Anyone with knowledge of the bay area or San Fran?

• swamisez

  

  Heading out in June for the Reds series, flying in to SFO staying a couple nights.
  Will not have a car, so any suggestions of what parts of town to stay in so I have quick access to the BART?
  
  Also any suggestions for hotels to stay in and restaurants bars etc would be appreciated.
• Wooball

  

  Was in San Fran in October and caught game 4 of the NLCS. Great city. Stayed at Hotel Union Square. It is right by the trolley car turn around and there was a BART station near that we caught to go to the game. I preferred union square district to fishermans wharf, although it is worth seeing. From there we took the boat to alcatraz and rode bikes across the golden gate bridge. Plenty of bars in both union square and fishermans wharf, but the latter is more of your tourist trap.
  
  Also, enjoyed the couple hours we spent in the haight-ashbury district. It is the "hippy" area where many of the great 70's musicians and artists spent time. Again, there were some cool bars here to check out. Ate at a place in this district called Cha Cha Cha, pretty unusual decor inside, but had lots of good tapas main dishes, and the sangria was great. Very cool atmosphere and inexpensive compared to many places in the city. Not a bad stop for some drinks and something lite to eat. A city I would definitely go back to, and the stadium and fans were awesome.
• thavoice

  If ya go enjoy the nightlife just remember the song Lola by the Kinks
• Laley23

  

  The Ballpark there is awesome! One of my favorites in the MLB. Never stayed anywhere but the Stanford Campus, but San Fran is a top notch city. Lots of fun stuff. Id suggest walking as much as you can, despite the tough terrain, because you get to see so much of the city when you walk it.
• Life's a Pitch

  I heard there's a great bar called the Blue Oyster you could check out.
• BigAppleBuckeye

  

  Life's a Pitch;734629 wrote:I heard there's a great bar called the Blue Oyster you could check out.

  
  Obviously a world traveler here ...
  
  Ignore the simpletons, San Francisco is one America's best cities, period. I usually stay around Union Square, but the Embarcadero area is fun too. If you had to avoid one hood, I would probably avoid the TenderNob (insert joke here) neighborhood, unless you are into hardcore drugs and trannies haha. And if you are on an expense account, eat at Fleur De Lis and tell me how it is! Been meaning to try it for years.
• thavoice

  Simpleton?
  
  I resemble that remark!
  
  
  I would love to go to tha ballpark. No doubt. Have had friends who went and say it is amazing. I think that the big Coke bottle is outta place but the rest of it loos amazing.
  
  Famous chocolate factory out there too
• I Wear Pants

  Does San Diego count?
• thavoice

  yeah...because.San Diego and san Fran are pretty close together!
  
  
  Spent about a week out in SD and Coronado. Great city...very nice area!
• I Wear Pants

  thavoice;734657 wrote:yeah...because.San Diego and san Fran are pretty close together!

  
  Only an 8 hour drive!
  
  But yeah, San Diego is a really cool city.
• Little Danny

  

  Wooball;734572 wrote:Was in San Fran in October and caught game 4 of the NLCS. Great city. Stayed at Hotel Union Square. It is right by the trolley car turn around and there was a BART station near that we caught to go to the game. I preferred union square district to fishermans wharf, although it is worth seeing. From there we took the boat to alcatraz and rode bikes across the golden gate bridge. Plenty of bars in both union square and fishermans wharf, but the latter is more of your tourist trap.
  
  Also, enjoyed the couple hours we spent in the haight-ashbury district. It is the "hippy" area where many of the great 70's musicians and artists spent time. Again, there were some cool bars here to check out. Ate at a place in this district called Cha Cha Cha, pretty unusual decor inside, but had lots of good tapas main dishes, and the sangria was great. Very cool atmosphere and inexpensive compared to many places in the city. Not a bad stop for some drinks and something lite to eat. A city I would definitely go back to, and the stadium and fans were awesome.

  
  Agreed to all of the above. You can easily take public transportation to the ball park from there. Swami, if you are there for a couple of days, it would be worth it for you to rent a car and drive to some of the surrounding areas such as Muir Woods, Monterey, Carmel By The Sea, Pebble Beach, etc.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  ^^^ Check out the other side of Muir beach, too!
  
  I used to live in the area, and all the suggestions above are spot on. I'd also suggest, if you like people-watching, walking down Grant and Market. You'll catch some good music and see some interesting people and here alot of fantastic rhetoric.
  The last time I walked there, I heard all about the Dawning of Age Aquarius. Great eccentricity!
• swamisez

  

  Staying in San Fran all weekend. Going to an athletics director conference then renting a car with two friends and driving the pch to la to meet up with a good friend for the rest of the week. Reds at dodger stadium and chilling at the beach. Been to la many times not a fan. Think San Diego is more my scene think San Fran will be too. No San diego trip this year but agree it is amazing.
• Life's a Pitch

  BigAppleBuckeye;734639 wrote:Obviously a world traveler here ...
  
  Ignore the simpletons, San Francisco is one America's best cities, period. I usually stay around Union Square, but the Embarcadero area is fun too. If you had to avoid one hood, I would probably avoid the TenderNob (insert joke here) neighborhood, unless you are into hardcore drugs and trannies haha. And if you are on an expense account, eat at Fleur De Lis and tell me how it is! Been meaning to try it for years.

  
  It was a joke, lighten up Nancy! I actually am a world traveler of sorts. I've been to San Fran many times and absolutely love the city. Again...just a joke
• coyotes22

  

  If your going, to San Francisco, be sure to wear, some flowers in your hair.
  
  Last time I was there, I was just a kid, all I remember is parts of fishermans warf. And going to the old fort under the GGB.