San Francisco in 3 days: A Solo Traveller’s Honest Guide (2025)

In April I went on a two-week solo road trip around California – it was awesome!

I started and ended my trip in San Francisco and when researching how long to spend there I struggled to find anything that didn’t say I needed at least a week – but I disagree. I was there for about 3 and a half days and could happily have spent a day less and still felt I’d seen all I needed to. I think a lot of these posts include day trips out to other areas, like Muir Woods, rather than just the city itself.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time there, but as a solo traveller I felt that there wasn’t enough to do to fill a week. So here’s a snapshot of how I spent my time.

Baseball and Jet Lag 

I landed late afternoon following my flight from Manchester, so by the time I checked into my hotel there wasn’t much time to explore as I was heading to Oracle Park to watch the San Francisco Giants play some baseball — and hopefully stave off some jetlag.

I opted to walk to the ballpark so I could get a feel for the city and experience something I’d never seen before – Waymo, the self-driving taxi. It’s disconcerting seeing these ghost cars for the first time, but you get used to them after a while – although I wasn’t brave enough to ride in one myself!

Oracle Park is a great setting to watch sport. For just £12 I got an amazing view of the field while looking out over the water. The food selection was nothing like you’d typically find at a football stadium in England – there were stalls selling everything from ramen to hot fudge sundaes. I recommend an evening at the ballpark to any sports fan with a spare night in San Fran. I’d just suggest not doing it after a 12 hour flight!

Hotels

When I’m travelling, I usually try to go for budget accommodation options. I don’t spend too much time in the room so don’t see the point of splashing the cash. This trip was no different. I’m past the point of staying in hostel dorm rooms but other than that, all I want is for it to be clean and safe. 

The majority of the budget options are in and around the Union Square area, so this is where I stayed. I was a bit worried before I arrived as I’d heard that it could be a bit sketchy, but I had no issues. 

For my first two nights I stayed at The Fitzgerald Hotel on Post Street for £130 total, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. It’s quite basic but does come with a simple breakfast as well. There were plenty of eateries and bars nearby and I thought the location was great.

When I came back to the city before my flight home I opted to stay in a private room at the Amsterdam Hostel – just £65 for the night. Again, I couldn’t fault this place – a nice big room, a good location, and very clean. What more could you need?

Exploring – Day 1

On my first full day in the city I spent most of it just wandering around and exploring. These are the main sights I saw this day:

Breakfast in Union Square

Union Square – I sat in this square for 20 minutes or so after I’d grabbed some eggs and hash browns for breakfast. It was a nice place to relax early morning and I was impressed to see a cart with free games which meant the built-in chess boards and table tennis could be used by all.

Pier 39 and Sea Lions

Fisherman’s Wharf & Pier 39 – Seeing hundreds of sea lions vying for room on the boardwalk was cool, and there were some nice shops to browse. There was also an entertainer on the Pier who was juggling some knives when I walked past!

My favourite area around here was the little beach near the cable car turnaround. It was nice, quiet and a peaceful spot to dip my feet in the Pacific.

Chinatown and a Pub Stop

Chinatown – There’s some cool murals and I enjoyed simply wandering around. I stopped for lunch at one of the many restaurants, which was pretty decent.

Also, a shout out to Maggie McGarry’s Irish Pub where I spent a few hours watching the Man City game. This is the home to the supporters club in the area, so the must-go place to watch any City games when you’re in San Francisco. I did have to drag myself away from the Golden Gate Cider to keep exploring the city!

An evening spent in jail

I did a night trip over to the Alcatraz, on the 4.45pm boat. The advantage of visiting the prison on the night tour over a day tour is that you get a self-guided audio tour as well as a number of talks throughout the evening led by staff. It was a really interesting trip and one I highly recommend. You’ll need to book in advance on weekends or in the busier seasons as it’s really popular.

Day 2 – Cable Cars and Boat Rides

Powell and Hyde Cable Car – I started my morning with a 45 minute queue so I could take a ride on a stereotypical San Francisco sight – the cable car! Despite the long queue, the ride up and down the steep streets of the city lived up to the hype. I recommend getting there early to avoid the queues, or if you don’t need to ride the car it’s still worth going to the turnaround to see the operators manually turn the cable cars around at the end of the track.

Sausalito

Day 3 – The Famous Bridge

My last day in the city was a shortened one as I needed to be at the airport for 5pm. But there was one sight that I had to see up close – The Golden Gate Bridge. But first I jumped on a bus for about 30 minutes to see some cool foliage.

Golden Gate Park – This is a massive park not far out of the city. I spent a few hours wandering around the botanical gardens (beware there is a cost to get in) where there was a wide range of plants from around the world – also some really cool turtles chilling on a lake. I didn’t have time to see much more of the park, but there are also Japanese Gardens (also a fee to enter), a Bison paddock, picnic areas and much more. 

Golden Gate Bridge – After having my fill of plants I hailed a bus for my last stop of the holiday – The Golden Gate Bridge. There are plenty of places you can go to get a view of the famous bridge and I opted for the Golden Gate Bridge Visitor Centre. The view from here was amazing, and I walked about a quarter of the way across the bridge as well. I would have gone the whole way but started to get really annoyed by people’s inability to walk on the correct side of the path to avoid getting hit by bicyclists. The fact that it was the hottest day of my trip probably didn’t help with my irritability!

Should you go to San Francisco?

I thought that San Francisco was a great place to start and end my trip. Having said that, I think that I would have been happy just having a day at both ends – the city is definitely a bit tired and dirty, and the sheer amount of people experiencing homelessness was overwhelming. 

I didn’t really make the most of the nightlife on offer as I was quite tired on the days I was here, but there were definitely a lot of cool-looking bars and restaurants. I think if I had done, I may have enjoyed my stay a little bit more.

I’m glad I’ve been to the city and seen the sights, but I don’t have any intention of returning. If I do another California trip, I’ll definitely be basing myself elsewhere.

If you liked reading this post, check out my soon to drop post on the rest of my Californian trip which includes the scariest drive of my life, or my post on hiking in Yosemite!