After reading the story, I’m sure you’re wanting to know what I would and wouldn’t recommend about my experience in San Francisco, whilst covering a few items that I missed but sincerely regret not doing whilst I was there and would be my priorities should I return to the city.
San Francisco
One of the largest cities in California and the United States, San Francisco is known for its hills, cable cars, it’s bay and of course, the bridges that it plays host to. Based in the north of California on the west coast, it is a city of culture, art and plenty of history to it providing a plethora of activities to get involved in. These range from wondering through the rolling hills, grabbing an iconic cable car or crossing the Golden Gate bridge. Then once you’ve done those, you’re able to head to the infamous Alcatraz prison, go for a hike through the Marin Headlands or explore the art of the city, focusing around places like the famous Clarion Alley.
Recommended? – Definitely! In my opinion, this is a city that provides something for everyone.
Nightlife
Unfortunately something that I didn’t get to find out as much as I wanted to about, which was due to the location of the hostel and the atmosphere there, which is covered in more detail in the views of the hostel that we stayed in. However, from the small snippet that I got into the nightlife scene of San Francisco, I gathered some of the following:
- Outside of the downtown area is the home of smaller, more personal bars, pubs and micro breweries, offering lower prices, a more intimate experience and a wide variety of drinks if you’re heading to the latter.
- Moving into the downtown area, near the Financial District and SoMa, you’ll find more rooftop bars, upmarket bars and night clubs to dance the night away. Where the hub of the nightlife can be found, it also brings potentially higher prices but a larger social crowd to tap into, whilst having the ability to bust a move until close.
Recommended? – From the small snippet that I got of the nightlife, I would recommend it but do your research on what’s on offer, which is something that I didn’t do when I was there.
Fisherman’s Wharf
In the north area of the city, the Fisherman’s Wharf area to the city is a popular area for many reasons. Playing host to an eclectic mix of things to do to keep you entertained day and night. In the day time you have a wide array of street performer and artists to watch, buy artwork or listen to, whilst having plenty of places to stop by to have lunch with Pier 39 being the main location for this. As well as plenty of spots to stop by for a drink or two, all whilst you’re able to watch the famous sea lions that have made one of the piers their home.
In the evening, this is the perfect spot to have a bay side seat as the sun sets, the lights come out and give you views over the bay whilst you’re enjoying dinner or a drink or two. This gives you a perfect jumping off point to head into the downtown afterwards to party, it is well within walking distance.
If on land isn’t how you want to experience this area, there area a variety of excursions that run from the area on both the sea and in the air. You’ll be able to find a full list of what’s on offer here. Want to know another key highlight of what’s in this area? The terminal for the tour to Alcatraz!
Walking Tours
The walking tours hosted by the HI hostel chain were very informative and were completely different in both style and substance. The first one was the history and sight-seeing tour around San Francisco, taking us through the key areas that played host significant events, hosted the landmarks of the city and gave you the history behind each eventually or piece of architecture on offer.
The second tour that we did took us through the areas that helped shape San Francisco’s culture, giving a background on the figures and movements that helped shaped not only the city but also shape further afield in the shape of the whole nation and pushed civil rights forward for the whole world. It also showed how the togetherness in the city was allowing those from a disadvantaged background or of whom were struggling to be helped by others.
Price – Free!
Recommended? – Yes, these are two great tours for you to be able to learn about the history of the city and the cultural background, knowing what caused San Francisco to be the way that it is.
Off The Grid
A touring food truck festival, Off The Grid is a great event to attend giving you the ability to try various different kinds of food at a cheap price, covering a variety of different events. There range from full festivals to setting up somewhere within the city and giving people a different option on where and what they can eat.
Price – Prices varied on which truck you headed to but they started around the $5 mark for your smaller snacks, going up to the $15+ per meal.
Recommended? – I found the festival event hosted by the company good fun and was a good way to try a variety of food from local producers, which was of high quality and delicious at a low price.
HI San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf
So where did I stay here then? That would be the HI San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf hostel, based on the sight Fort Mason, with it being part of a network of Hostelling International hostels not only in the city but around the world. Like all other hostels on this trip it was booked through Hostelworld, with the reason for this based on price, availability and the high rating.
Location – The location of this hostel is pretty darn good! Based at an old military base, it sits on top of a hill that over looks the bay, giving views out to the Golden Gate Bridge. With some of the biggest attractions in this area, it’s only an hour’s walk to the Golden Gate Bridge and 25 minutes walk to Pier 39 and the Fisherman’s Wharf, which is also where you get the boat across to Alcatraz. For other points of interest in the city, they are over an hour away or readily accessible with public transport, taxi/Uber or driving.
Facilities – I feel the first thing to cover when it comes to the facilities on offer at the HI Fisherman’s Wharf hostel, is the bedroom arrangements. The hostel provides private rooms for two people, coming in three varieties of bed arrangements: twin, double or Queen. Alongside this, they have dorms coming in sizes of 4, 8, 10 and 24 bed per dorm. The 4 and 8 bed dorms come in male and female set ups and the 10 and 24 bed dorms are mixed.
As for the actual facilities that are on offer, offering a range of affordable nutritious food, the hostel has it’s own cafe/bistro to help you save on the cost of food and for the convenience of having somewhere on site. If you’re wanting to do your own cooking then they have a large kitchen and dining room on offer.
When it comes to hygiene, the rooms aren’t ensuite so they have separate bathrooms but they were always clean and never too busy meaning you needed to queue. As well as that, there are plenty of washers and dryers to make sure that your clothes are clean too. Additional to the above, there are plenty of other things on offer here, with the wide variety of open plan common rooms, pool tables, games room and TV room.
