How many days in SF?

We are planning a trip to California next summer. I can't decide how many days we need in SF. We are a family of 5. We are interested in seeing:
Golden Gate Bridge
Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39
Ghirardelli
Chinatown
Muir Woods
Coit Tower
Lombard Street
Ride a cable car
Golden Gate Park (if we have time)

Any tips on how many days we need? Or how to arrange this itinerary? We will be arriving around lunch time the first day. Also we will have a car.

I am sure someone who is more knowledgable will chime in, but I can tell you my experience. We typically do day trips (only 1.5 hours away) and can do the wharf, Ghiradelli, Golden Gate Bridge (just to look at?) and Lombard easily in a couple of hours.

Have lived near the city for 45 years and never took the cable car, saw Coit Tower (or maybe I did, just don't know it?) or Muir Woods. Lol. Guess I figure I will get there eventually, so no rush.

Traumatized my son when he was about 6 with Chinatown (his favorite animal was a frog and they sold live frogs in the markets....oops). Let's just say that portion of the city only took us about an 1.5 hrs (including dinner).

How old are your kids? My son could spend all day in the Exploratorium (from the time he was 3 until now at 14!). If you have any science geeks, I would strongly recommend the Exploratorium.

The museums at the Golden Gate Park are nice, not too big. So, those are a few hours.

larie21 said:

We are planning a trip to California next summer. I can't decide how many days we need in SF. We are a family of 5. We are interested in seeing:
Golden Gate Bridge
Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39
Ghirardelli
Chinatown
Muir Woods
Coit Tower
Lombard Street
Ride a cable car
Golden Gate Park (if we have time)

Any tips on how many days we need? Or how to arrange this itinerary? We will be arriving around lunch time the first day. Also we will have a car.

Click to expand...

.
Adult son and Girlfriend just got back from a great trip where they started in LA and drove up the coast to SF and north.
They are "young and adventurous" and I asked him how he like S.F. He said other parts of the city were nice, but they did not spend time at the Wharf.
If you've ever been to NYC Times Square, he said that it had "that type of feel".
ENJOY your trip!

I'd say a couple days should be just fine, maybe 2.5?

Within a few hours you can knock out Coit Tower, Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, Ghirardelli, Cable car, Lombard street. And I might do them in that order or something similar. Muir Woods, China town, and Golden Gate park are all a little further away from that cluster.

Parking near a lot of those may end up being more pain than it's worth. Unless you've got a little one and need a car seat when you're looking to get from one area to another that's further away such as up to Lombard I might recommend just leaving the car at the hotel and catching an Uber or Lyft. You'd spend just as much on parking at new spots and SF can be a pain around crowded areas to quickly park.