If one were to visit San Francisco, suggestions on what to do?

I am from British Columbia Canada and I don't travel much. Recently I was invited by one of my best friends family to go with them and drive to San Francisco, we would then stay there for a week, I am pretty excited if I can, and I was wondering if ya'll had any suggestions for whet we could do for a day in the town, we were thinking of busing into town, and just exploring I hear that there is great food there!

Besides Fisherman's Wharf, I would recommend checking out Southtown Arcade. It's a bit of a cramped place but it's an good place to check out. While there is an arcade down by the wharf that has more American style cabinets, Southtown is all Japanese mostly aimed at fighting games. It's the home of the bi-weekend ranking battle tournaments for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver. 2012, The King of Fighters XIII and Capcom vs. SNK 2; one of the major tournament spots in the whole Bay Area. It usually opens in the afternoon and being there in the weekend is your best bet for people to hang around.

Theres a lot of gay things to do there.. not sure if you're into that, but if you are then you won't have any problem finding fun. San Fran is the Gay Capital.

stalk the bomb crew. bring me a lock of vinny's hair.

@ThePhantomnaut said:

Besides Fisherman's Wharf, I would recommend checking out Southtown Arcade. It's a bit of a cramped place but it's an good place to check out. While there is an arcade down by the wharf that has more American style cabinets, Southtown is all Japanese mostly aimed at fighting games. It's the home of the bi-weekend ranking battle tournaments for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver. 2012, The King of Fighters XIII and Capcom vs. SNK 2; one of the major tournament spots in the whole Bay Area. It usually opens in the afternoon and being there in the weekend is your best bet for people to hang around.

Nothing like travelling 1500km to go see video games....I don't have anything better to add though.

Alcatraz? Fuck that shit you can play SSFIV at an arcade.

Go into a coma and hurl cars and lightning at your nemesis who is also in a coma.
 
edit: I mean LSD

Egg the GB office then send them a pizza. The pizza must only have pineapple on it though as a topping.

If it is a nice sunny day (big if, prolly be foggy and windy, but maybe not) walk across the Golden Gate bridge. It is the best way to walk off the great food you find in town :) It is not a very long walk either. You can walk from San Fran across to Marin and back again in a couple of hours or less. Great view of the bay and the city, and the bridge itself is pretty cool.

Coit tower, Fisherman's wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Ghirardelli, Cable car ride, Chinatown ...

@big_jon: Not sure if you're of age, but there's an amazing bar on Geary St between 2nd and 3rd Ave. If there's a dude with a Scott Ian beard behind the bar, stick to beer and shots, the guy thinks the "rum" in "rum and coke" is a suggestion, but the bar itself is great. It's got a few pinball machines, skeeball, TVs playing weird kung-fu, sci-fi and horror movies. Edit: the bar is called "Buckshot" and they also have, I shit you not, chicken-fried bacon. It must be experienced at least once.

Golden Gate Park if you're into nature (and possibly art museums).

Clement St. has some of the best Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food you're ever likely to have.

@Dexter_Morgan_ said:

Theres a lot of gay things to do there.. not sure if you're into that, but if you are then you won't have any problem finding fun. San Fran is the Gay Capital.

Actually Minneapolis is, we're only the 11th gayest. But yeah, if you're into that sort of thing (or even just want to wander around an entire neighborhood where Jon Waters-style kitsch is king), the Castro is great.

Spend some time walking around golden gate park, then finish that day off by hanging around 9th and Irving area (there are alot of great places to eat and drink if you are into that sorta thing). From 9th and Irving area you can take the N Judah back downtown if you stay there. If you take the N Judah towards the beach side there is a sorta cool cafe there called Java Beach where you can get a pint or a coffee (its a little hippyish but its still cool). I see you are from BC so you should know the drill even if it is 70 degrees out during the day it will be 50 at night so bring a sweatshirt.

As with any city big city i would recomend just to spend the time walking around and exploring there are alot of cool little neighborhoods. Take public transportation because parking is a bitch in the city. Hope you have a good time, I love this city.

One does not simply walk into San Francisco... the liberal hordes are far to numerous.

@Undeadpool said:

@big_jon: Not sure if you're of age, but there's an amazing bar on Geary St between 2nd and 3rd Ave. If there's a dude with a Scott Ian beard behind the bar, stick to beer and shots, the guy thinks the "rum" in "rum and coke" is a suggestion, but the bar itself is great. It's got a few pinball machines, skeeball, TVs playing weird kung-fu, sci-fi and horror movies. Edit: the bar is called "Buckshot" and they also have, I shit you not, chicken-fried bacon. It must be experienced at least once.

Golden Gate Park if you're into nature (and possibly art museums).

Clement St. has some of the best Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food you're ever likely to have.

@Dexter_Morgan_ said:

Theres a lot of gay things to do there.. not sure if you're into that, but if you are then you won't have any problem finding fun. San Fran is the Gay Capital.

Actually Minneapolis is, we're only the 11th gayest. But yeah, if you're into that sort of thing (or even just want to wander around an entire neighborhood where Jon Waters-style kitsch is king), the Castro is great.

