San Francisco and what to do in it

My sister just told me that the owner of the owl bar just passed away:(

the worst assault that has happened to someone I know of was right in the financial district, someone tried to steal her ipod and slashed her throat.

I will be in town next week. I have a boring question. What is the best option for paying for getting around town on public transport?

Does the CityPass make sense? Or should I just buy BART tickets as I go?

you're not going to be using BART most of the time, but the Muni. I think the Pass wd make sense if you're going to visit all those institutions. Since I'll be there 5 days I'll probably get the no-frills 7-day pass.

They sell weekly Muni passes for 15 bucks that are geared more for local people than tourists. They cost 15 dollars and you have to pay an extra dollar to ride the cable car.

Here is the list and prices -

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/fareinfo.htm

Thanks, that is useful. Sounds like the regular weekly pass might be the way to go.

I got a citypass rather than the weekly muni pass because I imagined I'd be doing a fair bit of cablecarriding and visiting at least some museums and such, plus I thought it would be easier to buy on arrival than a muni pass, given where I was staying. Ultimately, I probably prepaid for enough stuff I didn't use that the muni pass might have been a better choice, but it did afford a bit of extra freedom.

also, the citypass (and I imagine the muni pass?) doesn't cover BART

Muni fastpasses are good for all public transportation within city limits, including BART

I don't know if the weekly fast passes are good on BART, I seem to remember that they aren't. Another negative about the weekly passes are that they run from Sunday to the next Saturday, I think the passports are good for a week after they are first used.

The 3- or 7-day "Passports" are just Muni, am I right? as I will be there Thu-Tues, that's what I'm getting.

Yes, you are right. Muni only.

Only the monthly Fast Pass is good on non-Muni transit within SF.

the city pass is a good deal.

The other problem with the weekly pass is that it only really works Monday through Sunday.

The Muni Passport is a better deal than the City Pass IMO.

sorry didn't know fastpasses and weekly passes were different! lame.

Alex you are high, the City Pass includes a ton of free admission. It's like a 50% savings on face value of all those attractions (almost all of which are pretty great for fisitors).

fisters = visitors (who enjoy fisting)

TMI

Those things are generally scams. I'll take my $24 bus pass and go see the few things on the pass that I want to see rather than pay $54 and get stuck with a bunch of nonsense I don't want to do and an overpriced bus-pass.

http://www.citypass.com/citypass/images/look-inside/sanfrancisco/3/34.jpg

Wow a free lollipop. Fuck that sign me up.

Alex you are a native! This is not a thread for natives you dork. You are a funny dude!

i'll admit that having to take my citypass out whenever i got on localsbuses detracted value

i did it stealthily tho

I love Alex's definition of bunch of nonsense!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

de Young/Legion of Honor = great
Aquarium of the Bay = is this the Pier 39 one? never been.
Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise = great (on a nice day)
Exploratorium = great
SF Museum of Modern Art & an option ticket to either Asian Art Museum or California Academy of Sciences/Steinhart Aquarium = great

LESSON: don't listen to Alex guys.

more like bunch of nonsense = grime and dubstep shows in bayview, YARLY.

;-D

"Alex you are a native! This is not a thread for natives you dork. You are a funny dude!"

I was imagining myself as a TOURIST (remember imagination Shasta, it was something Sesame Street us.) Look it's not a rip-off and most cities have something similar and I've done 'em a couple of times and in general the couple of bucks they save you aren't worth all the goofy rules (must see two museums on SAME DAY, etc) and hassles and stressful planning that goes into having them.

I've been planning for my trip to SF this summer, and actually I think the CityPass thing sounds pretty great.

I was going to go to a couple of the museums anyway (Exploratorium and museum of modern art) and if I get to go and see touristy things for free as well (the cruise and aquarium) then I might as well, since I've paid for it already

i think the basic question is how much time to do you have; if it's enough that it makes sense to do a lot of museumgoing, get the pass to encourage you to fit it all in; if it's not, feeling obligated by the pass might mix up your priorities

Yeah I mean obv the question is how much time do you want to spend in museums anyway. The answer for me is generally NOT MUCH, but hey if they are your bag then go for it.

Ok then. what should I see?

I'm there for about 5/6 days in the middle of July. Going to spend one day in Berkeley I think, and planning to go and see Alcatraz one morning too. The Exploratorium is only the other thing I desperately want to see (I came across it lots when I was reading up for a dissertation last year).

I only got to the de Young (selective pass-through was worthwhile/fun; building didn't do much for me; great gift shop) and the Asian Art (very good/well-curated, but deserved a bigger chunk of time than I planned, and somewhat exhausting)

826 Valencia is a fun 20 min.

Especially if you can get one of the surprises or compete for a piece of jerky on dried squid.

I'm a big fan of the Musee Mechanique, but its new home is less interesting than the old one near Seacliff.

my favorite stuff:
Chez Panisse Cafe
UC Berkeley and sunset from the Bowl
Baker Beach and Coastal Trail to the bridge
Aquatic Park/Fort Mason/Greens
Russian Hill
Ferry Building
Golden Gate Park (tea garden, conservatory, de young)
aguas frescas (at Farolito, where the burrito amd salsas didn't impress (but grilled chicken = rong?) and Balazo (where the salsas and goat cheese+nopal taco were nice))
Haight houses

I missed most of the Presidio and Nob Hill and never got to the Cliff House/Lands End, Castro, SoMa or on the water. The wharf beyond aquatic park sucked as much as I was warned (missed the musee). The Mission didn't do much for me beyond the view of Twin Peaks, tho i didn't eat much there and the area around the park was pleasant enough if a bit LA-like. Only took a quick pass through Chinatown but didn't see what the big deal was.