Atmosphere – This was an interesting one. The mixture of people staying in the hostel was quite eclectic. From younger adults such as myself to full families, all the way from the children to grandparents. When you throw in the possibility of the 24 bed dorms, the different timings that people work by (day trips vs experiencing nightlife) can potentially cause friction if anyone is a particularly light sleeper. If I were to describe the place, it would be relaxed, with large open plan common rooms and kitchen/dining area.
Activities – Another hard one to judge as most, if not all, activities were led by the other HI hostel within San Francisco.
Staff – I must admit that I didn’t have much interaction with the staff at the Fisherman’s Wharf hostel, as most of the tours were conducted from the other branch of HI hostels in the downtown area. However, the few and short interactions with the staff, be it at the reception or in the cafe, they were very friendly and more than accommodating.
Price – For the private rooms that are on offer, prices start at $103 and top out at $132 per night. The dorms start at $38.50 a night, going up to the maximum of $46.50.
Recommended? – Personally, for someone of my age group (18-25), I wouldn’t recommend this hostel in particular. It felt more like a hostel better suited to a family, with the feel that it had. This was even shown by the activities on offer, as they were usually ran by the downtown hostel. If I were to recommend a hostel by this company, it would the downtown version as those who attended the tours from a young adult demographic were from there. However, if you’re in that demographic and would like a relaxed and toned down hostel experience, then this place is for you for sure.
Groveland
Tucked away in the hills of California, this small town of just over 600 is a quaint little pitstop as you pass through or a place for you to set up base camp before you attack Yosemite national park after a long drive into the area. One of the particular highlights of this place and gives it its main character and soul is the Iron Door Salon, which is a true rustic affair with plenty of traditions, original decorations and architecture, all accompanied by good food, good beverages and very friendly staff. If you time it right, you’ll catch some of the live music or karaoke. Though to warn you, the locals take their karaoke very seriously!
Recommended? – I would recommend Groveland on two accounts. The first one? As a retreat and base camp for Yosemite, if you were un able to get a campsite slot in national park or didn’t bring with you the equipment to go camping. Not only does it offer you a decent hostel, there are few hotels for you to stay in if you want to go upmarket. The second one? Just as a place to visit if you’re passing by and have a much needed pitstop.
With very friendly locals, both in the places to eat and the shops, the town still does what it was originally used for as a stop off, though for miners in the 1800s.
Yosemite International Hostel
This was our hostel of choice for our base camp before we headed to Yosemite, Yosemite International Hostel. We had a very limited amount of time at the hostel, with it being a hostel playing host to the basics thus this review is not going to be as detailed as the previous hostel reviews that I have and will cover the need to know stuff.
Location – Based in the town of Groveland, it gives you a good jumping off point into Yosemite national park with it being only 45-90 minutes (depending on traffic) from the centre of the park. As covered in the section above, this is a great little town with plenty of character.
Facilities – The hostel offers the basics when it comes to what you need. It is mainly designed and placed for you to be able to head into Yosemite national park the next day. Providing a decent set of showering facilities, a comfy bed that is welcoming and refreshing and plenty of areas to chill outside and in, giving great views of the surrounding areas. As for kitchen facilities, you have a normal indoor kitchen and outdoor BBQs, should you wish to make the most of the good weather that usually blesses California.
Price – Prices start at $32 for the 8 bed dorm, rising to $34 for the 10 bed dorm. As for the private rooms, the twin bed, three bed and four bed rooms are priced at $85, $115 and $150 respectively.
Recommended? – As a place to stay, it provides the basic amenities required from a hostel thus it is only really a roof over your head in a good location to go hiking the next day. On this basis I would recommend it as it provides what you need in that sense.
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite is beautiful. Simple as that. This place has a wide variety of hikes and rock climbs available for people of all abilities to allow you to explore the national park, providing you with some picturesque views of the surrounding area. It’s a great way for you to get away from the city and get some fresh air in the countryside, whilst getting some good exercise and endorphins in.
Price – Entrance fees are priced at $35 for a vehicle, $30 for a motorcycle and $70 for a year pass.
Recommended? – 100%. No questions asked. It’s a must!
Other Recommendations
This section of the blog will cover some of the things that with hindsight, I wish I would have done whilst in the city either through better prior planning or putting more effort into the trip.
Alcatraz Prison Tour – One of the biggest highlights and known landmarks in San Francisco, the island prison is famous for both its location and the goings on there, including well documented escapes. It was something that I was really hoping to see however, I didn’t realise that the tickets sell out 2-3 months before so when it came to trying to book tickets a few weeks beforehand, there was no chance!
Travel Tip: Make sure you look up things that you want to do in a city before you head there. Yes, being spontaneous is always great but when it comes to the big highlights, the tickets can sell out well in advance and can mean that you miss out.
Cycling/Walking/Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge – With such an iconic bridge at your disposal and providing potentially great views of the city skyline, what better thing to do than doing what bridges are designed for; crossing it. Then on the other side are the two areas that I’ll cover in the next point.
Marin Headlands/Golden Gate National Recreational Area – On the other side of the Golden Gate bridge from the main San Francisco city area, there’s a large area of countryside that provides plenty of view points of the bridge and the city, whilst also allowing you to tackle some scenic hikes and possibly a beach visit too.
To the West – Out to the west of the city, there’s the Golden Gate park hosting picnic areas, the botanical gardens and a couple of lakes to go and take in. Alongside this, there’s an array of beaches that to go and enjoy along with a selection of cliffs and lookout points, perfect for a day at the beach or somewhere to sit and take in the sunset at the end of the day.
