sfo double stopover what to do...
 

hi,

travelling to alaska and back from japan in august with wife and 3kids(12,9,6) in summer.
we are going thru sfo on going and way back and would like advise on itinerary..
itinerary is arrive thurs7th aug 9.25am sfo leave 1900pm for anc
then on return arriv 15th 19.49pm leave 16th 13,25pm..

we want to go to ana nuevo on 7th to see the elephant seals and other day in san fran..(but can change round)
questions are which day to go to ana nuevo?- is traffic busy coming back to airport if we do it on the thurs late afternoon.?
where to stay on 15th?have radisson and ihg points..
what to see in san fran-is it best to have a car both days?particular worried about traffic!
anything else to see near ana nuevo-way back up?
thanks!!!!

Año Nuevo State Park (link) is approximately a 1-hour drive from SFO airport. You will hit traffic congestion along Route 92 and US-101 if you travel at commute times. I would not expect it to slow you down by more than 30 minutes, though.

Be realistic about your schedule, especially with a family in tow. Three children are not going to travel as quickly as you would solo. Figure on 90 minutes to clear immigration and customs (45 if all are US Citizens), 30 minutes to pick up the rental car, 90 minutes to drive there with a stop for supplies along the way, 90 minutes to drive back (allowing for traffic), 20 minutes to return the car and shuttle to the terminal, and 60-90 minutes to clear security (depends on whether you're checking bags or not).... Pretty quickly your 9.5 hours on the ground turn into just 2.5 hours to actually visit the park.

thanks-maybe i should do ano nuevo on the saturday then-was just worried it didnt open til 8.30am and might not make the flight-presume will be able to get into the park a bit earlier than 8.30am?

presume sat would avoid commute times?

On Saturday you won't hit commuter traffic. There will be some congestion around Half Moon Bay throughout the day as people travel to/from the coast. But as you would be headed away from the coast at midday it shouldn't be an issue for you.

As for visiting the park before it opens.... At Año Nuevo the main visitor area is at the end of a short access road. There may well be a gate or chain blocking it until the park opens for the day. If that happens, you would have to park on the shoulder of the main highway and walk a distance before getting to the start of the trails.

Again, be realistic about schedule. You'd want to leave the park at 10:30 to be sure of making your 13:25 flight on time. If you arrive at 8:30 that only leaves two hours in the park. Is that enough time to visit? Given that there is walking involved and you have some younger children, I think not. But you know your own family much better than I do.

Please remember that commute traffic on 92 is in the direction toward the airport in the morning and away from the airport in the afternoon. Going back to the airport on a weekday afternoon would normally not be a problem. Also, if you take 280/380 to/from the airport, you are less likely to have traffic problems than on 101. On Saturday, you may well find significant traffic on 92 coming from the airport and to the airport, especially if it is good weather.

thanks - i really dont know which is best to do-ana nuevo on the weekday or on the sat when we have very limited time-and do san fran downtown the other day. or the other way round..


maybe its best to do ana nuevo on the week day-then on the halfday on the sat go into sfo downtown...
places we want to see in sfo are fishermans wharf,cable car ride and golden gate bridge-so i think maybe we could fit in the bridge on the weekday from the airport and then drive down to ana nuevo..

leaving the sat morn for early trip on cable cars down to the wharf..!

any advice-if this is a bad plan please let me know..

I would check here --

http://anonuevo.reserveamerica.com/

and here --

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27613

BTW, it's Ano Nuevo, not Ana Nuevo.

Actually it's Año Nuevo, Spanish for "New Year".
Ano Nuevo is Spanish for "New Anus".

thanks-but i believr tours only until march..

i think this plan will be good though-so will do the sat morn in san franc and then make a dash for the airport to catch.our 1.25pm international flight...

we arrive on the fri night so question is where to stay..apart from gg bridge (which we will try to do on way to ana nuevo) only thing really want to do is ride on the cable cars down to fishermans wharf and wander around there..
any ideas on a plan for this and how much time we need?

