Anonymous wrote:Go to Land's End and walk around to the Ocean Beach. Beautiful views and a bit away from the well traveled touristy parts although there is still some tourists going there. I used to live in SF.. You can also walk through Presidio and drive from Presidio to Land's End is very dramatic scenery. I used to hike there and go across GG bridge, which is also fun.
There are lots of car break ins in SF parking lots, be very careful. I have a family there and go yearly, it's gotten worse in this respect. I hope that local gov is doing something about these gangs. We saw hopeless tourists get their car broken into when they went for a 5 min sightseeing because they left their backpack in the car, don't do it! Don't leave anything in your car even if you want to take a quick photo. I suggest staying around Union Sq., Embarcadero like others suggested, but have to pay for parking. Hiking around in SF itself is going to give you beautiful views you won't see anywhere else. I suggest Lafayette park and Alamo and other urban hill parks just for the views and Twin Peaks. Berkeley has beautiful views too from campus, GL!
Just visited Big Sur and San Fran. We turned our rental car in after Big Sur and just walked and Ubered in SF. No worries about car break-ins, plus SF is really walkable.
FYI, San Fran isn’t nearly as bad as Fox News makes it. Most of the areas you go will be fine. Just like any big city, use common sense.