A Day in San Francisco

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We had one day in San Francisco and I was determined to do it all! We wanted a mix of sights, tourist spots, amazing food, and something nature-y. If you really want to do everything in SF I don’t think you can in one day, especially if you are going on the Alcatraz tour. But the following is how we went about it!

We started our day at Twin Peaks because we heard it fills up with tourists pretty quickly and we didn’t want to have to fight to see. This was hands down one of the best city views we have seen - even better than LA at night from The Observatory. This place was incredible and worth going early. Plus. You’ll see a lot of signs about how there are a lot of break-ins - we did not see one, but there was broken glass everywhere. So going early and in light, while sticking close to the car is probably a good idea.

Next on our list were the infamous tourist stops! The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, The 7 Sisters (Painted Ladies) which is the Full House, house and then we intentionally passed by Lombard Street.

Next up was the Palace of Fine Arts. This is the part where you can get REALLY lucky and park in their lot in the 30-minute spot. We did this. If you cannot this is the time you may want to find a spot for the day. Yes, the whole day. I'll continue on that later :) But the Fine Arts building is a nice little stroll before you hit “the city”.

Now, let’s talk about the parking situation. Break-ins in SF are supposedly very common as well as extreme parking prices. Research OPTIONS before you go in case one isn’t available. Then walk all day or utilize the scooters you can pick up almost everywhere, download the app to pay for them, and ride your way through the city. We walked a quarter of the day and rode the rest on “Spin” scooters. We actually snagged a parking spot by the Marina and put four hours on it.

We then walked the Marina and then up to the natural piano - that during the low tide - makes no noise. We then started our trek up along the waters up to the main city points for lunch and to see the seals. We did go in a few shops, but we aren’t really souvenir buyers. Now, we stopped for lunch at The Blue Mermaid per another bloggers recommendations, and honestly, we still talk about this soup to the day. After lunch, we followed the smell (yes the smell) and watched the sea lions fight on docks until we were too cold in the wind and headed back to our car.

Once we got back to our car we wanted to drive up to The Battery Spencer for some really cool views of the bridge. We opted to not pay a fee and waste two hours of our day crossing the Golden Gate to save time but see it from two really recommended viewpoints. At The Battery Spencer, we explored the old property for a bit, took some photos, and then went on our way. There was parking here. If you skip the next place for the reasons I will mention soon, do not skip the views here.

Now the next place is one of my favorite views, but the weirdest place. I was not aware before we went here that this is a nude beach. I honestly do not mind a nude beach, utilizing a nude beach for what it is or going to one… However… There were about thirty people having handies and blowies and I was not prepared for that LOL. I’m unaware if the sex is normal, but the beach is regularly a nude beach and nudity is legal throughout SF. Regardless the landscape views were incredible, despite the eye-opening walk back. You can park in the lot at the top of the cliff and walk all the way down.

Now, this is the part where most people would recommend a glorious dinner in the city, but we wanted badly to do something nature related and see the sunset over the bridge. So we hopped over to Redwood Park in Oakland for some hiking! There is copious parking here and a lot of trails so pick one out ahead of time.

This took a bit longer than we expected so when the sun started to set we raced back to our car and went to Treasure Island to see the sunset over Golden Gate. Leave EXTRA time for this as the bridge that connects Oakland to SF TAKES FOREVER. We went to this address 699 Avenue of the Palms, San Francisco, CA 94130, and arrived six minutes prior to sunset. It is really an incredible sight of both the bridge, the skyline and Alcatraz Island.

After this we actually got In n Out on our way to the rest of our vacation destination as we always start our California trips out with it, so I do not have a dinner spot to reccomend. However there wasn’t a place that wasn’t crowded and people were constantly walking out of food spots all day raving about what they just ate!