A Guide to San Francisco, California

A Guide to San Francisco, California

In July, my family and I went on a road trip touring the west coast of California. Our first stop was San Francisco. I have officially fallen in love with this city! I love how easy it is to walk everywhere, how there seems to be quite a good work-life balance - there is the business district but then also the bay (we spent at least 10 mins every day looking at all the seals) and coast which creates a more relaxed atmosphere. 

My must sees/what to do:

• Alcatraz - this was absolutely incredible. Definitely book tickets in advance though since it will save you time on the day as there is a chance they could have sold out. The day we went was the day of the eclipse so our boat journey to the island was made much more entertaining! We also spotted seals and what we thought were dolphins - needless to say, we were kept occupied on a rather short journey. When we got there we were mesmerised by how the history of the prison is visible from the moment you step off the ferry. The introductory talk was very informative and allowed a moment for you to take in the scale and imposing nature of the prison. I would definitely recommend taking the tour with the headsets as you learn a lot and it keeps you engaged with what you’re looking at the whole time. There is so much to see that I would recommend scheduling several hours to look round the island and prison since it is very impressive. For me, the day was very educational for me and I am very glad I went.

• The Golden Gate Bridge - we hired bikes for a day and decided to cycle over the golden gate bridge. This turned out to be quite a good idea since you don’t really appreciate how long the bridge is until you’re on it. There are cycle paths as well so you don’t need to be worried about cycling on the road and we got helmets from the rental company. I would also recommend taking a light jacket or something to cover yourself since it was quite cold and chillier than on land.

• The Bay/Fisherman's Wharf - my family and I loved visiting the bay since we got to see seals for the first time! There were so many of them and the noise they emitted was so loud it was funny. 

• The trams - admittedly, we queued for over an hour to wait for a tram! I later found out that it can be quicker to get on at one of the stops… Despite this, the experience made it worth it! It was so much fun to go up and down the hills of San Francisco - seeing places you might not have seen otherwise and building up speed as you went down the hill, before hearing the tram screech to a halt. I would really recommend this, it was super fun, my whole family enjoyed it and the tram is a classic of San Francisco - don’t miss out!

How easy is it to be zero waste?

I actually found it quite hard to create little waste here without making my family go out of their way. Eating in is always preferred, and we did usually do this, but take your own napkins since I found they were all disposable. Also, if you’re planning on eating lunch on the go, I would strongly suggest you make it at home/wherever you’re staying as it’s easier to buy bits of food that are unpackaged such as fruit and bread as opposed to buying something out. Alternatively, you can ask if they could put a sandwich or some food in your own container. Although we did stay in a hotel this time, there are plenty of other options including over 300 Airbnb options. 

Finally, I would strongly recommend the Pinecrest diner - we breakfasted here most days, trying other places but still returning to this one. It had food that my whole family liked! (In my family this is most definitely an achievement!). I would also suggest doing a little bit of your own research before you go - there is so much to do in San Francisco that you wouldn’t want to miss out on anything!

I hope you find this useful and happy travels!