Traveler's Tips for San Francisco

Happy 2008 everyone! Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us, our thoughts now turn to Macworld Expo. Since I only live about 75 miles away in the college town of Davis, I will be coming in by Amtrak, but I know that many of you will be flying in. For some of you, you may be asking, "Once my plane arrives at the airport, how do I get to my hotel in San Francisco?"

While there are a number of ways to get to "The City", if you don't know anyone who lives in the area who can drive you to your destination, you'll probably consider taking a taxi, an airport shuttle or BART. Of the three, taking the taxi is the most expensive way of getting to San Francisco. Expect to pay somewhere between $35 to $50 one way for your fare. This is quite pricey especially considering that I'll be paying about $26 ROUND TRIP between Davis and San Francisco. Still, if you have bucks burning a hole in your pocket, go for it.

For most of you, taking the airport shuttle is the best way to go. You get direct service to your San Francisco hotel and you can expect to pay between $10 - $20. You may need to make reservations in advance, so please, check out their websites for info. For a list of a few of these airport shuttles, please check out www.sfguide.com/transportation/airportshuttle.htm.

If you are on a very tight budget and you are somewhat familiar with downtown San Francisco, the best way to get to your hotel is via the Bay Area Rapid Transit, better known as BART. BART may roughly be described as San Francisco's subway system, but it also serves the East Bay and is generally an above ground monorail-type transit system there. Just for the record, BART does NOT serve Marin County (the county on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge), Napa County, or Santa Clara County which is where San Jose/Sunnyvale/Cupertino is located. If you want instructions to go to the Mothership in Cupertino, please see my post, "You CAN get there by bus, but..." post elsewhere in this forum. For $5.30, BART will take you from SFO to the Powell Street Station which is less than a block away from the Pickwick. True, it takes longer to get downtown, there is no one to help you with your luggage and you have to walk to your hotel. But, hey, what do ya want for five bucks?

If you're planning to arrive to the Bay Area via Oakland Airport, I STRONGLY recommend that you do NOT take the taxi to San Francisco as you will pay AT LEAST $50 in fare to San Francisco. Shuttles from Oakland Airport to San Francisco will run you about $25 and up. Again, you may need to make reservations in advance. For a list of shuttles from Oakland Airport, please go to www.oaklandairport.com/shuttles.shtml. If you plan to take BART, you will first need to purchase an AirBART ticket which is $3 for adults and $1 for children, seniors, and disabled (with ID). AirBART is actually a bus that takes you to the Coliseum BART station from Oakland Airport and your AirBART ticket does NOT include fare for BART. Once you get to the Coliseum station, you will need to shell out another $3.55 at the BART ticket machine to ride one-way to Powell Street. For more info about BART connections to and from Oakland Airport, please go to www.bart.gov/guide/airport/oak.asp

A quick note or two about public transportation in San Francisco: Fares for BART recently went up, but you can go to www.bart.gov to check out these fares. For those of you who aren't familiar with BART, the amount of your fare is generally dependent on how far you travel. If you have a PDA, Treo, Blackberry, wireless internet device or iPod (and if you don't have an iPod, what kind of Mac enthusiast are you?), you can download a BART QuickPlanner which will help you schedule your trips on BART as well as determine your fare. To download a BART QuickPlanner, go to www.bart.gov/stations/quickPlanner/quickplanner.asp

Your best source for public transportation in the Bay Area is www.511.org which provides all the info you need to get around the Bay Area via public transportation. 511.org provides a trip planner as well as basic information about all of the local bus and ferry systems in the area. I have used this service many times and have found it invaluable in my outings to the Bay Area.

The local bus system in San Francisco in known as the "Muni" and if you plan to get around San Francisco on the Muni, the most valuable piece of advice that I can give you is to ALWAYS take a transfer from the driver or fare machine when you ride. Like bus services elsewhere, transfers allow you to ride another line while on your way to wherever it is that you're going. However, what may make Muni a little different is that most of the Muni drivers treat your transfer as a time-limited bus pass. Thus, it is possible to make a round trip on the Muni taking multiple lines PAYING BUS FARE ONLY ONCE. When you receive your transfer, note the time of expiration and try to make your return trip before then. BTW, Muni transfers are NOT good on the cable cars. For more info, check out www.511.org or www.sfmta.com.

As far as stuff to do around the city, Cirque de Soleil is presenting "Kooza" near AT&T Park in San Francisco until January 20th. For tickets and more info, please contact their website at www.cirquedesoleil.com. If you need an ice hockey fix and have transportation to make the 48 mile trip and back, the San Jose Sharks will have three home games during Macworld Expo week. On Saturday, Jan. 12th, the Sharks play the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7p. Later, on Thursday, Jan. 17th, the Dallas Stars led by Mike Modano who is the all-time NHL points leader by an American-born player will come to town. Finally, on Saturday, Jan. 19th, the Sharks play the Detroit Red Wings (known to their detractors and the "Dead Wings" or the "Dead Things"). http://sharks.nhl.com for more info. If you like pro hoops, the Golden State Warriors (my FAVORITE NBA team!) will play a game across the Bay in Oakland against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, Jan. 13th. www.warriors.com for tickets and more info. This will be their last game before going on a week long road trip. As far as college hoops goes, the Cal Bears men's basketball team will play Arizona State on Thursday, Jan. 17th and the University of Arizona on Saturday the 19th - both games to be played across the bay in Berkeley. The Cal women's team will play Oregon State on Saturday the 12th before playing games on the road. For ticket info, go to www.gobears.com. If the symphony is more your style (it certainly is mine!), the San Francisco Symphony will have a matinee performance on Sunday, January 13th at 2p. (I'll be going to that one, if you see me with my red Macworld tote bag, please stop me and say, "Hi!"). There will also be evening performances by the Symphony on the 17th, 18th, and 19th featuring the Great C Major Symphony by Franz Schubert. www.sfsymphony.org for more info and tickets. If you're a foodie, the Ferry Building is a MUST. Located at the end of Market Street, marked by the clock tower, the Ferry Building has everything that a foodie (like yours truly) could want. One of my favorite treats is to stop by DELICA rf1 and pick up a freshly made fried shrimp cake! Mouth-watering good! Another place to try is Taylor's Refresher, whose sister restaurant in St. Helena in Napa was featured on "Diners, Drive-In and Dives" on the Food Network. Additionally, there is a farmer's market here every Tuesday and Saturday morning. For more info, please check out www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com.

Sorry for going on so long! The above is certainly not the be all and end all for The City. If you have any corrections, criticisms or suggestions, they are certainly welcome. Next time, I hope to address cheap eats and other such things, including places I like to eat whenever I'm in S.F. to attend the symphony or in Oakland to catch an A's game. Have fun at Expo everyone!

-- Matt