If you are living in Australia or New Zealand looking to visit San Francisco in the USA KEEP READING as this may be useful !
So I had 5 days in San Francisco which is in the state of California of USA.
1. Things you must consider before your trip:
A)
When you are travelling to the US with an Australian or NZ passport you need a "ESTA".
They call it a "visa waiver, but you can think of it like a visa that you can apply online
WHICH YOU MUST PUT THROUGH & PAY AT LEAST 72 HOURS BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT!!!!There are a few criteria that you must meet and can apply through this website:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov
One of them was a electronic passport with at least 6 months till expiry when you land in the US. Mine was about to expire in January so had to renew it . (The next blog entry below explains the whole process in detail)
B)
I travelled from Brisbane so I had to stop over somewhere at least once.
For the cheap flight options that I had, there were two options; Canada or Sydney.
Air Canada was slightly cheaper so I chose to fly via Vancouver.
BUT WAIT!
I did not know this till about 6 hours before the flight as NO ONE TOLD ME.
For you to go to the US via Canada you MUST get a "ETA", which is like a Canadian version of "ESTA".
HOLY MOLY right???
I had only realised that I required something like this as I was trying to check-in to my flight at 1am in the morning (Just hours before my flight). One of the last steps (after seat selection) was putting in an approval number, otherwise it would not let me go through and complete my check-in.
I was freaking out at 1am in the morning trying to figure out what this visa like thing was.
It is CAD$7 each time you want to go through transit! So please take this into consideration when booking tickets.
C)
Packing for San Francisco.
As I was going in the last week of September (28th-3rd October), I was expecting an autumn like weather. I packed 1 t-shirt, 1 leather jacket, 1 jeans and mostly dresses that was to go with my leather jacket.
BOY I WAS WRONG!
The moment I landed in San Francisco airport, a hot air hit me! I was sweating in my jeans and leather jacket by the time I got to my airbnb. I ended up buying my clothes except for my jeans.
For a 5 day trip you will need this as a minimum requirement
(or something with a similar warmth):
5 t-shirts (or really light shirts/singlets)
1-2 coats (be generous! padded jackets are good!)
1-2 cardigans
1-2 Jeans
The day start really really cold...
then hits extremely unbearable hot weather around 12-1PM ...
then gets colder and colder till 6-7PM, hence the cardigan...
then you will need a coat or thick jacket at night.
But then again, even if you are hit with the unexpected there are shops everywhere in the city so bring money!
D)
Exchange your currency before travelling.
Although a small number of banks do conversions for you in the city, the rates are really bad. Especially the privately owned exchange place I went to, the Iranian guy was really rude. He was on his phone for 20 minutes before he attended to me, then was back on the phone whist he was serving me and continued to go about his other business.
E)
Download the Uber app if you haven't already!
Take the tram once; maybe just for the experience, but otherwise definitely travel by Uber if you are in the city. Start at the airport. (Just remember, the pickup is upstairs. I spent 30 minutes at door 4 waiting for my Uber, only to find out I was at the wrong "door 4")
You get charged if you are not there at the pickup point so ask around make sure you are at the right place before you go and use the airport free wifi to order your Uber.
San Francisco City is extremely "hilly" I went up the hills twice before I gave up.
F)
Get a prepaid sim to be delivered to your accommodation before you get there. That way you don't have to go around the city to find a mobile provider like "T-mobile"
I bought a prepaid 4GB plan for $45 (including sim card)
G)
Where to get accommodation in the city.
Try to stay as close to the middle of Market street and if you are going towards china town stay on the right side of it. THERE ARE A LOT OF HILLS!!!
But then again, you can always take Uber.
Just stay away from tram lines as it is extremely noisy till late night.
2. How I spent my 5 days in San Francisco:
A) One day in the City (you don't need more than one day)
- Fisherman's Warf: go early morning and get the peeled fresh Lobster in a cup.
- China town: Dumplings are a bit over-rated but they are humungous.
(1 of each (3 types) was enough to fill me up)
- Dungeness crab: must try this but go to a place that does more than just boil it!
(I ordered half a salt and pepper crab as I was travelling alone. Goes well with a glass of white wine)
- Bars at night: they close quite early and a lot of them have specific dress code.
(Don't wear sneakers or thongs.)
B) The University of San Francisco University
- They do tours 11am and 3pm.
- If you are looking at sending your kids here, well worth it!
C) Santana Row in the suburb of "San Jose"
- Shopping & dining complex: We actually went here by fluke!
- Nice Pizza place! Order their soupy clam dish with extra bread that it comes with!!!!
- Actually went there to see Hastens bed shop (SOOOO expensive)
They have a nice dessert place that everyone seems to be going after dinner. It was okay.
D) San Francisco Premium Outlet stores
-Adresses: 2774 Livermore Outlets Dr, Livermore, CA 94551, USA
-Here are the list of stores in their website
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/san-francisco/stores
-Had a snack at Chipotle
(which was like Guzman Y Gomez like we have in Brisbane but they had more variety)
E) In-N-Out Burger
-I think this was highly over-rated!!!
-The meat was so thin I was doubting if they forgot it for a sec.
-The A&W burger I had at Canada airport for a similar price was WAY BETTER .
-The best part was watching the staff member cut the potatoes with the cutting machine.
SHE WAS LIKE A BOSS!
F) Walk on Baker beach and take photos of yourself with the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE.
-It was quite windy.
-People sit and tan there
-There are lots of stuff in the sand so watch your feet!
-You probably need to Uber there or go by hire car
"through Lincoln Blvd" and into "Battery Chamberlin Rd"
Thank you everyone for reading!
Hope this has helped you in some way.
Please feel free to ask questions.
