I recently returned from my second trip to San Francisco! The first time I visited was 15 years ago, therefore this trip consisted of touristy adventures different from what I would recommend to a first timer. I will add in what I think a first trip to San Francisco should look like, but keep in mind, it’s a big city and so many fun things to see and do! Here is how I spent five nights in San Francisco.

Day One

Since I was traveling from the East Coast, day one consisted mostly of travel. I flew from JFK to SFO, an over six hour flight that day, and basically checked into the hotel, grabbed dinner in the lobby and went to sleep. I attempted to keep myself on an East Coast schedule, didn’t quite pan out overall lol.

My husband was attending an oncology conference, therefore we wanted a hotel close to the conference center and chose the Hyatt Regency Downtown SOMA hotel. I loved it! We had a king corner room with amazing views.

Day Two

Being this was going to be the only day of no rain, I decided to get in as much walking as I could. I wanted to see the Transamerica building and the small redwood tree park next to it. Walking through the financial district during morning rush hour was cool! Brought me back to my Boston days when I would head to work downtown. I got to the building and much to my dismay there was construction everywhere and I couldn’t go to the park! I wanted to cry. This was the only pic I was able to get.

I walked around more and then decided to go get some groceries for the room and headed to Trader Joe’s. I grabbed a light lunch there too. Simple morning.

There were several items I planned ahead of time for my trip, San Francisco MOMA tickets were one of them. I wanted to see the Infinite Love exhibit and bought those tickets a couple of weeks before my trip. The museum opened at 1 pm and I was there as soon as the doors opened. It was a weekday and not crowded at all. I used my phone (bring your own earbuds!) to listen to the audio tour and saw the entire museum within three hours. A great half day activity.

I was able to enjoy dinner at Fang with my husband and a group of his coworkers and slept soundly that night ;)

Day Three

The morning ended up not raining (yay!) so I decided to hop on the cable cars and take a ride around the city and do more sight seeing. In my opinion, riding an old time cable car is a must do in San Francisco! I’ll ride them every single time I visit. My hotel was a quick walk to the Powell and Market cable car turnaround and I was able to get right on a cable car. Make sure to download a city clipper card to your Apple wallet and have some money on it (it’s $8 each way), made it super easy to hop right on. I rode the car to the end, near Fisherman’s Wharf.

I rode the Powell/Mason line out and then came back the Powell/Hyde line. The Hyde line was the better one! There is a stop right at the top of Lombard Street. Also a must see for first timers. I walked the street on my first trip to San Francisco so on this trip I just admired it from the top while riding the cable car.

Before riding the cable car back I walked around Hyde St area and checked out Umbrella Alley. Honestly it wasn’t so great! I was underwhelmed with the small alley. The artistry was great, I’m glad I saw it, but it seemed like a tourist trap and can be skipped in my opinion. I didn’t stay long and hopped on the cable car at the Beach and Hyde turnaround. I exited the cable car at Union Square, mostly because I really wanted to see some palm trees and I knew there were some there. The rain started at that point so I went back to my room for a quick lunch.

Another reservation I made ahead of time was for high tea at the Neiman Marcus Rotunda. I made my way there for a 3:00 reservation for just myself and it was one of the highlights of my trip!

I went to bed early that evening, with a full tummy and a happy heart.

Day Four

My husband and I went out for breakfast on day four, to Mel’s Drive-In on Mission St. It was delicious and they had great coffee. The rain was coming down that morning so I hung out in the hotel room for a bit and got some reading done. My husband was able to meet me and we hopped on the subway to the Ferry Building. It was Saturday morning and the farmer’s market was in full swing despite the rain. We walked around the inside of the building, getting some souvenirs and having lunch. We had Mexican at Cholita Linda and it was excellent.

We had a very nice dinner reservation at Akikos that evening. Unfortunately I had to cut it short because my stomach was upset. Dose of reality here, I usually end up with tummy problems while traveling and I deal with it and move on. I was sad to have to cut my amazing dinner short and will look forward to returning there again one day.

Day Five

Feeling much better and despite the rain, day five was a day of fun! We had reserved a rental car for our last full day in San Francisco, woke up bright and early to get it as soon as Hertz opened and headed north. I’ve never been on the Golden Gate Bridge and loved driving over it. In the future I’d love to walk or bike it. We drove a half hour north to Muir Woods to hike and see the redwood trees. I made our parking reservation ahead of time and made sure to bring my America The Beautiful year pass so we didn’t have to pay the per person fee to get in.

I have a lot to share from day five so if you’d like to see more, including videos, check out my reels on Instagram. Whenever I visit the west coast I have to have In-N-Out burger. Have to. Went there for lunch after hiking for an hour and was fully satisfied. :) We drove back over the bridge and went to the Golden Gate overlook at the Presidio. Amazing views!

From there we hiked down to Marshall’s Beach. I had read ahead of time that there were some stairs to get down and let me tell you there were more than just a few stairs! It was a half mile trek down to the beach and I wasn’t ready for that, especially the walk back up. We were determined and did it and it was certainly worth it. Luckily it wasn’t raining at that time.

We drove over to Fort Point after leaving Marshall’s Beach. I love exploring forts and I knew it was a location for a different point of view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The parking is free and entrance to the fort is free, just make sure to check the hours ahead of time.

The construction under the bridge is work to line the length of the bridge with a suicide prevention layer; sadly it is needed. We had great views of Alcatraz Island from the top of the fort. I toured the prison on my first trip to San Francisco and my husband and I agree it is a must do for first time visitors.

Ending our day at Fisherman’s Wharf was the plan and we headed there after the fort. The drive around the Presidio was cool, something I hadn’t seen before. We found on-street parking close to Fisherman’s Wharf and walked around the pier there. Lots of great food and shops for souvenirs. Definitely walk up onto the full pier and get the full experience!

We grabbed salads to go and a large baguette from Boudin Bakery and watched football back at the hotel. The rain came in buckets that night and into the last day, our flight home day. Many people have asked me about the homeless in San Francisco and there certainly were a lot I saw over the course of the trip. Nothing more than what I see when I go into New York City or when I lived in San Diego. Don’t let silly things on the news stop you from exploring places! No one bothered me and I had a great trip :)

What is your favorite thing to do in San Francisco?