I think I understand that you live in Japan and are visiting Alaska, right? I really think that you're trying to pack too much into your time in SF, especially with three kids.

Ano Nuevo isn't really "on the way" to the GG Bridge; it's quite a ways to the south. I think you could do the state park on the 7th depending on whether your Japan-SFO flight is on time and how dog tired your family is after the flight. I've never been to Ano Nuevo, so I don't know exactly how much time one would want to spend at the park. I wouldn't try to add anything else into that day, though. Maybe stop for lunch/early dinner in Half Moon Bay on the way back to the airport, but that's it. If you land at 9:25am, by the time you get out of customs and get a car the morning rush hour should be over. The afternoon rush hour may be a bit of a problem getting back to the airport. I second taking 280 and 380 to get to SFO. An alternative would be to take Highway 1 all the way up through Pacifica to join up with 280 to get to SFO that way.

On the 16th you may get an early morning cable car ride in, but I would plan on leaving SF for the airport by 10am.

San Francisco is a VERY congested city and driving in the city itself isn't for the faint of heart. The rest of the bay area isn't too bad unless the traffic is bad. The drive from the city to SFO takes 15-35 minutes with no traffic, depending on where in the city you start (about 25 from the financial district/downtown, more like 35 if you're out towards the GG bridge).

If you take a rental car across the GG bridge, remember that they now use all electronic tolling, so you'll have to deal with that. Tolls are charged in the southbound direction only (into SF). Your 6 year old will also (probably) need a booster seat.

Here's an alternative option that just popped into my head that you may consider... since it sounds like you're really interested in visiting SF, could you leave Alaska a day or two early and spend those days in SF?

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a bay area native, but it's a magnificent place to visit.

thanks for your comments-im afraid we cant change our flights without paying hefty charges(!) but think a nuevo would be good on 7th..on return we arrive late night on the 15th at 7.50pm-should we spend the night in san fran or near airport?should we go inand out by car or use the bart?

any suggestions appreciated!

I think you leave SFO late enough the next day that you could stay either in the city or by the airport. I'm pretty sure there's a Hyatt and Hilton just outside the airport, plus some others (I have family in the area so I never stay in hotels in the bay area). You could either take a hotel shuttle if they have one, or a taxi to the hotel.

If you stay downtown, you can take BART, but do you want to lug all your bags plus your kids on public transit? If you do take BART, I would get a hotel near one of the four downtown SF BART stops (Civic Center/UN Plaza, Powell St, Montgomery St, Embarcadero). Keep in mind that you'll be getting in at night into an unfamiliar city. I'm pretty sure there's some nice places around Union Square, which is just north of the Powell St. station. One of the cable car turnarounds is almost right on top of the Powell station, too. Other transit options would be a rental car (finding parking in SF can be difficult, especially in a larger vehicle), or a taxi (expensive, but might be worth it with the kids and bags).

BART shuts down at midnight, so take that into consideration if your inbound flight from Alaska is late.

It's a tough call, but if I were in your shoes (and the prices are within your budget), I would either A) get a hotel near Union Square in SF and use a cab to get to and from the airport. I'm almost certain I've seen minivan cabs in SF that should be able to fit your family. Or B) take the easy way and get one of the airport hotels, and just plan on sleeping in a little in the morning.

thanks for this-we would be keen to stay downtown on the fri night and travel by bart-but the problem is the bags as you say..
i can rent a car for free with hertz pts-so is driving in to an san fran hotel and leaving car in parking lot such a bad idea? it would save us lugging bags on the bart and the very pricey 2 way taxi,but the issue with car is how long would it take to get from an san franc location to airport at around 11am on a sat?would it be crowded and where to take a hotel?have hol inn pts so was thinking about the one near civic centre as the fishermans wharf one may be hard to get from?

Some of the downtown hotels charge $30-40 a night for parking. Might do better with a city-owned lot but that may not be near your hotel. I'd check what you're going to pay for parking before booking any hotel. Even at some airport properties you're going to pay for parking.