like all of the, all of the souvenir
shops, you can usually get like a magnetthat says Carl the fog or something.
Because yeah, the fog is soprevalent that we named it.

(35:58):
My number four tip, if we were walkingto get around, wear comfortable shoes
because the hills can be really steep.
So a lot of people in San Franciscodon't really wear like heels or fancy
clothes unless it's a fancy occasion.
Pretty much everyone here wearslike street style clothes or
athleisure just because yeah, thehills can be really rough to walk
around, so wear comfortable shoes.
and number five, I would say get to knowthe history of the city while you're here.

(36:20):
Like a lot of people like to talkabout how much San Francisco has
changed with the rise of tech culture.
But San Francisco hasalways been changing.
It has changed ever since it was founded,and there is so much rich, rich, rich
history if you just know where to look.
So get to know the city thatyou're in while you're visiting.
Five great tips.
Thank you for that.
Laura.
Is there any specific etiquette thatpeople should know before visiting

(36:41):
I would say people here are pretty polite.
We, we walk slow, we tip generously.
We try to be kind.
So don't come to San Franciscoand then try to talk to us about
how bad it's gotten, because it'sonly going to make you look like
you don't know the city at all.
You're not really gonna earn anyone'srespect by like trying to be controversial

(37:02):
and talk about how there's like.
Homelessness and poop on the street.
Like we know there's poop on the street.
Just grow up.
It's a city.
Deal with it.
It's fine.
I walk around.
walk around, like just be nice.
That's the number one thing is be nice.
Don't try to be like, oh, do you guysreally like living in San Francisco?
Yes.
Clearly it's one of the most popularplaces to move in the United States.

(37:26):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
There's so many great things about it,and again, people just kind of blow up
the bad, okay, so to wrap up the wholeepisode, what is the number one reason
somebody should visit San Francisco?
San Francisco is the most naturallybeautiful city in the United States.
It has so many different microcosms ofneighborhoods with places to explore.

(37:46):
There's a ton of freeand fun things to do.
It's a great place to be outdoors, tobe active, and it's close to some of
the best day trips in the United States.
So you can stay in SanFrancisco, and then it's.
The perfect jumping off point forvisiting so much of the California
coast, the mountains wine country.
It's fantastic and people here are reallynice and we really want people to visit.

(38:07):
We love tourists, so definitelycome to San Francisco.
It is a fantastic place to live and visit.
Well, that's all for the episode today.
Laura, thank you so much forjoining me today and sharing your
expertise about your hometown.
I loved getting to knowmore about San Francisco.
There's so much that you discussed andso much that you've written about, which
again, all of Laura's relevant articlesare gonna be linked in the show notes.

(38:29):
So make sure you check outeverything that she's written about
San Francisco after the episode.
if you like the episode, makesure to like and subscribe to our
channel so you never miss a beat.
We post new episodes on Thursdays, sowe're always gonna keep you covered on
new destinations all around the world.
Laura, thank you againfor joining us today.
I hope you had a great time on the show.

(38:49):
I did.
It was fantastic.
Thanks for having me.
Of course.
And thank you listenersfor joining us today.
We'll see you next time onthe Travel Leming podcast.

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San Francisco - A Local’s Travel Guide (TL Podcast #21)

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