After years of hearing about people who moved from NYC to SF, I knew it had to be something special. Add in the fact that my boyfriend had always wanted to visit and you’ve got the perfect Christmas present - a long weekend in Fog City.

I had driven through San Francisco twice before, both so brief and long ago that I barely remember any of it, so I went about planning this trip like I would any other new city - Googling, asking friends, and doing some Instagram stalking. I ended up with a pretty packed itinerary for a 3 day weekend.

We stayed at Hotel Zoe Fisherman’s Wharf, cause ya know we’re tourists, which apparently was voted one of the top 15 hotels in San Francisco by Conde Nast? We didn’t realize that until we got there and while the $34 daily resort fee seemed steep for not a lot, the room was beautiful, their outdoor space with fire pits was gorgeous, and it was a great location being just 2 blocks off of Fisherman’s Wharf (though when we go back, chances are we’ll stay more inland). A Lyft ride from SFO was easy enough and after destroying some In-N-Out, we got to sleep early in preparation for 2.5 days of fun.

Saturday
The best part about flying east to west is that you naturally end up waking up early. We were up and at em at around 8am and our first stop was breakfast at Boudin Bakery* - the big ol’ flagship one on the Wharf, obviously. We ate our weight in sourdough bread bowls full of clam chowder and sourdough french toast. After a quick digesting walk around the Wharf, we strolled our way up way too many hills to Lombard Street, aka “the Crookedest Street in the World.” Tbh, it looks a little bigger and cooler in pictures? Though watching cars carefully try and navigate the turns was funny to see.

* Check out the end of this post for a list of all the eats and coffee with links!

We ping-ponged back down to the water and hit up the Buena Vista Cafe to get a famous Irish coffee in the first place it was made in America. That coffee was strong as hell so look out for that! We then walked along the coastline to East Beach to get a nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge before hitting the Palace of Fine Arts, which was stunning. It felt like we left the states and had stumbled upon an old park in Europe.

From there, we grabbed a Lyft up to the Painted Ladies to get that Full House shot, then Tartine Bakery for some BOMB baked goods, then Mission Dolores Park (where all the cool kids hang out in the summer but apparently do not in the winter), and finally the Castro district. Any space that’s dedicated to queer people and is very loudly queer is always amazing to see, and the Castro has so much LGBTQ+ history that it was peak queer.

THEN the journey continued! We Lyft’d again to the Ferry Building, which is essentially a long farmer’s markers full of yummy eats and goods (think Chelsea Market or Pike Place Market), then walked up to the famous SF Chinatown - the biggest Chinatown in the US - for some dim sum to go. We tried to hit up the Fortune Cookie Factory here but the line was crazy and we aren’t always the most patient people.

We ended up walking over to Union Square, then up through the Polk Gulch neighborhood before stumbling upon Mac’d for dinner - Korean-braised short ribs and pulled pork over mac and cheese? Oh hell yes. We ended the night with a stroll around the famous Pier 39 and saw tons of sea lions chillin’ out on the barges - turns out they sound just like the Demogorgons in Stranger Things.

36,000 steps later… we were POOPED.

Sunday
Considering we hit essentially allllll the major sites on Saturday, we slowed down the next day. We had tickets to the world’s most famous prison aka Alcatraz in the morning (you can purchase your tickets there ahead of time and then take any ferry back) so we stopped by another cute coffee shop before taking the ferry over. The guided audio tour of Alcatraz was amazing - they have people who used to work at or were prisoners at Alcatraz talking about their time. It was informative but in a way that actually made you wanna listen.

After a few hours there, we hit up Yank Sing for a dim sum lunch (delicious, but a lil fancier than we’re used to), then headed over to the Golden Gate State Park which is essentially the Central Park of SF but not actually “central” at all. Be sure to check out the bison field and old Dutch windmill. And pro-tip, there’s a free shuttle bus on the weekend that just drives around the park which, trust me, you’ll love after miles of walking.

After putting thousands of more steps in, we took it easy the rest of the night… by eating two dinners. The first at Ghiradelli Square - beautiful views and surprisingly good nachos at Pico Latin Street Food - and the second at this WILD Korean place called Surisan. Listen, I might have had a few glasses of wine before going, but the ambiance, service, presentation, and the food were all incredible. The food came out super quick, looked amazing, and everything was v delicious. Def check it out.

Monday
We flew out mid-day Monday so we didn’t have a ton of time in the morning, but staying in Fisherman’s Wharf meant we were able to get up early and check out the Wharf before it was crawling with people. We walked down Jefferson St to check out all the cute shops then hit up the iconic Musée Mécanique - one of the largest collections of antique arcade games. It’s free to enter and then you can play arcade games like it’s 1950!

After a few rounds of games, it was almost time to hit the airport. We figured a good on-the-way lunch that we hadn’t tried yet was a burrito in the Mission District. We headed to El Farolito and holy crap - easily one of the best burritos I’ve ever had. No frills, pretty cheap, and mouthwateringly good. Plus, it’s open til 2:30am which also makes it the perfect after-drinking food.

PHEW. In a whirlwind 60-ish hours, we were truly able to say that we experienced San Francisco. Big shoutout to everyone who gave us so many awesome recommendations!

There is still a ridiculous amount to see and do and eat, so I’m sure we’ll be back - we never even hopped on a cable car! But if it’s your first time too then hopefully, this helps you plan your weekend. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes :)

Eats

• Boudin Bakery - sourdough bread anything (the clam chowder bread bowl was our fav)

• Tartine Bakery - get any baked good

• Yank Sing - delish if you’re looking for a nicer dim sum meal

• Surisan - awesome Korean food

• El Farolito - stop for your “burrito in the Mission” meal

Coffee

• Buena Vista Cafe - pit stop for an Irish coffee

• Verve Coffee Roasters - super cute, amazing coffee

• Beacon Coffee - beautiful space, beautiful coffee

• Rise & Grind - cute, artsy coffee shop with fun coffee options