Can you do San Francisco without a car?

[BringYourOwnBullshit]

To do the usual touristy things for a week? I won't drive in America...

Is this feasible?

Yes. San Francisco is not that great to drive around and the parking is crazy expensive. There's a ton of public transport.

Yep. I did it walking and using public transport.

We did a californian road trip and spent 5 days in San Francisco and did not use the car at all, it cost us a fortune to park it in hotel garage but it would have been more hassle than it was worth to use it.
We used Uber and the Hop on Hop off bus.

Great! Next question... is it worth actually going? I'm assuming yes according to my own research online. For a week in low season probably February. Don't do busy times or hot weather.

I mean, it's really declined in recent years. Huge issue with homelessness and drug addiction. It's not a place I enjoy spending time any more tbh. However, for a day or two to do the touristy bits, fine. I'd stay down by the Embarcadero, it's less grim there. Not Fisherman's Wharf, not by the Tenderloin.

The homelessness and drug abuse was shocking when we went 20 odd years ago.

Yes, We’ve been a couple of times. We went in the summer and it wasn’t that hot. The weather is pretty British. A bike ride across the golden gate to Sausalito and get the ferry back is a good thing to do, obviously there’s Alcatraz which you should book in advance-it was freezing when we went there.

My DS2 has just come back
They didn’t use a car in San Francisco and explored on public transport saw the golden gate in the mist and went to Alcatraz.. even his photos made me shiver
They soon left and went to the absolutely stunning Carmel, so if I were you I’d go through San Fran straight to Carmel

Definitely doable and a great city but be mindful the fentynal junkies are everywhere downtown - just be vigilant with your belongings etc

Ahh February might not be fun on the beach!

San Francisco is fairly north, so it’s not particularly hot. We went in April and it could get fairly chilly. Not all of California is blazing sunshine.

Agree a car not needed. We did Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz (get tickets well in advance), the aquarium, just pottered round a lot.

We did this as well. Plus a baseball match. Great times but do consider your time of year. Even the height of summer can be breezy. You might well be too cold
You definitely don't need a car. Parking is expensive and you can do everything by public transport/ uber / bolt
We picked up our car as we left

We went 2015. It was on my husband's bucket list.

Nothing prepared us for the levels of homelessness and people living on the streets. Whole blocks where the gutters smell permanently of piss. So squalid. We were in Tenderloin which was grim. (Although our Youth Hostel was clean and welcoming).

But we had a reasonably good time. Learned to walk past the junkies (most of whom were so off their faces that they didn't pose much of a threat).

Fisherman's Wharf looks great from a distance but is full of identikit tourist tat shops. The kids enjoyed going on some kind of Naval ship exhibit.

We did the bike ride over the bridge to Sausalito. Some of it was great; some of it was on the edge of a steep hill separated from fast traffic by a white line. One of my sons was terrified. I wasn't overly thrilled myself.

Saw the hippie shit at Haight Ashbury. Homeless people there mostly white rather than the predominantly black homeless elsewhere. Someone tried to sell weed to my 13 year old. But we quite enjoyed wandering round.

Had a day at the museum of natural history which we enjoyed and walked through the botanic gardens. Played on the beach one evening. It was fine.

You absolutely don't need a car; public transport is fine and lots of it is walkable. But jeez, for a major city in the world's richest country, it's a bit of a shocker

My story from Haight Ashbury.

We were walking down the street and a man was walking towards us. When we were far enough away I asked dh if he saw the snake. ‘Did you miss the fact he was entirely naked?’ was the reply.

American here as a disclaimer…

I think SFC is fine for a day or two. There are some great restaurants and a couple of good tourist sites. I wouldn’t plan more than that though.

I went about 20 years ago and it was a nice city to visit for a long weekend. I wouldn’t go now. The city has been mismanaged so badly, I’m surprised there’s not been a textbook written about it titled “How to tank a city in 10 easy steps”. There seems to be a weird contest between SFC and Seattle to see who can fail the most spectacularly.

All that being said, go, see the sights you want and then get the hell out… there are better places to visit in California.

ETA: I wouldn’t bother with a car in the city, but to get out of it you’ll likely need one.

I think some people must have visited a long time ago. We've been twice since 2022, as part of California road trips. We did loads but there are still a couple of things I haven't seen so would go back a third time. We only saw a tiny bit of Golden Gate Park for example. There is loads to see and do. You can even do a trip to Yosemite and stay right in the valley in Curry Village campsite - they have proper tents with beds and electric hook up etc. You woudln't be able to go in February though - snow everywhere.

Stay well away from the Tenderloin and you'll be fine. I'd stick to the hotels in Fisherman's Wharf, the popular ones are on/near Beach Street. Union Square was the nearest we got to the Tenderloin, to go up to the top floor of Macy's to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Some of the shops are closing down in Union Square, including Macy's and I think they're trying to think of ways to revive that area.

It's a great city, got lots of character. Very doable on public transport - get the Muni app.It's so easy. Walk a lot, you see much more. Last year when we went we spent a really enjoyable Sunday morning walking around the Presidio, to find LucasFilm offices to see the Yoda fountain 😬. Walked along Crissy Field to the beach to get really good views of the Golden Gate bridge before the fog came down mid morning. There were loads of locals walking their dogs or just out for a stroll, didn't seem to be many tourists except us. We saw a coyote on the edge of the sand dunes. Then we walked to Fort Mason, and got the bus back from there to the Sunset district and had a fantastic Mexican lunch in a little bar in a courtyard before heading over to Golden Gate Park. Only had a time to walk round the Botanical Gardens but would like to see the rest next time.

