feh's guide to visiting the San Francisco/Bay Area

General resources:

A great resource, if you want to start looking at fun stuff to do in SF area, is the SFGate Guide. Fantastic info.

Also, for looking up specific names of places, hours, etc, use CitySearch (I use the site all the time).

Good driving directions at Yahoo Maps.

General tips:

In summer it is usually foggy, windy, and colder in the afternoons, particularly in SF or near the water. Always bring a jacket or sweater whenever you go out (a local custom is to always have a sweater in the trunk of your car). Also, it is usually sunnier and warmer in Berkeley than in SF!

Traffic is totally unpredictable. It often only takes 15 or 20 minutes to get from my house into SF, but other times it can take an hour or more. So budget your time accordingly.

Parking in SF and Berkeley can be tough, leave extra time for parking when you are making plans.

In SF/Berkeley/Oakland:

View of SF from Treasure Island: If you are driving across the Bay Bridge from Berkeley to SF, take the left exit midway across the bridge on to Treasure Island. You will loop around Yerba Buena Island to the flatter Treasure Island, and see a row of parking spots on your left, with a fantastic view of the city. Then it's just a minute to get back on the bridge and on your way!

Lombard Street, the curviest road in the world: Definitely a hoot, at Lombard and Hyde St in SF. Relatively near Fisherman's Wharf/Ghiradelli Square (touristy but fun), North Beach (little Italy, great cannolis), and Chinatown (mostly just junk to buy, some good restaurants).

Dim Sum: go on Saturday or Sunday morning to Chinese brunch at one of these places:
- Ton Kiang (my favorite. before or after, drop over to Clement St and walk around, interesting Asian shops, more fun than Chinatown)
- Restaurant Peony (fantastic, authentic, few white people and little english spoken, so you may end up eating mystery food...)
- Yank Sing (most expensive, california-ized to include lots of vegetarian stuff)

Japantown: a massive mall-style set of buildings at Post and Webster in SF, fantastic food, wonderful shops, a bowling alley, good movie theater. great place to wander around.

Alcatraz Island: a touristy thing to do, absolutely worth touring! it's a beautiful island, a gorgeous view of the bay, a nice boat ride, and cool history. one catch, you usually need to make reservations at least a couple weeks in advance. you pick up the ferry from Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf.

Downtown/SOMA in SF:
- View of SF from the Marriot lounge, downtown. Take the elevator to the top floor lounge called the The View - have a drink or just look around and leave.
- The Metreon: a bizarre but interesting mall/theater combo right in the middle of everything downtown, at 4th and Mission, right across from the Marriott. A GREAT place to see a movie - all "stadium" seating, also IMAX. Decent food at the "food court".
- The SF MOMA - a good museum, great architecture, at 3rd and Mission.
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, right between the Metreon and Moma, good newer art museum.
- fancy department stores and boutiques district, "Union Square" is a quick walk from SOMA. Walk north on 3rd or 4th or 5th Street across Market, and you will start to see big shops like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Best parking: at 5th and Mission garage (about $10 for 5 hours or more)

Golden Gate Park: beautiful walks, Japanese tea garden, museums, California Academy of Sciences (which has penguins!), arboretum.
Added bonuses:
- at one end of the park is Haight Street, which is mostly just a shopping street now (teenagers' heaven). But there are still some vestiges of the golden hippy era.
- at the other end of the park (the ocean side) is the Cliff House. absolutely DO NOT eat there, but DO go to the Musee Mechanique (a huge collection of mechanical toys and games) and to the Camera Obscura. Beautiful views! Right on the beach, view of surfers.
- just off the park, at 9th Ave and Irving, is the best sushi restaurant in SF. Not too expensive, and not too fancy, not crowded at lunch but at least an hour wait at dinner, Ebisu

Near the Golden Gate Bridge:
- The Exploratorium, and excellent hands-on museum full of trippy stuff.
- Palace of Fine Arts, right next to the Exploratorium, a lovely place to walk or have a picnic.

Best things to do in Berkeley/Oakland:

Telegraph Ave: Window shopping up near the Berkeley campus, lots of street vendors and performers. A great hat shop, some good used clothing stores, the best used record store in the Bay Area (Amoeba), a great book store (Cody's). on Telegraph Ave, between Dwight Way and Bancroft. Parking: weekend lot at Channing and Bowditch, pay at the little machines.

On a clear Friday or Saturday night, go up to the observatories at Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland hills. One of the biggest telescopes with public viewing in all of the US and a great view of the bay. Check the Chabot website first - will tell you whether it's clear or not.

The Berkeley Rose Garden - Across the street from the rose garden is a park - behind the park there are trails that will walk you all the way up into the berkeley hills and eventually to a waterfall. lovely!

Walk around the Berkeley Marina, great views of the city and always kite-flyers.On the way there is the Seabreeze, a little market/cafe -- good food!

