What should I do in San Francisco next week?

Grace Cathedral’s Choral Evensong service, Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. Then walk down the hill for dim sum in Chinatown.

Don’t do Fisherman’s Wharf, but do go to Alcatraz.

Do Muir Woods across the Golden Gate.

Get new boots so when you step in shit in the street it’ll be easier to clean off.

Nature walking in the Presidio and Lands End, real estate gawking in Pacific Heights and partying/walking/eating in the Castro. Lookout for drinks with a view, Moby Dick for casual corner bar with good and cheap frozen margaritas, Badlands for saving later in the vending. Hi-Top for burger and beer dinner. And Cafe Flore in the Castro for coffee and breakfast.

You can just skip the whole downtown area. Unless you want to understand what all the SF bashing is about.

^Badlands for dancing later in the evening.

Just walk around a lot (but watch yourself—there’s some crime). The hills make it a good moderate workout if you walk a lot. I love the architecture. The wharf is a nice, pretty quiet place to hang out. Downtown is run down these days, or it was when I was there last fall. The vistas around the GG bridge are beautiful though, and lunch in Sausalito is very nice. The Palace of the Arts is a lovely place. Haight-Ashbury has cool building murals and...that’s all, really, unless you want to buy crystals and incense in bulk.

Coit hill is nice. Check out Danielle Steel’s mansion, which sits empty while she lives in Paris. Avoid all of the hypodermic needles and piles of human hair in the streets

I was surprised at Coit Tower -Never thought it would be so interesting. And you should walk around the Castro in the evening.

If you like urban hiking, walk up the steps to Coit Tower and also walk up to Twin Peaks. Both great.

Go to Ghirardelli.

Why?

Cos it's what people do when they go to SF...or maybe, used to do.

No one's suggested a cable car ride?

& what about Alcatraz?

R2 suggested Alcatraz, r12.

Isn't Alcatraz a bit difficult? You have to book long in advance or something?

Alcatraz looks depressing.

I’ll avoid the real touristy things (I have no interest in the curvy street, for example) I’m more interested in cultural oddities. I may have to check out Haight Ashbury, just for the history and will definitely spend some time in the Castro.

Any decent museums. I like art, science and history. I’m currently considering a visit to SFMOMA. Is the De Young any good?

Oh, and sleazy sex. Don’t forget the sleazy sex advice.

I hear there's a cruise ship offshore that's looking for passengers for its next voyage. Cheap.

Make the fog surrounding the Golden gate simply disappear!

Make the warning bells on the cable cars chime 'The Gang's All Here'!

Wear latex gloves, a face mask, bathe in Purell and don’t touch your face.

Catch a virus and tip toe around human feces.

[quote]Alcatraz looks depressing.

No kidding. What were you expecting, Tomorrowland?

r4 Flore closed, homey

OP: if you like museums schedule several hours for the mind-blowing Asian Art Museum

Tour the cities homeless camps, see live addicts shoot up in the subway tunnels, watch people take shits in front of you, take in the smells of the city, witness one of the most beautiful cities deteriorate based on overly progressive politics and thanks to the man who started it our....great Governor Newsom.

Please, please, please re-cap your visit so everyone will know what SF turned into.

Sorry, forgot a pic...

And, one of my favorites...the joys are everywhere

These should take you right there even before your trip....enjoy out great city!!

The biggest thing your going to be doing is avoiding human fecal matter on sidewalks and curbsides.

R26, so true. You can actually make a game of it and have extra fun!!!

What should you do in San Francisco next week ? Oakland comes to mind.

Eat lots of Rice-a-Roni.

What are people referring to when saying stay away from "downtown"? The Tenderloin?

[quote] I may have to check out Haight Ashbury, just for the history and will definitely spend some time in the Castro. Any decent museums. I like art, science and history. I’m currently considering a visit to SFMOMA. Is the De Young any good?

Haight Ashbury shouldn't take you very long, maybe an hour or less.

I never did like the De Young. Lots of Asian art and sculpture (no, I'm not racist). IMO, SF doesn't really have any good art museums. Sorry.

The Palace of Fine Arts is an attraction for locals & tourists. You might enjoy it (linked).

Sleazy sex doesn't happen in SF anymore.

r32, go in Sep. to the Wholesome Street Fair.

Brunch at the Ferry Building, then stroll along the Embarcadero and stop in at Tcho's Chocolate at Pier 17 and then spend the afternoon at the world famous Exploratorium "hands on" science museum at Pier 15.

Really important to understand that the days of sleazy sex are dead and buried. You missed it. Folsom Street Fair is like a Renaissance Faire for the old, gay SF.

Downtown to me is generally East of the 101/Van Ness. Union Square is the heart of the messy/ugly side of SF IMO. Tenderloin is ugly too - but that almost has a historical element to the messiness so it doesn’t seem as awful.

San Francisco really is a godawful dump, OP. Go some place else. But if you're set on seeing San Francisco, almost all the suggestions above SUCK.