There's loads to do. But I'm not sure I'd want to visit in February, sorry. It's rainy season. And It's fecking freezing even in summer! That wind - it's biting. And when the fog comes down every day the moisture makes it colder. Be prepared for that. Most people think San Francisco equals California equals shorts and suntan but noooooooo, even in summer it is very mixed. I think it will definitely have a different vibe to summer, too, with fewer people about....

Joint the Facebook group California Dreamers and West Coast Wanderers. VERY helpful group with loads of advice and ideas. You'd probably need to ask about going in low season as nearly everyone goes in summer.

I meant to say, by "fewer people" in February, I don't think that would be a good thing. San Francisco doesn't really ever feel particularly crowded even in the summer. It's nothing like London crowds for example.

It was bad about 30 odd years ago. I worked in Tottenham at the time of the first riots and felt safer there then than in San Francisco.
Shame as it was a beautiful city and was easily doable by public transport and walking.

Yes absolutely doable, we had a car and spent a fortune keeping it in the hotel garage! Alcatraz is an obvious option, book in advance as others have said. We booked and went to a baseball game which was great fun. We went to the City Lights bookshop, Pier 39/ Fisherman’s Wharf, did the Silicon Valley thing (with the car - went to the Google campus, Apple Oracle etc. We stayed at the Beacon Grand which was fabulous and very good value booked online. We loved our visit.

I was cabin crew for 20 years. San Fran was one of my faves. Yes they’re a lot of drugs/homeless problems but not if you get off the main drag. Walk up the hills and it’s fine! February can often be surprisingly sunny and pleasant. Often warmer than summer, which is often misty. And I’ve never had to book in advance for Alcatraz at that time of year. Walk along the seashore away from Fisherman’ Wharf and along to the Bridge. Or ride across on a bike to
Saulsito and get the ferry back. See the sealions.
The Cheesecake Factory is great on the top of Macy’s- sit outside, they’ll bring a heater.
If you get bored of the city, most hotels have day trips out to The Giant Redwoods etc.

ps, if you can’t do the Alcatraz tour there are usually little boats around Fisherman’s Wharf that sail up to the bridge and around Alcatraz island which are good fun.

Yes, definitely. I lived in San Francisco, outside of downtown and I never had a car. Public transport is generally very good in the city and general metro area. You could probably get a bus to touristy bits generally in Northern California.

It's never hot in San Francisco. You need to go inland for the heat.
We used to go every now and then for the day when we lived inland. I'd park and we used the tram and walk. Nice and warm in the day with sea breezes and then got cold in the evenings.
Mark Twain was supposed to have said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco
Edited to say even in winter there are lots of tourists. At Christmas there are a lot of people from Japan.

I’ve been twice in recent years, once in February which was dry and sunny but very cold. The other time was May which was nice but still cold in the wind.

Homeleasness and drug issues are really quite shocking, and we’re definitely worse the most recent time, but it’s more that they are completely out of it so I didn’t feel particularly threatened.

Theres plenty to do, we have been for a week in the city and also a couple of days as part of a Yosemite trip which was amazing.

You definitely don’t need a car unless you’re travelling further afield, such as Yosemite. We hired a car to go to Santa Cruz for the day and also went to Monterey on the way back from Yosemite which is great for whale watching.

Also I personally would recommend staying somewhere out of the usual Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf area (I hated it living there). There are so many beautiful neighbourhoods in SF that aren’t just tourists and homeless people. I lived in the Inner Sunset. I really like the area around Dolores Park (great if you’re going with kids!). The Presidio and Marina, great access to GG park, the bridge, the Presidio and all the beautiful trails out around Land’s End, Sutro baths. Go to the beach in the Sunset, take a picnic and actually watch the sunset. All those bits outside of downtown are so much more interesting than Fishermen’s Wharf and Alcatraz.

I love San Francisco. I’ve been quite a few times for long weekends (max 5 nights over a weekend) as I like it so much and have met some lovely people there (both locals and other visitors).

The first time I went was in early February and the weather was cool but sunny and blue skies. On my first full day, I booked a half day (morning) motorbike sidecar tour and it was the best introduction ever! It really helped me get my bearings and the entire experience was just incredible. I think that was when I fell in love with SF. I saw so much and was given some great tips (especially for food) by my guide Jerome. Sitting in a motorbike’s sidecar as you go over the Golden Gate Bridge is quite the expeerience! As you can see from the photo, the weather in February really sucked. 😛

I used a mixture of walking and public transport (mainly the old streetcars which I love - and have always found the staff really helpful and friendly) and I used a tourist small group bus tour for two day trips out of SF. One day I went to Yosemite which was stunning in the snow and another day I went to Muir Woods in the morning and wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma in the afternoon. I also did the ‘behind the scenes’ tour at Alcatraz which was incredible and very eye-opening. That was my first ever trip and it blew my mind. Which is why I keep going back.