Discover What NOT to Do in San Francisco!

What advice would you give to a parent who's son is graduating high school from a small town in Montana and going to San Francisco by himself for a week? Our family trips/adventures have been camping in the mountains so his only experience to the "Real World" is what he's seen online. He's a smart kid but there's so many things he doesn't even know to know.

I remember living in Vegas shortly after college. I was sweet naive Montana boy being polite one Mother's Day by giving a lady a ride to her mamma's place. I'd later learn that she was a prostitute that went by Juicey (and yes I'd later find out she had drugs on her). After about the 3rd stop I realized we weren't going to her mamma's house. Terrified that she'd sabotage my car because it had MT plates and pretty sure I was the only white guy living at the Royal Manor (another story) because she kept making fun of me being white and from MT. Somehow we ended up in Naked City at night where she singled out some dude that was in a group of 10 on the corner to hop in the car (I'm sure he was a drug dealer, I saw his stack of bills in my rear view mirror). That day which turned into night was one of the longest days I've ever had and I think at that point I stopped being so damn kind and naive.

This is awesome. I was staying in MV And something told me don't take the car to SF. I'm glad I took the caltrain to SF and got around SF with uber.

Yes! I live in the East Bay and DO NOT call it Frisco!

About San Francisco MUNI, MUNI GOES EVERYWHERE! San Francisco has one of the best transit systems in the world. There is a bus that goes down almost every street and reasonable.

1:07 Mormans!

Thanks! Are the rumors on the yotel that bad in 2026? staying there a 6 nights, how safe is it there? and would it be safe walking around at night a solo traveler to visit alactraz night tour?

can you recommend a guided tour via car ?

SF has splendid transit and is where Lyft, Uber, Waymo were born. Drive? Why? SF local here.

Good points, I've been here 55 years and your comments ring true. S.F. was named after Saint
Francis; Frisco is disrespectful for that reason.

I would think the first mistake would be going there in the first place.

I can think of some other things to avoid--especially if you have kids. Don't go anywhere near Castro, and don't go to any festivals or street fairs that aren't clearly defined, and even then, you never know.

As someone born and raised here: Go to alcatraz. If youre so inclined ,go hiking in the marin headlands (hawk hill, etc) and make a reservation at the house of prime rib, MONTHS in advance.

Getting stuck at Ghiradelli Square a mistake. Easy to get there by cable car, but a bottle neck getting back from the cablw ca turnaround. Up to 2 hour wait yo catch the roubdtrip back.

Talking about the weather Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

You forgot to mention the flies of Alcatraz

SF local here. Its not wet & damp in SF. See the weather in the video? That's normally how it is. See how he is dressed? That will suffice.

Why "Follow the Lines" is the Worst Advice Ever 🛑
It’s a Hype Trap: A long line usually means overrated, ordinary food at inflated prices. You're paying a "hype tax" for marketing, not quality, and litterally following the sheep brigade - which are normally people too intimidated by the mob to point out that the hyped place, is actually not very good.

The Time Sink: Unless you have unlimited time, why waste hours of your day standing on a sidewalk?

The Authenticity Test: For ethnic foods, the clientele should match the cuisine. If don't see a majority of the ethnicity it is supposed to be as customers—walk away.

Yelp reviews are terrible - pretty much anyone not taken to a hospital from the food screaches five stars!!!! love it!!! That is not helpful, at all. Hack the Reviews: Skip the five-star fluff and go straight to the one-star Yelp reviews. Filter out the "not legit" whining (like slow delivery) and look for "legit" red flags like inedible or reviews that point to specific details as to why the food was not good.

A far superior approach: Let AI Filter the Garbage: Save time by asking AI to search reviews for your specific tastes. It cuts through the TikTok-hyped, "sheep-serving" garbage that charges you double for mediocre results. You can even spike your search with "quirky" things you actually want to discover or specific red flags to watch out for. I've had great results and found places i'd have never known, that tourists clearly haven't found, using a.i. to guide me.

Driving around San Francisco is fantastic...Cable cars are great transpo...Wear whatever shoes you like...etc...

I live in the South Bay Area. When I go to SF I drive to the Sunset and take the L Taraval or N Judah trains. I live 2 blocks from San Jose Diridon Station and driving to The Sunset and taking MUNI is still faster and cheaper to get downtown.

If you do Alcatraz…well it’s kind of a waste of vacation time. It’s cold out there and smells like the pelican poop and you later realize a photo of a 1920’s prison cell isn’t worth it.

I have lived in SF 20 years now and never went except as a tourist before I moved here. Skip it! Go to Buena Vista Club and relax with an Irish Coffee, instead. Nice view of the Rock.

The Tenderloin and SOMA (South of Market Street) are the scariest hoods in SF. 😮

ITS ILLEGAL IN NYC TO NOT ACCEPT CASH I WOULD THINK SF WOULD BE BETTER ABOUT THAT

A cable car hack is to not get on where the cars start. When they board people they will be sure to leave a fairly large number of seats and standing room open, so that they can pick passengers up along the way. Better is to walk just a couple of blocks up the line and get on there. There will almost certainly be no line there, and you can just hop right on. You may not get the exact seat you want, and may even have to stand, but you will get on.

Awesome and very true as a person who was there just last week!!

Yeah...parking, car break ins, not only that stuff but also with all the hills and traffic, you're car may not get the best MPG compared to if you were to drive in a flat area. By the way, Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf are two different places.

SF does get warmer than 60 degrees in the summer -- like mid 70s. And the temperature can feel very different depending on what neighborhood you're in!

Thanks for that, I'll pass then.

Incorrect; you missed the undisputed, absolute most common mistake that literally 100% of visitors of San Francisco make… visiting SF.

I was born here and spent the better part of 40 years in and around the shitty and let me tell you, it’s a shit hole. Homeless schizophrenics high on God knows what, absolutely everywhere. The whole city smells like urine and marijuana. It’s disgusting.

There is five minutes of summer in April, and another in October. You don't know which week.
The rest of the time it's 59 degrees (F)— overcast, with a bit of steady wind.