Next week I have to go to vegas for a few days. After that im off to san francisco for a little over a week.

So... If there any natives here i'd appreciate a pointer or two in the direction of good places to eat or for live music. Or any other recommendations of things to do off the usual tourist trail...

Peace!

be sure to put a flower in your hair.

HAIGHT STREET!!!!! thats where all the friendly hippies are at. also golden gate park. its at the end of haight street. if you need any new glass there are dozens of head shops on Haight street. China town is awesome too if you like experiencing new cultures. Beware of the homeless though. most of them are really friendly but there are a few scandolous ones. they even have a homless newspaper. If you get a chance head down to oakland/berkley (oaksterdamn). you can just take the "L" under the bay over to oakland for like 2.50 or less. Enjoy brother

I don't know, I just see a bunch of burned out travelers wearing grateful dead patches trying to sell drugs.
SF is a crazy city. I wouldn't trust any of those people down in that area. As soon as night falls it gets extremely sketchy.

That said, whenever I'm in this area, I hit up some sushi places that have good reviews online. It's a hell of a lot cheaper here than other places.
Sera Phi sometimes has some really good psy music and health-conscious food and drinks. I've had good times there.

China town is hilarious. There's dozens and dozens of shops that are all exactly the same. I have no idea how businesses like that even survive.

I always check flower boxes for pan cyans (psychedelic mushrooms) in the spring they are pretty abundant.

The piers have good (and expensive) sea food.

I honestly never know what to do in this crazy ass city, I usually only go there for concerts. First day you're there, get one of those free magazines that tell you what's going on. Maybe you'll find something interesting..

Hello,

I am not a big fan of San Francisco, but familiarity breeds contempt, right? Anyway, there are a number of things that might be of interest. Here's only a few:

There are two world-class bridges to explore - The Bay Bridge & The Golden Gate. At the base of the Golden Gate, you can go to Fort Point and see how San Francisco was preparing to fight World War II with the Japanese right at the coastline.

Golden Gate park is huge and can eat an entire day. Haight/Ashbury is close to one end. The Palace of Fine Arts and the De Young Museums are nearby too.

There are a number of nice museums as mentioned above, including Asian Art Museum and Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

The South of Market (SOMA) area is known for kink. If you are intrigued by kink/fetishism, you will see many intriguing shops and people here. But, similar to the Mission District, it is kind of tough. Oh, and by the way, Market Street is sleazy and very over-rated. Unless you want to talk to an insane religious guy with a sandwich board or score some low quality black tar heroin.

There are various ethnic districts and neighborhoods, complete with friendly tourist areas that have fun shops and great restaurants. Chinese, Japanese and Korean come immediately to mind.

You can take ferry rides over to Alcatraz and Angel Islands. Alcatraz is famous for the prison and Native American occupation and Angel has it's own unique history as being the Pacific hub of immigration for America.

You can take ferry rides across the Bay into Oakland and Berkeley . . . there is an Oaksterdam tour and Berkeley is worth seeing just for Telegraph Avenue alone. Great restaurants too. Wonderful ethnic delights.

There are weird little tours of various districts, such as the Vampire Tour which takes place at sunset. . . .

This is a tiny, abridged list. Perhaps google San Franciso Chamber of Commerce or San Francisco tourism for other ideas. I am sure you will have a great time and have no difficulty filling your days. Be forewarned though, everything is very expensive.

Finally, do not be fooled. So many tourists show up in Spring/Summer in thin shorts and tank tops and wind up freezing their various anatomical extremities off. Be sure to pack for both warm and cold weather when traveling to San Francisco, including at the height of summer.

Hope you have a great time . . .

Peace & Love,
Pandora

thanks guys i'll make some notes. was gonna do the usual haight/bridge/alcatraz thing... will keep my eyes open for those shrooms house!

There's tons of stuff to do in the city and the surrounding area, you've gotten some good ideas already, i'll add a few:

Golden Gate Bridge/Fort Point/Marin Headlands - Underneath the Golden Gate is Fort Point, an old fort guarding the entrance to the Bay. Interesting views, and often you can find surfers here. Walk across the Bridge, or drive across and up the hill on the other side to get spectacular views of the Golden Gate with San Francisco in the background.

Napa/Sonoma Wine country - less than an hour north of San Francisco is the wine country. Drive up and do some tasting, or get with an organized group so that there is more tasting, and less driving!

Monterey/Santa Cruz - Take a couple hours and drive down the Pacific Coast Hwy 1 to the Monterey Peninsula. Amazing views all along the coastline, as well as 17 mile drive in Monterey. One of the best Aquariums in the world is in Monterey, and well worth a visit. Or stop at any one of the numerous beaches you'll pass on the way down.

Yosemite - Might still be a bit too snowy up there, but you can get to Yosemite in about 4 hours. Could easily do a long day trip if you desired. Again well worth it to drive up and see the Valley and walk around if you can.

The 4th & Mission Marriott Hotel Bar - Has a spectacular bar at the top of the hotel, with 360 views of the entire city and area. Drinks are expensive, but well worth it to go around sunset and enjoy the changing landscape, and emergent city lights.

Pier 39/Fishermans Wharf/Alcatraz - Very touristy area, but for good reason, its cool! Lots of shops, restaurants, ferries, bay cruizes. A boat dock taken over by Sea Lions. Alcatraz is well worth seeing.

Music - There are tons of small venues all over the city. Blues/Jazz, you can find pretty much anythign in the city. Pick up a free San Francisco Bay Guardian from the street (Weekly on Wednesday) for listings of all the happenings durning the week in the city.

North Beach - Italian section of town with lots of good restaurants (right next to china town too).

Those are some additional ideas. There really is limitless stuff to do in the city and area, something for every taste! Enjoy your vacation!

I agree. Drive down 1 south!

Cool. The aquarium and and the marriott sound like a good idea.

Read you all soon!

If you are near the Wharf at all... and you want to chill for a bit without paying 20 bucks for parking.

Cruze down to the presidio and look for the captains bowling alley. It is a kick ass little bowling alley you can chill and have a beer. I dont know of many who know about it.

yeah!! my home town! though it has become wayy too ful of vampires and heroin..and wayy wayy wayy too much meth!! yuckyukyuukkkyyy!!
the museums are wonderfull..I think it's called the museum of modern science..lots of interactive stuff there..great aquarium, go walk through the park..it's quite large..visit haight/asbury area if yoy like dirty hippies selling all manner of legal and ellicit goods...lsd, cannabis..necklaces..hemp stuff..clothes..etc... watch your back..as i say that town is just full of vampires now!!
enjoy!
ohh yeah,,get to some of the nice beaches close to town..there are many that are suprisingly short of people considerinfg the size of the city..watch the fog roll in over the bridge/bay..lovely!!