I hadn’t visited San Francisco for decades, so I was excited to spend two days there with my family as part of our epic West Coast vacation. Obviously, one could ideally spend many more days in San Francisco, but with the amount of time we had, I feel like we did as much as we possibly could!!
So in today’s post, I’m going to tell you what activities and attractions we enjoyed in San Francisco as a family of 4, with kids ages 7 and 9.
Day 1 – We arrived in San Francisco in mid-afternoon after staying the previous night at Point Arena Lighthouse. We drove in on Highway 1 across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Where We Stayed: I decided to stay in the Fisherman’s Wharf area because it was close to most of the activities we were interested in. We stayed at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel. It was expensive, but all of San Francisco is. All in all, I am glad we stayed here though the value was less (considering room size etc.) than any other destination on our trip. It had a heated pool (a must for the kids) and was walking distance to the Piers we needed for whale watching and Alcatraz. The biggest complaint I had is that we did not have a mini fridge in the room, which is nice for leftovers because I hate wasting food.
Whale Watching: Right after checking in and dropping our Enterprise Rent A Car right around the corner, we headed out for an evening whale watching trip. Honestly I did not expect to see whales, but this is something my husband wanted to do, and we thought it would be fun to go out on a boat regardless. We booked a “Golden Gate Whale Watch” tour from 5-7:30 p.m. with San Francisco Whale Tours. We lucked into the best weather we could hope for and didn’t need hat or gloves etc. but I know it can be very cold at anytime in San Fran, and you do need to be prepared. The boat has a cabin you can hang out in and still see both sides of the boat. However, many people who didn’t want to miss a thing were on the deck the whole time. You could bring snacks and drinks (even alcoholic) on the boat so that was nice. When someone spotted something he or she would yell out, “3 o’clock” or whatever the position coordinated with on the boat. We saw tails and parts of at least two whales right under the Golden Gate. I know different trips and time periods will vary but if you go in with low expectations (enjoying a boat ride on the bay with a drink), hopefully you will be surprised like we were!
A whale’s tail is at 1 o’clock!
A list of what we saw on our whale watching expedition.We wanted to eat as much seafood as possible here, and the first night we ate at Crab House at Pier 39. I have no memory of the specific items of the feast we ordered but it was really good and we would go back here!!
Day 2 – Our only full day in San Fran
City Tour: The one thing everyone will tell you about San Francisco is “Do a city tour.” So we did. And I spent a lot of time researching which one to do. We used and would recommend Vantigo City Tours which is a smaller, intimate tour in a vintage Volkswagen van. On our tour it was just our family, three other people, and the driver, so 8 people total. This lasted from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and picked up near our hotel. Our driver even had a Bingo game to keep the kids occupied. The tour was still a bit long for me but all in all it was a good value. We made 6 different stops/photo opps around the city while driving through many other areas. Although we were only there 2 days, I saw a lot of the city thanks to this tour.
The Sutro Baths we saw on the city tour.
After the city tour, I decided to ditch my family and head to see some literary attractions I had long been wanting to see. My husband and kids swam and I took a couple of hours for myself to do these things that only I cared about; everyone was happy!!
That evening we used a gift certificate my sister gave us to eat at the famous Scomas. We loved this restaurant, but I will say it was still more than the first evening’s meal (which was not cheap!!) even with the gift card. But we are not cheap eaters and like to get appetizers, drinks etc. This supposedly is a place locals will actually brave the Wharf to eat at. I would go there again for sure.
Baseball: At the last minute we decided to take in a Giants baseball game at AT&T Park. I waited until almost game time and downloaded ticket on Stubhub. We sat out in the outfield by the bay; in the Arcade section.
Kayakers were in McCovey Cove behind us. My only regret here is that I couldn’t find the “ice cream hats” we collect.
Loved that these kayakers are waiting for home runs!
Day 3 – Our flight to Santa Ana left at 2:30 p.m.
Alacatraz: We had to leave San Francisco on day 3 to fly to Santa Ana and our next adventures in California, but before we did conquered one more “must do” attraction in this city: Alcatraz. I’m going to admit I wasn’t that excited about Alcatraz; I just felt like it “is something you have to do.” Well I was wrong. I loved this tour, and so did everyone else. They have an audio tour you can follow at your own pace but still stay with the others in your party. It has sound effects and is so informational with the voices of former prisoners telling the stories. I would seriously do this again. My kids both loved this audio tour and are still obsessed with Alcatraz. Seriously I will be finding out how to get my hands on the rest of the comic book series they sell there, “Escape from Alcatraz” because they loved it.
I booked the first tour of the day; it leaves at 8:45 a.m. It is best to go early in the day because the island fills up as the day goes on. Here is the official site to buy tickets. You will have to actually call them to get the family rate for 4 people. As soon as you know you are going to San Fran, buy these tickets because they sell out fast. They go on sale 90 days in advance.
The Rock!
So that is everything we did in San Francisco, at least the major things anyway, of course we did spend some time walking aimlessly around Fisherman’s Wharf and swimming in our hotel pool. I am embarrassed to say we did not get a chance to ride on cable cars!! It was just so rushed with all the other stuff. I guess we will have to go back soon!!!!
Thanks for reading, and please let me know in the comments below if you have any ideas to add; or if you have questions, I am happy to answer them.