The Castro Theater is a terrific place to see a film. The programming is wonderful. I linked it below. If you see something that catches your eye, then go. Enjoy the film. Enjoy the theater. It is one of the nicest things to enjoy about a city that is not all that nice.

San Francisco has some very good art museums. The de Young, the Legion of Honor and the Museum of Modern Art are all worthy of your time and attention. Check them out online and see which one appeals to you. There are other smaller museums in San Francisco, but these three are the big ones.

The art museums plan to remain open despite Covid-19. But the SF Sympony and SF Ballet performances have been CANCELLED by order of the Mayor through most of the month of March.

So maybe... maybe this is not the time to visit San Francisco.

No trip to SF is complete without a trip to Mr. S Leather on Folsom Street. Just about the best place in the US to indulge yourself with new sex toys. Get a butt plug, if you can't see the ballet.

Any free chocolate at Ghirardeli?

Fuck the museums "Miss Culture" @ R36

If I visit a city I want to explore it, not troll around a bunch of airless fucking museums.

Depends on the museum, R38. I would not miss the Louvre nor London's National Gallery. Would also not miss the Met in NY.

OP avoid China Town unless you want to get quarantined for 14 days upon your return home. Of course at this rate you may be quarantined anyway just for going to SF.

1) Be prepared to be ignored by zombie millenials blankly staring at their phones all day everywhere.

2) Be prepared to be followed by zombie druggies who probably think you're a dinosaur or something.

3) Be prepared to recognize filthy spaces are the norm here. Even the expensive establishments.

4) Be prepared to pay extra for everything. All the cheap places attract the trashiest folks.

5) All the millenials staring at their phones will be everywhere that doesn't fit No. 4, so you will be in a line with them for everything.

6) Casual chitchat doesn't exist here. Only street zombies talk to you. Make sure your phone is well charged so you can stare blankly at it all day too.

Agreed with Coit Tower, walk up from North Beach.

Also agree with Lands End. The vastness of the Pacific where the City begins is stunning.

Avoid Alcatraz. Overrated unless you truly care about its history. It'll be cold/rainy (for a change... you missed summer like temps these past two weeks) so the ferry ride over will be cold and wet.

Check out the SF Museum of Modern Art. 7 floors that makes for a lovely day. We're members and can never manage to see it all in one day.

Check out Salesforce Park. Its two blocks from SF Moma and is well-maintained and has amazing views of the City's skyline. It's how beautiful the City could be save for the zombies that ruin it.

Manage your expectations about the Castro. It's small, boarded up (many businesses shuttered), overrun with junkies and insular cliques who distrust anyone outside of their circle. The whole neighborhood is like a relic of gayborhoods with cheap tacky clothing stores, lube/popper stores, pizza shops, etc. The bars are all dated and overwhelmingly CASH only even in the year 2020.

If you can, take a day trip out to Sonoma/Napa. Northern California is stunning in a way SF doesn't capture.

Buy weed/edibles at the Apothecarium on Market.

Dinner at Sai's near the Transamerica Pyramid.

Beer at 440

Get a burrito at Taqueria Cancun in the Mission.

Take a bus out to Lands End to see the ocean.

R22 oh that all sounds so lovely. I can’t imagine what a delightful time can be had touring the city by the bay, and enjoying our little slice of homo heaven.

What should you do in San Francisco next week? Skip it entirely.

I moved out in 2016, but I loved my journeys across the GG Bridge, walking, biking, or driving. Very scenic. And now there’s extra scenery with that cruise ship stuck there.

I would skip Ghirardelli Square and probably skip Alcatraz as well.

Ferry Building: Crowded. Overrated, IMO.

IMO, there's better Chinese food on Clement Street than in Chinatown. (I know, I know ... Corona virus.)

Land's End hike/walk: Absolutely beautiful & an easy hike/walk. Worth doing, IMO. It's way out there on the west of the peninsula. Khan Toke Thai restaurant is closeby. It's a really cute restaurant, IMO. Maybe others have more recent experience (I haven't been there for a while).

Don't forget to leave your heart there.

[quote] The biggest thing your going to be doing

Oh, dear!

Hey, R48!

Zzzzzzzz.... You are boring.

Golden Gate park is nice, the De Young is at 8th Ave and has one of the best exhibits I have seen in ages, "Soul of a Nation" until March 15. In Castro district, I love Anchor Oyster Bar on Castro near 19th, and the Castro Theater is a lovely old movie palace. Walking the Land's End trail to Baker Beach is nice and ends on the beach looking at the GG Bridge. Both Coit Tower and the building at Ocean Beach downstairs from the Beach Chalet restaurant have WPA murals. I rarely get to this neighborhood, but North Beach (near Coit) is pretty sweet with Italian restaurants, cafes and bakeries, bookstores etc.

OP, how did your week go?

Seems like SF isn’t being hit significantly right now. Oddly.