CMW

I have some friends visiting San Francisco in June who have never been before. Anyone know anything about this area? That's where the hotel is and they just wanted to know something about the surrounding part of town.

carlhaynes

It's not a bad part of town, you are a few blocks from the water and Fort Mason which has a large park. A good Sunday brunch spot in Fort Mason is Greens which is a vegetarian restaurant that even this meat eater likes. It can be hard to get into though.

You should also be able to walk to Fisherman's warf pretty easily (hop on the 42 bus to take you there if you prefer).

A block away running parallel is Polk street which has lots of bars and restaurants (there's also some on Van Ness, but not as much)

Heading west down lumbard is a very busy street in the Marina with quite a bit to do. This is a main street for cars heading to the Golden Gate Bridge and has lots of hotels and restaurants.

heading east on lumbard will take you past the crookedest street and will eventually take you to North Beach with lots italian restaurants (Rose Pistola is my favorite in that area). I'm not sure about the hills heading that direction though.

Going the other direction, down a few blocks and west is Union Street which has a bunch of shopping and restaurants (including Betelnut, one of my favorites).

Basically the area is safe with a pretty good mixture of hotels and apartments. There is quite a bit to do within walking distance.

Hope your friends have fun!

EPS

Take a Sausalito-bound Golden Gate Transit bus across the Golden Gate Bridge; walk back to San Francisco; take the MUNI 28 bus (toward Fort Mason) to the Marina district; transfer to the 30 bus on Chestnut to return to Van Ness.

Wear comfortable shoes! Bring a camera. Dress for cold/windy weather.


[This message has been edited by EPS (edited 05-22-2001).]

CMW

Thanks so much for the information!

blairvanhorn

Your friends might want to request rooms away from the street, especially if the hotel is on Van Ness - this can be a very noisy avenue.

AZ_MISMAN

Also, have your friends get a muni pass. I can't remember how much they are, but they will give you unlimited access to cable cars, trolley cars, buses, and muni throughout the city.
Check out this link for helpful information, as well... http://www.transitinfo.org/muni

Weekly Pass (+ $1 per cable car ride) $ 9.00
1-Day Pass or Passport 6.00
3-Day Passport 10.00
7-Day Passport 15.00


------------------
Bob
[This message has been edited by AZ_MISMAN (edited 05-22-2001).]

USAFAN

Van Ness can be very noisy! Part of Van Ness
is 101! Every car from the South to Marine
County via Golden Gate Bridge will pass Van Ness.
BTW, SF's Hard Rock Cafe is also on Van Ness.

USAFAN

Carlhaynes writes:

It's not a bad part of town
============================
That's right! But probably a lot
of (car) traffic.

Actually I have been several times
in SFO - I have worked for companies
in "the vally" - and I have NOT seen
a "bad area". Once SoMa was, lots
of homeless/clochards, but this
has changend.

USAFAN

CMW:

Here are some websites:
http://ft.digitalcity.com/sanfrancisco/
http://www.sfgate.com/
http://www.pathfinder.com/travel/TL/tarticles/469.html

MIKESILV

Well I would not call the Tenderlion good, the area just west of the SF Hilton bounded by Larkin, Ellis and Van Ness on the west is not at all fantastic, just three weeks ago I witnessed two street women having a knife fight at midday in the middle of O'Farrell St, think I heard later one them got shot by the cops.
Note the above area is not at all close to Lombard/Van Ness ( didnt mean to scare you)

Other thing to note the corner of Lombard and Van Ness,if you plan to walk east toward Hyde, the real curvy part of Lombard St
(3/4 blocks) or further like North Bay has some of the steepest climbs in the city.
Got to be very fit to make it comfortably.
Stayed in that area about 10 years ago and had reservations for dinner at Chez Michael
now DANKOS (in my opinion now one of the cities best restaurants)and my wife insisted in us taking a cab to go the 4/5 blocks or so to the restaurant.(we had walked by there earlier )

Mike


[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 05-22-2001).]

Joh

And don't forget a visit to Chinatown.

mweiss

I've become quite familiar with San Francisco over the past year. Lombard and Van Ness, as noted before, is essentially the "corner" of US-101 in the city, and has been such since the highway was first commissioned. As such, you will see many of the types of motels and such that were popular in the heyday before the Eisenhower Interstate system was built.

Nothing much of value on Van Ness itself, whether walking, driving, or bussing. The Hard Rock is on the corner of VN and Sacramento (one block north of California; VN/Cal is the terminus of the California Street cable car line) if you feel compelled to go there. (Much) further south down VN is the grandiose civic center, with a capitolesque city hall and several fine arts buildings.

Lombard between VN and the Golden Gate Bridge is busy, noisy, and much like VN. Go one block north of Lombard to Chestnut (and most likely several blocks west of VN), and you'll find many "local" restaurants. It's quieter, and much less touristy than Union.

Chinatown is certainly a must-see, but you need to decide if you want to play with the tourists or get more of the local flavor. The touristy part is south of about Sacramento; once you get north of Washington, you'll see mostly shops that cater to the Chinese.

For an even less touristy flavor of local Chinese culture, you can take the #1 bus along Sacramento (if you're east of Van Ness) or California (if you're west of VN) west until you get to the low-numbered avenues (6th Ave is a good place to stop), then walk one block south to Clement Street. Very few white people around there! Clement was featured in a scene of last year's movie Sweet November. There is a restaurant around 7th Ave or so on the south side of the street with an unoriginal name like Clement Street Chinese Restaurant...they serve very cheap, excellent Dim Sum (it's about one block west of the May Wah grocery store, in the middle of the block). Often I have had food for two with leftovers and dropped only $10.

The Mission has excellent Mexican food, though parking is a bear (take public transit there) and I personally wouldn't go there after dark. It's not the 'Loin, but it still has a loooong way to go before it's the Presidio.

I hope that's helpful to you.

siliconengineer

A bit of trivia...from Lombard and Van Ness walk north 3 blocks to Bay St., and take a right (east). On the right side of Bay will be Galileo High School and on the left side is its stadium where OJ Simpson played high school football.

Also nearby, a block or so to the north, is Ghiradelli Square and a bit further, the Cannery, both shopping & eating areas/buildings, and you can continue along that general direction to reach Fisherman's Wharf.

CMW

Once again, thanks everyone for the information. I have forwarded the link for this thread to my friends.