San Fran car parking...

[Twiga6]

Well we booked our west coastctrip for august over the weekend, we’re spending the first 4 days in San Francisco, staying at the Whitcomb.
I emailed to ask abput parking and they’ve told me its $48+tax a day, which will end up at $208 for the 4 days!
Can anyone recommend cheaper parking nearby or do we just suck it up and park at the hotel?

[KarenG]

If San Francisco is your first location, just pick up the car when you leave the city - you don’t need it when you are there and saves parking fees.

[Twiga6]

It comes as park of the package from BA, can I just move the day we pick it up?
I’ve never booked a package before, we usually book it all seperately so this is a new adventure for me!

[tocpe321]

Yes you should be able to change the car hire dates, although BA may charge an admin fee.

I don't know if you're tied into the hotel you've booked but you can get hotels where parking is free.

We stayed at the Cow Hollow Inn, which was fine.

[Cloverlady]

If you can manage to delay the pick up it really would be the best option.
San Francisco is not only horrifically expensive to park in, driving round is horrible too. Very aggressive, tooting horns, drivers shouting at each other, hubby has driven in many many busy cities at home and abroad and driving round San Fran got me the most stressed ever I think - and i was just the PASSENGER!

Public transport in San Fran is easy to use, we got a pass that included buses and the cable trams which were great fun! The only kind -of plus of having the car was driving down the famous crooked street (Lombard Street) but having said that, looking at it is better than actually driving it as all you see in a car is hedges.

[sky13]

Another vote for not driving in SF if possible. Public transport in SF is decent with buses/cable car/and the muni system, and Ubers/Lyfts are extremely easy to get. Though be prepared for a decent amount of walking - but I feel that walking is one of the best ways to explore SF and having a car wouldn't have added anything to the experience at all.

(I stayed at the Hilton Union Square last year - think their car park charge was something like $60 or 70/night!)

[400ixl]

Avoid having a car if you can, but I certainly haven't found driving in San Fran in the least bit stressful. No different to any US city, if anything its easier as there are less lanes until you get out of the city.

You certainly don't need a car in San Fran, but it can be useful if you don't want to do one of the tours and get yourself to the sites. Many of the tours can be more than the total parking for a family booking. Although you do get lots of local knowledge on the tours themselves.

[Olympiad]

As above, pick up the car when leaving if possible.

It's quite a walkable city (within reason, those hills can be killers) but Uber and Lyft are everywhere and a cheap way of getting around especially if 2 or more of you.

[landandword17]

It’s funny how we can have such different experiences. I found SF a nightmare to drive in. Other drivers were a huge factor so that’s variable but the honking, gesturing, lack of indicators, cutting off... my husband was white in the face and he was the passenger. I had a belting headache. This was a weekday around 2pm. We parked up and used public transport for our stay and then left on a Saturday morning which wasn’t too bad. At one point the car in front of me had his wing mirrors folded in. I could predict what was about to happen and sure enough he almost cleaned off a cyclist because he couldn’t see him. One thing that is kind of fun is being stopped at a red light on top of a hill. The hills are so steep you can see the sky instead of the road! Never as glad to have an automatic!

[Fra]

Originally Posted by Twiga6

Well we booked our west coastctrip for august over the weekend, we’re spending the first 4 days in San Francisco, staying at the Whitcomb.
I emailed to ask abput parking and they’ve told me its $48+tax a day, which will end up at $208 for the 4 days!
Can anyone recommend cheaper parking nearby or do we just suck it up and park at the hotel?

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Have you been to San Francisco before, specifically, have you stayed SOMA before?

I could be telling you stuff you already know but if for some reason you fancy a walk down to Yerba Buena Gardens or that general area then walk down Market street - I'd stay well clear of Mission/Howard St.

Market street is interesting but harmless IMO.