Is a car necessary in San Francisco? - United States Forums

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Author	Message
FantasyFootball Members 1107 posts Location: Lithuania Occupation: Camp Counselor Age:	#552644 2008-05-20 15:59 GMT
	I'm going to be visiting San Francisco for a week. I'm going to be staying in the Financial District and want to hit all the tourist spots. Is a rental car necessary or public transportation easy and better?


WorldWideWonder Members 1219 posts Location: Antarctica Occupation: Floor manager Age:	#552645 2008-05-20 16:03 GMT
	No

TotallyChilled Members 1119 posts Location: Scotland Occupation: Ethologist Age:	#552646 2008-05-20 16:11 GMT
	A car would be a hassle in SF, as parking is difficult. The main areas a tourist would want to visit are easily accessible by BART [see their website]. Have fun!

Borat Members 1179 posts Location: Malaysia Occupation: Needler Age:	#552647 2008-05-20 16:16 GMT
	I agree a car would be more of a hassle. I've visited several times and not rented a car. The public transportation is great, plus you can walk to many destinations. Have fun!

ToxicSkull Members 1129 posts Location: British Indian Ocean Territory Occupation: Fence Age:	#552648 2008-05-20 16:26 GMT
	You can get around pretty good using public trans. and you get to see the City better I think.

RacoonClingon Members 1143 posts Location: Liberia Occupation: Wrangler Age:	#552649 2008-05-20 16:36 GMT
	depends what you mean by tourist spots. for a week stay, you probably want to get out of town a bit. go up to wine country, or the beach in marin county. for those, a car would help, especially for wine country. if you are really just staying in the city, the financial district is downtown and gives you easy access to public transportation and taxis, which is easy and better for getting around the city. and it's hard to park down there. so if you're staying in the city, you don't need one, you can get everywhere in the city. but if you plan to get out of the city, a car would help a lot. maybe to rent one for part of the visit?

Sweetlips Members 1174 posts Location: Senegal Occupation: Molecatcher Age:	#552650 2008-05-20 16:47 GMT
	Hmmm. Well, the problems with driving in SF are: It is tricky, you need to know the streets as there are one way streets and a funky layout to boot. No parking Expensive parking (metered) Traffic ** But if you feel comfortable with the above you can cover more ground driving. If you plan to drive and have a GPS, bring it!

BlastTheHeadphones Members 1154 posts Location: Bahrain Occupation: Carpenter Age:	#552651 2008-05-20 17:26 GMT
	If you're going to stay in the city there's no reason for you to get a rental car, parking is impossible and the garages are like crazy expensive. If you want to go elsewhere besides the city then I'd suggest maybe planning that at the beginning of your trip so you don't have to rush and return a car to the rental agency before your plane leaves or whatnot.

ChickenLicken Members 1140 posts Location: Barbados Occupation: System administrator Age:	#552652 2008-05-20 18:04 GMT
	A car is great to get out of the city. If you want to tour the wine country, you may want a car. (But if you want to do more tasting than touring, a bus tour or limo is available.) Muir Woods and the Marin headlands is a beautiful place too. Otherwise, the public transportation is great.

FallingMoon Members 1130 posts Location: Netherlands Occupation: Reporter Age:	#552653 2008-05-20 21:21 GMT
	i strongly advise you NOT to take your car finding a parking space in SF is like trying to get to the end of a hamster wheel public transportation can take you everywhere you want to go

RedBlocker Members 1202 posts Location: Cambodia Occupation: Fire officer Age:	#552654 2008-05-21 03:37 GMT
	San Francisco has "European" style streets. And I don't mean that in a positive way. The streets are quite narrow. There are few parking spaces available outside of the expensive garages. Pedestrians and bikers are numerous. Many of the streets are one-way. Some of the streets have strange 5-6 way intersections. Some of the streets change names without telling you (the two most infamous being Park Presidio Boulevard => Crossover Drive => 19th Avenue and Jefferson Street => The Embarcadero => King Street). If you plan to explore the countryside around San Francisco, however, you'll need a rental car. There are bus tours to the major destinations (Muir Woods, Wine Country, Yosemite, Monterey). But they always seem rushed and unsatisfying without your own wheels. For example, the limited amount of free time they give you at Muir Woods pretty much precludes the possibility of any serious hiking.