Vising SanFransisco

[KatyLinda]

Hi Mamas! I'm hoping some of you can help me out! My DH has a conference in San Fransisco the last week in October and DD and I will be joining him. We will be staying at the W across from the convention center. I am hoping to get some pointers for fun (not too expensive) things to do with my 3 1/2 year old DD as well as some pointers on the public transportation system. We're hoping not to have to rent a car. We had a great time with the subway in Boston last year, and I'm hoping San Fransisco's public transportation system is safe and user friendly as well. We live in Baltimore, and would never ride a city bus, but love the metro in DC. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

[hugzandkissez]

is this where you are staying?http://www.sanfranciscovisitor.com/m...ioncenter.html
You should be able to use all the street cars and muni to get around.
You could visit the Embarcadero and walk around the water structure and it's free.
At the park there are the parrots that fly around and are super friendly, it's amazing.
They are known as the birds of Telegraph hill you can query it, and then you will see them all around the trees.
I think it is close to where you will be and shouldn't be to hard to get there.
Jump on a trolly car for fun, I think it's 5$ but your little one is free and just ride and have fun!
http://www.moscone.com/directions/index.shtml
It's really hard to drive around the city and hard to park.
We take transit all the time and use the bus and street cars to get around.

Have a great time and dress in layers

~Ari

[KatyLinda]

Thanks Ari! I was hoping it would be easy to get around!

This is our hotel - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotel...ropertyID=1153

It's on 3rd street.

I'm hoping to visit the zoo (with our Baltimore Zoo membership we get half price admission)

Other places on my list (free admission with our Maryland Science Center membership)

The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA
web site: www.exploratorium.edu

Randall Museum
199 Museum Way
San Francisco, CA
web site: www.randallmuseum.org

Zeum
221 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA
web site: www.zeum.org

Are these good places? Easy to get to?

Thanks for any input!

[LemonPie]

Look into a MUNI pass. They're a flat-rate and you can jump off the busses, light-rail and Trolley cars at will.

The Exploratorium is a ton of fun. We just took our 3 and 5yo there in March and they loved it. The only downside is that it's a good 1/2 mile walk from the closest bus stop.

Don't bother with the Aquarium of the Bay at Fisherman's Wharf. It's tiny, boring and overpriced!

[oceanbaby]

Zeum is really fun, and very close to where you are staying. (The W is a great hotel, btw.) There's a carousel there too. (Oh, and while not necessarily geared towards kids, if your little one does okay in restaurants, definitely hit the Samovar Tea Room. There is one at Moscone Center.)

Randall Museum is very cute, but it's on the top of a hill, and I'm not sure what the bus situation is to get there.

The new Academy of Sciences (aquarium) will be open in Golden Gate Park by the time you arrive. We went to a member's preview day, and it's pretty cool. You could take the N Judah and get off at 9th and Irving - it's only a few blocks from there. Right there is also the Japanese Tea Gardens and the Arboretum, both incredibly beautiful places and really fun with young kids. The DeYoung Museum is also right there, but my 3yo couldn't have cared less about it at that age.

The Exploratorium is really fun - I'd say it's kind of geared toward older kids, but a 3 year old will have plenty to check out.

Overall, transportation in SF is safe, but can take awhile. The underground Muni only goes so many places, and you can end up having to transfer around on buses quite a bit. But, it's a small city, so it ends up not being too bad. The main thing is to make sure the bus doesn't drop you off at the bottom of a steep hill that you have to walk over with a 3yo!

Unless you're really set on it, skip Fisherman's Wharf. Too touristy.

If you get some nice weather, definitely head over to Chrissy Field. It's such a great beach for little kids, and has a beautiful walking path with to die for views of the Golden Gate Bridge. This would be good to combine with the Exploratorium, as they are in the same area.

Little ones also love riding cable cars, so definitely allow time to do that. You can catch it in Union Square and ride it over the hills.

Right across the Golden Gate Bridge is the Bay Area Discovery Museum, which is fantastic for little ones. I don't know to get there by public transit, though.

Have fun - October is one of the best times to visit SF, weatherwise. Plan on taking some cabs, though, as there can be a lot of walking for a 3yo.

I don't know the specifics, but check out Zip Car. It's an hourly car rental service. I've never used it, but my neighbor did and he said it was great. If you preregister it might come in handy for a few trips.

[KatyLinda]

Thank you for all the great tips! I'll have to print out this thread and take it with me! My 3 y/o does great in restaurants. We've taken her to jacket required places with no issues. I'm excited to stay at the W, it's been a long time since we stayed at one...I think the last one we stayed at was in New Orleans in 2001! There aren't enough in places we like to travel too. Of course, now that SIL and BIL don't work for Starwood Hotels anymore we don't get to stay there for the employee rate either. I think they should go back to the hotel division so we can travel more

Anyway...thanks for all the tips. I may bring our umbrella stroller for DD. It makes it easier than carrying a 3 1/2 year old while pregnant. I have to see if we can check it at the gate on the plane. We've never flown with her, so I'm really just flying by the seat of my pants. Thanks again for all the great tips! I'd love to hear some more ideas if anyone has them!

[NewDirections]

Have a great time in SF. One great place to explore is Golden Gate Park. It is beautiful and there are tons of things to do there.