what to do when you visit San Francisco

Victorian houses in San Francisco (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

One of my clients will be visiting San Francisco, so she asked for ideas on what to do on her free days. I wrote an email with links, and I'm repurposing that content here for my readers on Travel Horizons.

Alcatraz Island is a really worthwhile visit. You must get tickets in advance; spots on the ferry out to the island always sell out. The cell house audio tour is the highlight of your visit. You put on headphones and listen to a very well done, pre-recorded tour through the old federal prison.

San Francisco City Guides offers dozens of complimentary walking tours of the city. The program is sponsored by the San Francisco Public Library, and your hotel tax helps support this program. You will learn a lot about the history of the city — the Gold Rush, fires, and earthquakes — and get to know the neighborhood of your choice. See their entire set of offerings here, but I especially recommend the tour called Omni Hotel Walk. Happening on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., it's marketed especially to Omni guests (but open to everyone), so you'll tend to be in a much smaller group.

SFMOMA, otherwise known as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this very fine and newly expanded contemporary art museum is located right next to the St. Regis San Francisco.

de Young Museum, another very fine museum located in Golden Gate Park, has a diverse set of permanent exhibits encompassing art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas ... and usually a special exhibition as well. General Admission tickets also get you into the Legion of Honor museum the same day.

Golden Gate Park is the green heart of the Sunset neighborhood. Stretching out to the Pacific Coast, enjoy a stroll through Golden Gate Park after your visit to the de Young. The park offers a number of other attractions including the Golden Gate Park Aquarium, the Japanese Tea Garden, and the California Academy of Sciences. Or just bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the sun — or fog....

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

SFMOMA | largest museum of modern art in the US

SFMOMA and St. Regis San Francisco (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

We spent last weekend in San Francisco, choosing the St. Regis San Francisco for our stay. Located a few blocks south of Market Street at the corner of Mission St. and 3rd Avenue, SFMOMA is literally the hotel's neighbor to the south (see the photo above of the hotel tower in the background and the museum in the foreground).

SFMOMA re-opened in May, 2016 after a massive expansion and renovation project that tripled its gallery space. With ten total floors of exhibits, including two floors (45,000 square feet) of public space that require no ticket, this is the largest museum of contemporary art in the United States.

Alexander Calder sculpture (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Because Saturday afternoon is an especially crowded time, we plan to come back and view the museum on a less crowded weekday morning. We live across the bay in Berkeley, just a 30 minute BART ride away. But we did walk through the two public floors of exhibition space, viewing the museum's interesting architecture, the atrium's central skylight with a suspended mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder, and a massive sculpture on the ground floor by Richard Serra entitled Sequence.

SFMOMA is one of many things you'll enjoy doing when you visit San Francisco. If you stay at the St. Regis, contact us for the Virtuoso amenities that will reward you with free daily breakfast for two and a $100 F&B credit just by booking with us!

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

the art of hospitality

our floral arrangement from the St. Regis San Francisco

My wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary at the St. Regis San Francisco. The St. Regis has pulled out all the stops in making us feel appreciated and making this a special weekend for us. First, we were upgraded to an Astor Suite with a beautiful view looking down Mission Street towards the new Salesforce Tower and the Bay.

But even our Butler was surprised by the floral bouquet in our living room with more than one dozen red roses and yellow tulips.

The St Regis has a great location in the bustling South of Market neighborhood. Right next door to SFMOMA, it's walking distance to AT&T Park, Union Square, and the Exploratorium. Built in a contemporary "glass house" style, our suite has floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the new skyscrapers in the SOMA neighborhood. We even have a peek of the Bay Bridge and the East Bay off in the distance.

Had an excellent dinner last night at the Salt House, a restaurant and bar at 545 Mission and 1st — we both enjoyed the Grilled Whole Fish. It's a lively scene with a younger crowd, and reservations are available on Open Table.

copyright  (c)  2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

San Francisco and the Bay Bridge

I feel very fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. This iconic view of San Francisco was photographed just 300 feet from my home. While much of the country is suffering with frigid cold temperatures combined with blustery winds, we are enjoying a stretch of February days in the 70's.

So come and visit! To enjoy the view from Berkeley, you might stay at The Claremont - a Fairmont Resort (whose famous spa and pool was featured in Mrs. Doubtfire)  ... or the Shattuck Plaza Hotel in downtown Berkeley, walking distance from a myriad of eclectic ethnic dining opportunities. You can even dine at world-famous Chez Panisse.

Or spend a weekend in the City, famous for its cuisine with too many great restaurants to mention. Where to stay? Top choices are the Four Seasons right on Market Street, the Ritz-Carlton on Nob Hill, or the St. Regis next door to the soon-to-reopen SFMOMA. And I can save you money at each of these hotels with Four Seasons Preferred Partner and Virtuoso amenities that offer free breakfast for two daily, hotel credits that can mean free lunches or dinners, upgrades, and more.

copyright (c) 2016 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

the new SFMOMA | opening May 14, 2015

SFMOMA and its new addition

San Francisco is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. I'm fortunate to live right across the Bay and love to look at this beautiful city when walking in Tilden Park, high up in the Berkeley Hills — the Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge, and the skyline of San Francisco.

The Bay Area has great weather year round (although we're praying for a VERY wet winter to help us recover from a four year drought), it's a place to come in all four seasons... and now there's yet another reason to visit: the soon-to-open and enlarged San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

One of the largest art museums in the United States, the new SFMOMA will have nearly 140,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibition space — and the first two floors will be open to the general public free of charge.

Want to spend several days exploring SFMOMA? We have a preferred hotel right next door, the St. Regis San Francisco, where my clients enjoy exclusive Virtuoso amenities: a room upgrade if available, daily continental breakfast for two guests, as well as a complimentary lunch for two in Vitrine, the hotel's restaurant featuring fresh, locally sourced meats and produce.

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.