We recently came back from visiting family in California and spent a weekend exploring San Francisco! I haven’t explored much of the western United States so I was so excited for this trip. This was a family vacation so my parents and sisters came along and I was in charge of the itinerary this time around. Fortunately, it was a hit and everyone ended up loving what I had planned for us – so I’m sharing the details below!
Flight Details
If you’ve read my other travel posts you’ll know by now that I’m fan of starting early and seeing as much I can. So, much to the horror of family, we took a 6 am flight out of Chicago and landed in California at 9:30 am. We had plenty of time to start our sight seeing for the weekend.
Saturday
Visit Palo Alto & Stanford University
After landing we actually headed first to Palo Alto to pick up my sister who moved to the area with her fiance for grad school. Palo Alto is such a cute area and their downtown is so worth visiting if you have the time. It’s filled with cute shops and delicious healthy restaurants.
We took a quick detour to Stanford to see the campus and, oh my word, is it gorgeous! Make sure to check out the Catholic church on campus enjoy the beauty of the surrounding gardens.
Lunch & Ice Cream
We stopped for lunch at Oren’s Hummus. It’s an Israeli restaurant with the most amazing Mediterranean inspired dishes. I had the Pita Chicken and it was healthy, clean, and delicious.
We didn’t want to risk being too healthy, so right after lunch we went across the street to try out my sister’s favorite ice cream spot Salt & Straw. I had their matcha blueberry flavor and it was not a disappointment.
Muir Woods
This was the highlight of the day. They Muir woods are less than an hour outside of San Francisco, and are home to giant redwood trees. The drive to the woods requires you to go over the Golden Gate Bridge as well so you can scratch off another famous site on your way there.
The Muir Woods is a bit strict on parking so you have two options – you can either plan a head and register for parking in their special lot. Or drive a mile or so down the road and park for free on the side. The only catch is you’ll have to walk up the hill to the park. It’s not a bad walk and is a good option if you’re not sure what time you’ll be arriving.
The woods are absolutely worth the visit. You’ll look up in wonder at these tall trees. To me its so amazing that these massive trees are protected and preserved just outside one of America’s busiest city.
Sunday
All Day Walking Tour
I’m obsessed with free walking tours because they take you all around a city, make sure you see the famous sites, and you never have to worry about navigation. You just follow the guide and learn as you go. We did the San Francisco in One Day Tour with Free Tours By Foot and it was a hit. The tour ran from 10 am to 3pm and was worth each hour. Some of the highlights we saw included:
- Old town
- Trolley Ride Nob Hill
- Grace Cathedral
- North Beach/ Little Italy
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- China town – this was our favorite part.
What surprised me most is just how hilly San Francisco is – some of these streets are so steep!
Lunch in Chinatown
During the tour we stopped for lunch in San Francisco’s Chinatown. We also took some time to explore the streets and it was my favorite part of the city. I loved the Chinese decor, smelling the pungent spices and fish in the open air markets, and hearing Chinese spoken by everyone. Many major US cities have their own version of Chinatown, but San Francisco’s is the original and the largest, so it holds a special spot in history.
Boat Tour on the Bay
We wanted to get views of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz so we booked a hour long boat tour on the bay. We picked up the boat from Pier 39 and got some fantastic views of the city, bay, and bridge! The tour only cost $28 per person which isn’t too expensive considering it’s a boat ride. We took the tour through City Sight Seeing.
Dinner with Friends
After a long day of sight seeing we turned in for the night and met up with some friends who had moved to San Francisco for a quiet dinner. They fed us some delicious farmer’s market veggies and a roast chicken. It was a perfect, low key way to end a very active day.
Useful Tips for San Francisco
- Dress warm – Mark Twain famously said “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” As a Chicagoan I am no stranger to cold, but I always had this idea of California as a warm, sunny place so I packed for 70 degree weather. Well in San Francisco it was more like 50s and 60s in July. So we all had to go shopping and pick up some warmer clothes to stay comfortable for the rest of our trip. Not tragic, but something to keep in mind when packing. It’ll be cooler than you expect.
- If you want to see Alcatraz book in advance. We planned this trip a bit late (May) and by the time I got around to trying to book a tour of Alcatraz, things were booked up months in advance. So if seeing Alcatraz is important to you book early.
- Consider renting a car – you’ll need it to see the Muir woods but if not you can always book a bus tour that takes you there. We went on to tour more of California coast later that week so the car rental was a must.
I can’t wait to go back to San Francisco and hope you end up loving this city as much as I did. Let me know if you have plans to go!
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