I visited San Fran one time and I left questioning my sexuality.

Kidding... kind of.

I went there for GDC, and like your planning I had the most fun just exploring and checking out the shops, restaurants, and stuff. There was a ton of cool stuff around fisherman's wharf. My buddies went to a strip club but I was still 20 in march so I couldn't go. Apparently there was a ton of asian strippers if you're into that sort of thing... The one touristy place we went was Alcatraz which was fucking awesome, you get to ride on a boat to the island and the whole building is just way cooler than I expected it to be. Our hotel had a ton of different sites to see in a little pamphlet so if you're feeling bored try checking out some of the things in there.

PM or tweet the guys and ask if you could stop by for half an hour. Couldn't hurt.

Drive!

Don't Drive! :)

God, I still have nightmares about 1-way streets, construction, and finding parking. Of course, if you BART the trip, you're looking at something like walking around NYC with every other street being on a 45degree incline.

Anyways for a first-timer to SF, Fishermans Wharf for lunch at least. Not "OMG, blow your socks off!!" kinda food or anything, but part of the experience.

Don't go to Fishermans Wharf!! Go to the Mission and get some good food or hang out in a few of the many parks.

Gotta check out the Golden Gate Bridge I would imagine.

Golden Gate Park is nice. There are great art and science museums next to each other, a nice arboretum for walking around, and great food just north and south of that section. There's lots of great Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food in that area. I recommend Spices II (Spices 1 is fine, but I prefer 2), Marnee Thai, and San Tung as places to try. There's also Arizmendi Bakery which is one of my favorite places anywhere.

Get burritos in the mission. Depending on your tolerance for sketchy nightlife, you may want to do lunch and not dinner. I never had a problem, but for those who aren't used to it, the night atmosphere can be a bit uncomfortable. I'd take my college friends at night, but not my parents. That kind of place. El Farolito is high on the sketch factor, Taqueria Cancun in the middle (this place is very spicy if that matters), and Pancho Villa on the low end. All three are very good.

Ike's Place has amazing sandwiches, but the line can be ridiculous at popular times. I recommend going at an off time so you don't spend an hour of your vacation standing around. Choose dutch crunch as your bread.

Dolores Park is popular, especially on weekends. Very close is a great bakery called Tartine and really good ice cream at Bi-Rite. Depending on the weather I suggest stopping at one and eating in the park. It's great for people watching and soaking in the variety that SF has to offer.

I can't recommend Fisherman's Wharf. It's loud, crowded, and often one of the coldest spots in the city. It's full of chain restaurants and tourist traps. If for some reason you do go, stop by the Musee Mechanique for a few minutes. It's interesting as a historical account of coin-op entertainment and where video games sort of came from. It's free and you can play pretty much everything in there, from 100-year-old mechanical machines up through more recent arcade games. If you're one of those people who has heard a lot about In-n-Out Burger and needs to try it, there is one at Fisherman's Wharf.

The Alcatraz tour is actually pretty interesting, but it will take a large chunk of time because it requires taking a boat out. Wear a jacket regardless of the weather in the city.

Just outside the city you've got The Marin Headlands which are scenic and very nice. If you'll be in SF for a week you might want to consider a day trip to Monterey. The aquarium there is really great.

If you like chocolate, SF is a great city for it. Chocolate Covered in Noe Valley and Fog City News in the financial district will set you up with some incredible bars. Ricchiuti is an aamazing chocolatier in the Ferry Building.

I moved away from SF, so some of my info might be a couple of years out of date. I'm happy to answer any specific questions.

I suggest visiting a bathhouse, meat-thing. 

@ThePhantomnaut said:

Besides Fisherman's Wharf, I would recommend checking out Southtown Arcade. It's a bit of a cramped place but it's an good place to check out. While there is an arcade down by the wharf that has more American style cabinets, Southtown is all Japanese mostly aimed at fighting games. It's the home of the bi-weekend ranking battle tournaments for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver. 2012, The King of Fighters XIII and Capcom vs. SNK 2; one of the major tournament spots in the whole Bay Area. It usually opens in the afternoon and being there in the weekend is your best bet for people to hang around.

@Spoonman671: Fixed

@Nexnecis: I will not be, on our days out in town we'll most likely be bussing.

Japantown's pretty cool. Even if you're not really big into that culture, the food there is awesome.

@killacam said:

stalk the bomb crew. bring me a lock of vinny's hair.

I think north beach is relaxing and usually sunny. It's more or less the "little Italy" of SF. And there actually is an arcade with street fighter and MVC2-3 near there at the edge of chinatown. And you HAVE to see a movie at the Castro theater. Its a gorgeous place where the crowds get overly excited about older films like Lost in Translation, the original Battle Royale, and Rocky Horror Picture. If you draw at all, there's a "DR. Sketchy's anti art-school" meetup every two weeks where we draw zombie-slayers, pregnant burlesque, and 60s-styled lady astronauts.

If you need help finding things, I'd be more than happy to recommend more and give you more specific info. I live here in SF, so feel free to PM me.

Get ready to be accosted by homeless people. SF is like The Walking Dead, only with bums instead of zombies.