Non Touristy Things To Do In San Francisco
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities I have ever visited- and definitely top of my favorite American cities so far. It has an eccentric, colorful character that makes you feel like you can be the biggest fullest version of yourself, while also being very efficient and easy to navigate. I recently spent a weekend in San Francisco and wanted to share how I planned the trip, my favorite things that I did, and how I enjoyed the city on a budget.
As I currently live on the east coast of the US, I had to take a flight to get to San Francisco (It’s about 6 hours from New York to SF). I knew I wanted to make the trip in February, and so I started looking for flights then. My favorite place to search for flights is Momondo. I have used Kayak, Skyscanner, Expedia- pretty much every flight search site- and Momondo has consistently given me the best prices especially for domestic flights within the US. Depending on how flexible your dates are, you can adjust your search to suit your budget, and Momondo also shows you when the cheapest days to fly are within each month. Luckily, I was going over to visit a friend so the plan was to stay with them and I didn’t have to spend any money on accommodation. Ground transportation wise, public transport in SF is pretty easy to navigate. You can get a Clipper card at the ticket vending machines in the airport train terminal and load as much money as you would need on it. The local trains are called Bart, which I thought was a cute thing, and the clipper cards also work for buses. You can download Moovit, or use the google maps app to find out the best routes to get to your destinations.
The first thing I did in SF was a little bit of a walking tour of the Mission district. I was really struck by how beautiful the Victorian buildings were, how colorful and well preserved, and how integrated with nature so much of the city is. SF is very hilly, and you can just lift your eyes to the most beautiful view of the hills as you are causally walking to a grocery store- there’s a gorgeous view at every turn. There’s also a big mural culture in SF, and I enjoyed learning about the significance of some of them through my friend. I recommend just taking a walk through the mission district, I’m sure they have walking tours you can sign up for as well, it’s beautiful and has a lot of history. My first night, we went to dinner at a Pho place called Mau. I got the vegetarian pho and it was SO GOOD. The menu is also super affordable, it has great ambience, and there servers are super nice. Nightlife in the Mission district- you can find anything here- yes, even afrobeats clubs. (Most places do have a cash cover so be prepared for that) We ended our night in a cute bar called the Beehive, where the bartenders gave us free drinks (this trip was so lit lmao).
We took the bus (called Muni) to go see the Golden Gate Bridge- the iconic feature of San Francisco- and again I was stunned by the beauty of it. The view from the bridge is absolutely breathtaking. If you love nature but also like cities, I think SF is such a great combination of both those things. We walked down the bridge, you could also take the ferry out to see Alcatraz although you do have to book that in advance, and then we made our way to see other areas of SF.
I spent a day out of San Francisco and in Sacramento for the Sol Blume music festival. I didn’t want to put the information about Sol Blume in this post as I think there’s enough for its own so I will be posting that soon. We got back from Sol Blume and crashed so I had pretty much just the one day left to do touristy things in San Francisco proper.
We next went down to Fisherman’s Wharf which is another really beautiful area by the water. You can see seals lying on the beach here, or catch one of the infamous cable cars. We walked around for a bit, and my friend took me to In n Out because it’s a very California thing you just have to do. From Fisherman’s Wharf, we went down to the downtown area, which wasn’t my favorite part of the city. It’s such a sharp contrast from how much character areas like the Mission district have to be in a place that almost feels as dinge as New York (I like New York, don’t get me wrong but I had gotten used to sun and color and gorgeous views). We walked around a bit, saw some monuments, and then headed back to my friend’s place.
I really enjoyed my time in San Francisco and definitely want to go again. I had such a good time going out dancing and then chilling at the beehive; a great time just hiking around the city- we had many dance breaks as we waited for trains and buses- and I just loved being around nature as it’s something you don’t really get in the east coast. The view of San Francisco at night from Bruno Hill is stamped in my memory and it just reminds me of how beautiful the world is and can be. Before this becomes an emotional post about beauty, I hope this post helps you if you are trying to decide where to take a city break, or how to plan a quick trip to San Francisco. It’s beautiful and you definitely will not regret going.
