San Francisco

Cycle the Golden Gate bridge – as soon as you get a nice clear day, or as close as that you can get (as San Fran does have the nickname ‘Fog City’ for a reason) then rent a bike and cycle across the Golden Gate bridge. You can rent a bike from any rental place along the pier, we went for the place that was open the latest in the evening so that we didn’t have to race back to return our bikes.

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We cycled all the way down the pier and across the bridge. This is a lovely bike ride and going across the bridge gives you great views as well, if you’re lucky enough to miss the fog. I done this cycle twice in the summer I was there, once it was so foggy we couldn’t see the person in front of us but the other time the sun was shining and the sky was clear!

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When you get across the bridge, keep cycling and you come to a town called Sausalito. This is a lovely little town where you can lock your bike up and stroll around, enjoying some lunch or ice cream to cool down.

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The great thing about this cycle is that you do not have to cycle all the way back to San Fran (phew!). There is a ferry that takes you from Sausalito back to the pier, which is only a 15/20 minute journey and obviously they allow you to take your bike on.

Alcatraz Island – this is the prison island in San Fran, which thankfully isn’t still in use today for prisoners, just for tourists to go to for a tour. There is only one company which can take people on tours of the island, which is ‘Alcatraz Cruises’. This company was not the one we worked for during this summer, however tourists didn’t shy away from asking us if we were sure our company didn’t allow people off on the island..and we’d repeatedly tell them that no, we aren’t mistaken, there is only one company that is allowed to do it and it isn’t ours!

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As only ‘Alcatraz Cruises’ can take people on tours of Alcatraz Island, that means in the summer the tickets book up months in advance. If you are in San Fran between June and August and know you would like to go to Alcatraz Island, then make sure you buy your tickets before June or else you may find yourself disappointed.

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There is a way around getting onto Alcatraz Island without a ticket on the day, however this involves a very early start! Every morning, they offer 100 tickets on a first come, first served basis, so you can queue up early and go on the first tour of the day. This is a good thing to do if you aren’t organised and didn’t pre-purchase your ticket, although if you read this post and follow my advice above, then you won’t need to follow these instructions as your ticket will already be bought.

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The tour of Alcatraz Island is very good and I would highly recommend it. I originally didn’t think I would have liked it, but the story of its history is interesting and it’s cool and eerie to walk around the prison as you are listening to facts about what happened there.

Pier 39 – This is one of my favourite places to go to in San Fran, especially on a nice and sunny day. The pier is filled with restaurants, souvenir shops, quirky shops and even a left handed store!

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There is always lots going on, from magicians performing their magic, to the sea lions splashing in and out of the water or soaking up the rays from the sun.

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On my way to work I would stop off here for a coffee and pastry from one stall, then on the way home from work I would stop off again for some dinner, dessert or even a cocktail or two. Pier 39 can be enjoyed at any time of the day and you can go back numerous times to try out different places to eat and drink!

Baseball game at Oracle Park Stadium – I am in no way a baseball fan and don’t exactly know the rules, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying a baseball game at Oracle Park stadium.

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This is an iconic thing to do whilst in America and I really liked the atmosphere of the stadium and the match, even if it lasted many hours and I didn’t understand what was going on half the time!

Cheesecake Factory – before you get confused, this place is a restaurant which serves main courses and then they offer a catalogue of cheesecakes for dessert. By law (made up by me), you cannot come in here and just have a main course, you have to order a cheesecake as well!

I absolutely love this place, so much so that I treated myself to it 5 times in the 3 months I spent in San Fran! Whether you go during the day just for a coffee and cheesecake, or go at night time for a meal and cheesecake, you won’t be disappointed and it will be buzzing at all times.

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The wait time for a table can vary if you’re going in the evening, which isn’t a problem as the restaurant is above a furniture store, so you can relax on the comfy sofas or think about redecorating your house while you wait.

I can’t write this without telling you my favourite cheesecake I tried! It was the Oreo cheesecake of course and a slice is so big you could share it with your dinner partner or else take the leftovers home with you to enjoy when your stomach settles a bit.

Dolores Park – Dolores Park is in The Castro district and it was a lovely place to go and chill on a sunny day. There is a great buzz around here and the park is a brilliant place to spend an afternoon chilling and people watching whilst sipping on your favourite drink.

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We arrived in San Fran in perfect time to celebrate Gay Pride. The whole day was a lot of fun, so much colour and glitz and the sun shone down on us all day. I had never been to a Gay Pride parade before, but I can’t see how anywhere could top the celebrations in Castro!

Lake Anza – this is a nice lake in Berkeley where you can spend some time chilling around the lake. It is situated in a lovely area which provides a great backdrop and it’s away from the city noise as well. We had a day off work and wanted to get out of the city so we came here and it was nice and relaxing.

Twin Peaks – the walk up to the top is challenging enough, but you can take your time and the views from the top are worth the effort. We climbed up here on a foggy day (no surprise as the San Fran is nicknamed ‘Fog City’) and even then the views were lovely. You can see all out over the city and Bay Area too.

Haight Street – this is a really cool street for thrift stores as there is one every few metres so you can’t go wrong! Even if you aren’t wanting to do any shopping, this street is still good to go to and take a walk down, as it has an interesting character to it with nice unique places to window shop, grab a bite to eat or have a drink.

Lombard Street – known as the ‘Crookedest Street in the World’, Lombard Street is a great place to go to on a tour of the city as it doesn’t take up too much time to see and it is pretty cool.

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If you don’t know what is so cool about Lombard Street, it is essentially a crooked street down a steep hill, with 8 sharp turns. What I liked about it was the scenery, as there are lovely houses on both sides of the street and the street has vibrant flowers all the way down.

There are great photo opportunities at the top and bottom of Lombard Street, as you get views of the San Fran Bay, Bay Bridge and Coit Tower from the top, then the view of Lombard street itself and its landscaping and flowers is beautiful from the bottom!

The Painted Ladies – this is a recommendation for the photographers out there. It is a row of Victorian style houses, painted in nice pastel colours with a view of the city’s skyscrapers in the background. This is a lovely spot for that postcard perfect photograph and there is a park here to chill at whilst taking in the view.