San Francisco

San Francisco, California is a small city, for the United States, but there's a large and active CouchSurfing community

Getting Oriented

 * 1) Understand the neighborhoods with this excellent locals guide - or even use the MUNI maps!
 * 2) Take a trip up to Twin Peaks to really get a good perspective of the city.
 * 3) Buena Vista Park on Haight and Strawberry Hill, just up Clayton, gives you some amazing easy to walk to views.
 * 4) Treasure Island  and right across the Golden Gate Bridge are the spots to get a nice view of the skyline!

Tips

 * SF is full of great couchsurfers! This is the best town to CS in.
 * If you are on a budget and wanna drink. Check out Trax Bar at Haight and Ashbury on Saturday Night...Queer/ Mixed Bar with $1 dollar mixed Drinks from 9-10pm $2 dollar from 10-11 and so on.... And at 10 o clock People's cafe 2 doors down Puts out a bag of bagel and sweets on the street for the taking... Enjoy!
 * Yelp is the quickest way to find reviews and restaurants all over the city, and all over USA for that matter. Check out the Events and Talk sections for local events / parties that people are stirring up.
 * For cheap thrills, the parks are spectacular. A walk from one end of the Golden Gate Park to the Ocean is a must. Take a bottle of wine and a friend to Buena Vista Park, the Presidio, Mission Dolores, or Twin Peaks at night. It is a great city to walk around. You can actually run from one the bay to the ocean in about an hour.

Guides

 * Guide to Visiting or Moving to San Francisco
 * HeyLetsGo San Francisco - to meet people and find things to do.
 * San Francisco Virtual Tour - 360 panoramas of sights and attractions linked to map with local information.

Trivia

 * Which neighborhood of San Francisco lies on top of a landfill?
 * What is the common marathon has thousands of runners competing in their birthday suits?

Getting Around
The bus/streetcar line is the MUNI (SF Municipal Railway). It is $1.50 (as of January 2007). It goes all over the city, but it closes at 12, except for a few select routes (known as Owl). When you get on the bus and pay your fare, make sure to grab your transfer ticket from the driver! They're good for two hours on buses and streetcars (lines F, J, K, L, M, N, T - not to be confused with cable cars!).

The subway connecting SF to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Berkeley, Oakland, and greater East Bay is BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). Costs $3-4 from SF to the East Bay one-way, and ~$9 to the airport. For Oakland Airport, catch a shuttle bus from the Oakland Coliseum station for an additional $2.00.

If you plan on staying in SF for a full month, you might want to look into getting a monthly pass. It is $45 and includes all SF MUNI lines and BART rides within SF (between Balboa Park Stn. and Embarcadero Stn.)

San Francisco is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the US, with bike lanes on many major streets. The hills can be challenging, but it's often possible to circumvent them: free bike maps and walking guides are available. 

Useful phone numbers
311 San Francisco City help desk. They can tell you when the next bus is coming or how to get somewhere. 511 Bay Area Traffic and Transportation information, it is an automated system but during the weekday you can also speak to a real person. 415.455.2000 Golden Gate Transit (real person) They run ground transportation. 415.773.1188 Blue and Gold Fleet (automated system) Cheap ferries across the Bay to Sausalito, Tiburon, Oakland and a few other places.

If you're stuck: Green Tortise Hostel is very friendly 1.800.867.8647 trash:San Francisco share:San Francisco hitch:San Francisco nomad:San Francisco