Hike around Tilden Park, in the Berkeley Hills. Many trails. (maps of trails and directions on web site)

North Berkeley: little shopping area on Shattuck Ave between Rose and Cedar. great used book store (Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Avenue), great pastry shop (Masse's Pastries), fantastic cheese shop - not to be be missed (The Cheese Board), at lunch time the Cheese Board makes pizza next door that is fantastic.

Best food in/near Berkeley:
- Lanesplitters Pub: good beer and very good pizza, nice garden area in back, 2033 San Pablo near University Ave.
- West Side Bakery: decent breakfast, sandwiches, coffee etc, closes at 2pm or so. 2570 - 9th Street, near Dwight.
- various restaurants on 4th Street: there is a fancy little shopping district at 4th St and Hearst. Coffee at Peet's, fancy lunch and great hotdogs/hamburgers at Cafe Rouge, breakfast or lunch at Bette's Oceanview Diner (no actual oceanview but good food). Also a bookstore (Cody's).
- Vik's Chaat House: Informal cafeteria- and home-style Indian, cheap. A local favorite. Good mango lassi. Open (I think) every day from 10am-6pm. 726 Allston Way between 4th and 5th St.
- Breads of India - fantastic California-ized Indian food, menu is 5 or 6 specials every day (it isn't family-style: dinners come with rice and salad, bread is extra but worth it). Can also call ahead, ask for the days specials, and get takeout. On Sacramento at Dwight
- Mama's Royal Cafe - my favorite for breakfast/brunch, best patty melt around, longish wait on weekends
- Venus, in downtown Berkeley. Great all-around food, breakfast lunch and dinner but not every day.
- Zachary's Pizza, two locations - a strange deep-dish pizza-like meal, a Berkeley institution.
- Chez Panisse Cafe - fantastic, expensive. the Cafe upstairs is not stuffy. make reservations or eat late. the best!
- Lois The Pie Queen - pretty authentic southern food, and a taste of authentic Oakland
- Kirala Sushi, best in the east bay:
- JoJo - a fancy, very romantic little French restaurant in a cute little shopping district of Oakland
- for Chinese food, go to Kirin (Solano Ave) or Shen Hua (College Ave)
- for Mexican, Cancun in downtown Berkeley (salsa bar) 2134 Allston, or Picante 1328 6th St (serves til 10 weekdays, 11 weekends)
- also, here's a reliable list of good places to eat in Berkeley

Open late: (accurate as of 6/04, see details above)

lanesplitters: food cooked til midnight, then slices til 12:45 or so. also deliver til 10pm (510-527-8375)
taiwan restaurant: greasy but yummy chinese, serves til 11:30. 2071 University Ave near downtown.
chez panisse cafe: will seat you until i think 10:30pm
britt-maries: serves great european food til 11, 1369 Solano Ave, Albany (you can order appetizers only too, nice wine)
[unconfirmed: sushi-ko: pretty good sushi, downtown berkeley, 64 Shattuck Square, til midnight weekdays and 1am weekends ]

Groceries near West Berkeley:
- Fancy little groceries at 4th St between Virginia and Hearst, next to Cafe Rouge. Good pre-made food and sandwiches there for picnics. Closes early (7pm?).
- Andronico's market at 1414 University , near Sacramento St. Open til 11pm.
- best organic grocery: The Berkeley Bowl, Shattuck at Oregon, like an indoor farmer's market.
- Nearest pharmacy: at Ashby and San Pablo, Walgreen's.

Outside of SF:

Angel Island: One of my favorite places in the Bay Area. You can rent bikes or hike around this gorgeous island in the bay, great views. a good alternative to Alcatraz. You drive to Tiburon, a lovely little fancy town in Marin about 30 minutes away, then take the $5 ferry over to the island. There is edible but mediocre food at a snack shop on the island, you may want to bring your own.

Drive down the coast: Take Route 1 down the coast to Santa Cruz.
Along the way:
- Ano Nuevo State Park, where the elephant seals breed. You may need to make reservations in advance to visit (go to the website for info).
- Big Basin State Park, beautiful redwoods .
- One of my favorite restaurants, Duarte's Tavern, just a minute off Highway 1 in Pescadero: 202 Stage Rd. Pescadero, CA (650) 879-0464. Known for their artichoke soup and other dishes, and best seafood in the area. Sort of a dive, but very friendly.
- You can pick your own berries and fruit and vegetables at stands along the way, stop at any of a million beaches
- In Santa Cruz go to the pier near the boardwalk and see the sea lions and pelicans! Also on weekends, roller coaster rides etc

Muir Woods: always gorgeous. if you can, walk on one of the less-traveled paths, definitely worth it. lovely drive up there.

Point Reyes National Seashore: North of SF about 30 miles, gorgeous beach and wildlife, hiking (though you can see a lot by car too)

Wine Country: If you are a wine person, drive up to St. Helena or Sonoma County and visit wineries. Not my favorite thing to do, but a lovely drive and other people adore it.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: further south than Santa Cruz (so you may not want to take Route 1, which is slow, but a faster highway like 101). Monterey is a cute little touristy town. The Aquarium is wonderful, you may need to make reservations in advance on the weekend. About 2 hours south of SF.