Getting Around in San Francisco
San Francisco is not called a city of hills for nothing: the characteristic neighborhoods of the city are nestled between steep hills which can make walking (or driving a stick!) a real challenge. Aside from the hills, parts of San Francisco are very difficult to drive or find parking in, and a result many natives and visitors choose to take advantage of the extensive public transit system. There are lots of ways to get around San Francisco for people of all levels of ability, and you may want to consider integrating several of them into your visit.
If you are driving to San Francisco, I highly recommend finding a place to stash your car and forget about it. Taking public transit is quick, easy, and efficient. It also reduces the stress which can surround the search for parking and negotiating busy streets during peak traffic hours. You can use the car selectively when you need it: if, for example, you are picking up heavy purchases. It's better not to bring or hire a car at all, and to plan on using taxis in situations where you have large amounts of luggage or purchases.
Public transit in San Francisco is readily available and cheap. If you are staying for several days, a week, or a month, you can purchase a transit pass which will make it even more efficient and grab a transit system map to help with trip planning while you are at it. Transit passes allow the bearer to ride on all San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) networks in San Francisco, along with Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) San Francisco lines. All you have to do is hop on board a bus and flash your pass at the driver, or put your pass through the entry turnstile for subway lines.
If you are flying into San Francisco, you can take BART directly from the airport to the downtown area. If you are staying in one of Union Square's numerous hotels, you can take BART to the Powell Street station and be only a block or two away. If you are staying in another part of the city, you can use BART's website to find the closest station, or take advantage of the 511 Trip Planner to plan your trip out door to door. 511 combines BART and MUNI for an extensive transit picture of the entire city.
Once in San Francisco proper, you can take advantage of the extensive SF MUNI bus and subway service. The MUNI provides metro underground service along several major routes in tandem with numerous buses, some of which run on intervals as frequent as five minutes. MUNI also has extensive owl routes, so you can catch a bus at any time of the day or night. In addition to buses and trains, MUNI also operates San Francisco's famous cable cars and a network of street cars which you can take to popular locations all over the city.
If you need to leave San Francisco for the day, you have a number of options including Golden Gate Transit, which provides bus and ferry service to numerous other Bay Area locations. Ferries go to Alcatraz for day trips along with Larkspur in Marin and Alameda in Oakland. The ferry terminal in San Francisco is located downtown in the Embarcadero, served by several MUNI lines as well as BART. One you get to the other side, you can make a connection with another transit service or wander around another uniquely Northern California town or site.
You can also make connections with AmTrak and CalTrain, train services which provide connections to other parts of California and the nation. A train trip can be a fun and relaxing way to get from here to there while enjoying the scenery.
Getting around San Francisco and the surrounding areas can be stress free, fun, and beautiful!
