In 2019, Mihir visited San Francisco on a professional assignment and spent over two months in the Bay Area. During that time, he explored many places, but interestingly, he never visited the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. I still remember one of our conversations when he told me, “We’ll go there together someday, as a family.”
Fast forward to 2025—we got the opportunity to visit the USA multiple times, and that’s when we decided to explore some of its most famous cities. San Francisco was naturally high on our list. We finally visited the city in October and spent almost a week soaking in its charm.
This time, detailed planning wasn’t really required since Mihir was already familiar with many parts of the city. Through this blog series, I’ll share where we stayed, the places we visited, how we commuted, what we ate, and a few popular attractions we didn’t get to explore.
Where We Stayed in San Francisco
Most tourists in San Francisco prefer staying around Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square, or North Beach. After researching hotel prices, proximity to major attractions, transportation options, and overall safety, we decided to stay at Fisherman’s Wharf. We booked a Marriott Vacation Club property for six nights, which turned out to be a convenient and comfortable choice.
Here is the detailed review of our stay at Marriott Vacation Club, San Francisco:
Our San Francisco To-Do List
We prepared a list of places and experiences in advance and explored them at a relaxed pace, choosing what interested us the most.
Fisherman’s Wharf & Pier 39
- Pier 39
- SkyStar Wheel at Fisherman’s Wharf
- Boudin Bakery
- Aquarium of the Bay
- Ghirardelli Square
Golden Gate Bridge
- Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge
- Golden Gate Welcome Center & nearby vista points
- Golden Gate North Vista Point
Presidio
- Presidio Visitor Center
- Palace of Fine Arts
- Presidio Tunnel Tops
Cable Car Experience
- Cable car ride
- Powell & Hyde Street turntable
- Cable Car Museum (optional)
Union Square
- Nintendo Store
- The Westin St. Francis, Union Square
- Waymo autonomous cab ride
Alamo Square
- Alamo Square Park
- The Painted Ladies
Golden Gate Park
- Hamon Observation Tower
- The de Young Museum
- Japanese Tea Garden
- Blue Heron Boat House
- Dutch windmill
- California Academy of Sciences (optional)
Big Bus Tours
- Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Day Tour
- Big Bus Night Tour
Embarcadero
- Coit Tower
- Ferry Building
- Exploratorium (optional)
Mountain View
- Googleplex
- Google Visitor Experience
Other Places on Our List
- Tiburón / Sausalito
- Evening ferry or Bay cruise
- Ferry building
- Alcatraz
- Muir Woods
- Computer History Museum
- Lombard Street
- Twin Peaks (Christmas Tree Point)
- Napa & Sonoma Valley tour
Stay tuned for upcoming posts where we’ll share more detailed experiences from our trip—what worked well, what we’d tweak next time, and practical tips to help you plan smarter.
If you’re planning a trip to San Francisco—or know someone who is—I hope this guide helps make the journey smoother and more memorable. Share this post with friends or family who are dreaming of the City by the Bay.
If you found it helpful, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss the upcoming posts in this San Francisco travel series.