Advice on traveling to San Francisco?

I want to travel to san francisco very soon (from new york) for a week vacation. I'd like to know the best hostel to stay at (i don't want to pay for a hotel) and i want to be in a main area. Also what are some good things to do. And I assume there is a good network of public transportation? Also I would like to make a day trip to napa valley one of those days.. what is the best way to get there without a car? Thanks!Advice on traveling to San Francisco?
From SFO.....take BART not a cab. BART is at the airport and will save you at least $30.



You'll need to sign up for a tour of Napa Valley and a bus will take you. http://www.sanfranciscotours.net/wine_co鈥?/a>



Local transportation via Golden Gate Transit: http://goldengatetransit.org/schedules/p鈥?/a>Advice on traveling to San Francisco?
Well. I live about 3-4 hours north of san fran and I've traveled there %26amp; vacayed there twice.The main area is Fishermans wharf, which is where everything is, all the piers, the mimes, shopping, entertainment, EVERYTHING!! Then, a few streets above that here is a road called Lombard street that is full of lodges, motels, hotels with the best prices and is not very far from the warf at all (I walked to and from all day).That whole area is pretty self expainitory, Everything is right there, me and my friends just hopped on Amtrak one day and decide to go there and got dropped off at the warf and neither one of us knew the area and never been there before, and we found everything %26amp; never got lost. Theres trollys %26amp; cabs in the area, but we just walked.I hope you have fun, we had a blast, but got scammed a couple of times. So just be careful, everytime we turned around there were scams going on, Everyone is trying to get your tourist money one way or another.By the end of the day it felt like a conspiracy!! Just don't be naive and youll do just fine. I hope this was helpful. Oh, and I'm really not sure about Napa...sorry. But i'm sure you can probably take the lightrail there...?
There are several hostels in S.F. I'm afraid I haven't tried any of them. You might pick by neighborhood.



http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8%26amp;oe=鈥?/a>



Yes, public transportation is excellent, busses go everywhere. As the other guy said, you can take BART into the city from the airport for like $3. There are bus tours of Napa Valley, or you can take a Greyhound.



Good things to do? It depends on what you like, of course. I hate Fishermans' Wharf, it's fake and touristy, but lots of people love it. Chinatown is real, though, with shops full of everything from cheap tourist knick-knacks to rare and expensive works of art. Union Square is the old shopping district. North Beach is the Italian district with lots of cute restaurants. The Presidio is an old Army base with a museum, lots of pretty views. Fort Point is at the north end of the Presidio, a Civil War era fort that marks the point where San Francisco began. And there are some interesting 'ethnic' neighborhoods like the Mission District, the Richmond District, etc.



If you are in Golden Gate Park, be sure to go to the new DeYoung Museum, not the museum itself but the observation tower (you can go up the tower without paying admission to the museum). Great view from there!Advice on traveling to San Francisco?
Public transportation within San Francisco and the inner suburbs is comprehensive. Although once you get to rural areas like Wine Country, you're pretty much on your own.



Grab a good guidebook before you leave NYC. For San Francisco, I prefer Time Out over Lonely Planet. Time Out has more up-to-date listings and a better grasp of contemporary issues.



Of the HI hostels, the Fisherman's Wharf location is the best. The other two are both in the Tenderloin (an area known for drugs and poverty). Green Tortoise also runs a nice hostel in North Beach / Little Italy.



http://www.sfhostels.com/



http://greentortoise.com/san-francisco-h鈥?/a>



Napa Valley without a rental car is very difficult. If you can arrange a tour through your hostel, I suggest you do that.



Otherwise, you have to take the ferry to Vallejo, which departs from the Ferry Building (Embarcadero). Once you arrive in Vallejo, transfer to VINE bus #10. The duration is at least two hours, so you should plan to leave San Francisco early in the morning.



http://www.baylinkferry.com/schedule/ind鈥?/a>



http://www.nctpa.net/routes/schedules/Co鈥?/a>
A week in San Francisco actually is not long enough to see everything, so don't be disappointed if you go home without having done something you wanted to do. The thing to do is prioritize.



I personally love Golden Gate Park and the deYoung Museum... and the Conservatory of Flowers. Castro District is nice for shopping and clubbing even if you aren't gay. Don't miss the Haight-Ashbury district, Pier 39, Market Street, or Fisherman's Wharf.



GGP, the deYoung Museum, Conservatory of Flowers, and Haight-Ashbury are good to do together in a single day if you don't have a car because they are all within easy walking distance of each other.



Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf are extensive tourist attractions and will take up one or two days themselves. Be sure to eat at Alioto's for AWESOME seafood and Italian dishes.



Exploring Market and Castro will take up yet another day, but are 鈥?again 鈥?well worth it.



Some people rave about Chinatown, which is within walking distance of Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39... although I personally have never been (yes, for real).



I have never been to Napa, or Sausalito, although I have heard that both can be EXTREMELY pricey. You can get to Sausalito by ferry easy enough, but a trip to Napa might be a bit costly for transportation unless you can find a group already going and get in on special pricing.



The public transportation in SF is amazing. You do not need a car there. Period. Take the BART where you can, and streetcars where you can't. If you just so happen to find some random place that neither of those go to, take a taxi... SF is very compact and cab fare is cheap, so just about anyone can afford cab fare.



Have a great trip and stay safe! :)



**** ADDED **** I agree with the other poster that the whole FIsherman's Wharf/Pier 39/Embarcadero area is overly touristy and annoying, but if you are an out-of-towner you really should check it out simply for the sake of people-watching, window-shopping, and a fabulous (albeit expensive) meal. There is also an aquarium around there that is a pretty cool visit, and you can go to the marina for a cheap boat ride around San Francisco Bay... which will take you around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge.



(NOTE: Been to SF twice... once for business, once for vacation. Love it and can't wait to go back!)Advice on traveling to San Francisco?
I just can give you this advice:

Buy your flight ticket through Virgin America ....They have the best service right away...i traveled from LAX to SFO and let me tell you i'm really happy with their attention! Comfortable seats, MP3 aboard you dont need to bring your i-pod with u....wht i loved the most was the lighting inside the plane...



Have a good trip!