Things to do in San Francisco

San Francisco is a compact city on a hilly peninsula, and it works best as a base you explore on foot and by transit rather than by car. Union Square, the Financial District, North Beach, Nob Hill and the Mission sit close enough together that a Muni streetcar or bus ride between them rarely takes more than 20 minutes, and a Clipper card covers Muni, BART, Caltrain and the ferries on one tap.

A cable car ride costs a flat $8 with no transfers, and the Powell Street turnaround queue often runs 30-60 minutes, so it is worth treating as a one-off experience rather than transport.

Parking downtown commonly costs $3-8 an hour with daily maximums of $30-60, and car break-ins remain a real risk, so a rental only earns its keep on day trips out to Marin, the East Bay or Wine Country, not inside the city itself.