San Francisco, CA

San Francisco – possibly the hilliest place I’ve ever experienced in my life. I had the pleasure of spending three full days there at the beginning of my Californian travels. Here’s what we got up to…

We arrived in San Francisco at around 8pm on May 31st, flying with Virgin America for a fairly decent price. At the airport, we picked up our car (Hertz didn’t charge for being under 25, so we decided to go with them) – a little compact car which was perfect for the two of us and our cases – before finding our way to Surf Motel (located on Lombard St).

Our first full day was spent doing a lot of walking. We drove over to the Twin Peaks (although on the way, I nearly had a Princess Mia in the ‘Stang moment with some of those hills. We resolved to walk everywhere after that..). This loop of hike was stunning, especially after the cloud cleared, offering basically 360 degree views of the city. The thick cloud didn’t clear until around 11am, but when it cleared, it really was spectacular. We spent around 3 hours here. After returning to the motel and changing, we decided to go down to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 to see what it had to offer. If you visit the city, be sure to head to Pier 39 and visit the sealions – this was one of my favorite activities; my friend and I spent hours watching them! We ate ice-cream and dined in one of the restaurants on the pier.

The view from the Twin Peaks after the fog clearer

Ice cream by Fisherman’s Wharf

Sealions at Pier 39

Our second day was spent on bikes, as we decided to head up to the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito. Our bike hire was approximately $25 for the day, so really quite cheap. We packed up our backpacks and hit the road. Cycling along the Golden Gate Bridge really was the way to do it – we could go quite leisurely and take in the views without having to walk for the 2.4 miles or so. Heading down to Sausalito, we were able to see even more of the city from a different angle, and we hung out by the waterfront for a few hours before heading back to San Francisco. That evening we ate probably the most calorific meal of our lives at Mel’s Diner (again on Lombard Street), but we’d cycled everywhere that day, so it was totally fine, right..?

Our final day was spent chilling in the Golden Gate Park – a huge and luscious space of green in the north of the city (according to my map..). We managed to get the bus there and back for a relatively cheap fee (I think it was $2.50 each way) and we basically mooched around for a while, taking photos of whatever sparked our interest. After a quick lunch at a cafe by the boating lake, we decided to have a little lounge in the sun (read my post on sun-care here) before heading back and looking at Lombard Street (the crazy windy bit!). That evening we headed back down to Pier 39 for a final look at our beloved sealions, before heading back to the motel to pack up our stuff.

Have you been to San Francisco – what did you do? Would you like to go? Let me know below!