Bike Adventure

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Because it's such a small city, one of the best ways to see San Francisco's most scenic areas is on two wheels.  Here you will find a full day's adventure that the entire family will remember for a very long time.  The entire trip -which involves everything from the home of the Giants to a ferry ride - will leave you sore and happily exhausted.  Families with very small children will want to stop just short of the Golden Gate Bridge, as "Burleys" and other child trailers can be difficult - but not impossible - to manage on the ferry.

The entire trip -- all the way from Fisherman's Wharf, across the bridge and into Marin County is done all the time by average folks.  You're at this website because you want to find safe and interesting things for your family to do in San Francisco that are totally preplanned for you.  Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge is that adventure! 

On paper, you could do this trip in about 2 hours.  But that would be bicycling non-stop at a reasonable pace.  The directions below assume you're going to stop quite a bit (to see all the neat sites!) so plan for a good portion of the day.

Everywhere you will go is perfectly safe from a crime standpoint and with two exceptions you will never be riding on the street.  Your biggest collision danger probably comes from other bikes.

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Before you start your trip

Reserve your rental bikes from Blazing Saddles (415) 202-8888.  You don't need to reserve ahead of time - we've never seen them run out of bikes - but you do get a 10% discount.

They have high quality mountain bike type bicycles with road tires.  The upright handles will make your ride easier than the old "ten speed" type bikes. 

That Morning

Double check the weather forecast.  Have a good breakfast.  While the start and the end of our trip will pass lots of eating spots, the middle (the Golden Gate Bridge) has no Golden Arches.  Get an early start, as it will be important to be in Sausalito no later than 3:40pm on weekdays and 4:30pm on weekends to make the ferry back. 

And They're Off!

Arrive at one of the many Blazing Saddle locations (note more locations are open in the summer season than the winter season. 

• 1095 Columbus (the main headquarters - open year 'round
• Pier 41 (Fisherman's Wharf)
• Pier 43 1/2 (Fisherman's Wharf area Near the Red and White Ferry)
• 2715 Hyde Street (also near Fisherman's Wharf)
• 465 Jefferson (once again near Fisherman's Wharf)

The directions from here assume you're starting from Pier 43 1/2.  You can start from anywhere, but this location is the most commonly used.

The nice bike man will give you a very good map - you're about to embark on one of the most popular bike trips in the city.  Make sure to put it in the bike's map holder.  For the moment, though, we're going to ignore the map.

Start by going away from the designated route on the Blazing Saddle map- because there are some nice things to see the other direction.  And then we'll backtrack.

Cardinal directions are a little hard to work with here, because San Francisco is on the tip of a peninsula.  So a path that starts by moving east will shortly become a path that curves to the south.  So we're just going to use the Bay as the way to find our directions.  With the Bay on your left shoulder, follow the Embarcadero (on the sidewalk, always on the sidewalk!) towards the Bay Bridge in the distance.

You will pass working wharves.  Sometimes the doors will be open allowing you to peek inside.  Watch for pedestrians - in the summer there will be hundreds of them.  Our goal here is to end up at AT&T Park, home of the Giants (note locals will probably call it Pac Bell Park).

On the way there, you'll pass some points of interest:

• Pier 29: Teatro ZinZanni is a dinner theater restaurant inside a white tent.  Tickets are flabbergastingly expensive but include a show and a 5 course dinner.  Those who have seen it love it.  Dress code is dressy casual (Californians are not a suit and tie bunch).  While the humor is "family friendly" is can be high brow and the show and dinner are lengthy.  Ages 12 and up are probably best - under 5 not allowed under any circumstance, and there is no children's menu.
• You've probably seen the Fog City Diner in a number of commercials.  It holds no particular meaning to locals, but makes for a nice picture.
• In the parking lot across the street from Pier 19 (near Green Street) there's a nice farmer's market most weekends.
• As you continue on, you will notice the Ferry Building and its big clock tower ahead of you.  On the right is Embarcadero Plaza with a water fountain and a strange brown sculpture that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen once described "as something that came out of a square intestined dog".  There are often interesting street merchants in this plaza.
• The Ferry Building has a terrific farmer's market on weekends, and if you haven't stopped already, this is a good first stop.  Note that if you go around back of the building, there's a neat picture to be taken of the world famous "Welcome to San Francisco" sign.  There are also interesting boutiques inside.
• As you approach the Bay Bridge, you'll pass by a very odd Bow and Arrow sculpture and San Francisco Fire Department fire boats.
• The Bay Bridge takes commuters between San Francisco and Oakland.  It's six months older than San Francisco's much more famous Golden Gate Bridge.  It's also much bigger.  You may recall it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake.
• As you curve to the South, you will see AT&T Park ahead of you.  If you stick to the shoreline, you can go around back.  On the far south side, you will find McCovey Cove, where home run hitters sometimes hit baseballs into, and a spot where you can stand and watch a game through the fence like children in a Normal Rockwell painting.  Stop and take a look.   The Coca-Cola Fan Lot is  not worth your time, though if you are very interested in seeing the ball field, it's free and open year 'round.

The Turnaround - Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf

AT&T Park is your turn around point.  There's nothing terribly interesting to see beyond this point.  Backtrack so that the Bay is on your right shoulder and return to your starting point.  From here on out, we will be following your Blazing Saddles map, pointing out interesting spots on the way.

• Pier 39 is a tourist trap, but a nice one.  Everyone around you is from somewhere else.  Locals don't generally hang out here.  However, there are a few points of interest:  On the far left side, you will find the world famous sea lions.  Kids love this spot, though parents will think it smells. The sea lions showed up shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake, and no one knows why.  Originally, tenants at Pier 39 were upset, but soon realized the animals drew in a lot of fans.  At the end of the pier, you will find a very nice view of Alcatraz and a merry-go-round that usually has a very entertaining magician performing.  Underwater World is not worth it.  If you like fish, rent a car and take a day trip to Monterey and the best aquarium in the world.
• Continuing on, you will pass through Fisherman's Wharf.  Stop to admire the street performers, at least the ones worth admiring - some have an astounding lack of talent.  Check out the boiling crabs at Taylor and Jefferson - they're the only thing worth eating here.  Everything else is largely overpriced.  Don't waste your times in the shops and stores.  With few exceptions (Frank's Fisherman Store on Jefferson Street being one of the few gems) they are all tacky and sort of depressing.
• At the end of Taylor Street (right where it terminates into the water) you will find the extremely fun and interesting Musee Mecanique - a collection of old time coin operated amusements.  It's one of our favorites and is far too often missed by casual tourist.
• Right next to the Musee is the submarine USS Pampanito (ed's note: currently closed for repairs), which for a reasonable fee you can board and go below decks.
• Behind the Pampanito is the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brian.  There was a time during the Second World War when the Bay Area shipyards built a single one of these giant cargo ships every day.  While not a warship per se, kids will be excited to tour it because -unlike so many places - you can go anywhere on the ship you wish, from the bridge to the engine room to the cargo spaces.  The engine room, incidentally, was used in the movie Titanic.
• Ripley's Believe it or Not and the Fisherman's Wharf Wax Museum on Jefferson Street (right there across from the wharf) are as cheeseball as you might expect, but kids really seem to like both. 
• And then there's Bush Man.  To describe it would be to ruin it, but make sure you stick around and watch him for awhile.  For kids, this may be the highlight of their trip.

Continue on the Adventure! Next Page: Past Fishermans Wharf