FISHERMAN'S WHARF, San Francisco

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Favorite thing: we all know that the fisherman's wharf is one big tourist trap but still we go here anyways since the area, besides the most visited part of the City, is still a good destination just to get the ambiance of eating seafood like dungeness crabs even though it's way much expensive here that buying it at the Costco or at the Asian Sea Markets in the City or at Daly City or South San Francisco or San Bruno area. The best way to do the wharf is stay less than 3 hours and parking here costs $ 6 per hour for a maximum of $ 30 for the whole day. The SECRET for locals that are not cheapskates is that we would only go here to eat and to park at the parking in the wharf itself! Why? since parking will be free once you would eat at the accredited establishments like Alioto's or Boudin or Castagnola's, etc for 3 hours!!!!!

Fondest memory: the secret is to have the establishment validate your parking and viola, it's free for 3 hours!!!! just slide the parking meter into the Parking Machine slot and you would see that it would be free. If you have visitors from other areas, I would suggest you eat in less than 1 hour and plan your activity in the wharf and at Pier 39 or at Ghirardelli or at the Cannery for less than 2 hours after you eat so that you could avail of the free parking.

Favorite thing: When you are in san fransico you will go to fishermans wharf --when you are down there try the clam chowder it is very good and a local dish-it is like soup stuff in a bowl made from bread you eat the bowel and its contents tastes yum yum.

Fondest memory: the people are the best thing there everyone speaks to each other it is a very nice city not like a lot of the other citys in america where the people can be a bit pushy and rude- it was a really nice place to go and visit.

Favorite thing: One of the fun things about Fisherman's Wharf is its STREET PERFORMERS. In this photo, Hans is having a great time and hamming it up with "Mr. Bones". He was one of the more popular performers, attracting quite a crowd around him. He was very entertaining and I'm sure he did pretty well in tips that day.

Favorite thing: Located in the Fisherman's Wharf area are many stalls offering fresh fish dishes. It is a more reasonable place to get that bowl of clam chowder you've been craving. Fish dinners are also offered.
This picture shows how the crab is processed and they make a little show of it by tapping their knives on the steel surface as they cut the crab up. It was fun to watch.

Favorite thing: The Musee Mechanique. hash all sorts of coin-operated entertainment machines from the past, it's fun to see all the old Machines There are pianos that will play songs, little figures that will dance, fortune-telling machines, and lots of old-fashioned folk-art -- most for only a quarter a piece.

Fondest memory: It is located right next to the Submarine
Pampanito and the Musee Mecanique is located here temporary un till a new location has been found.

Favorite thing: This is a WW2 Submarine that now is a museum and it can be visited each day at the center of '' Fishermans Wharf '' located of a dock of Pier 45 .
The MARITIME PARK ASSOCIATION
is the assosiation that operates and maintains this impressive WW2 Submarine .
Dayly Tours are available and you can find all the information on this National Landmark
in the link to the website of this Maritime Park Association.

http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm

Fondest memory: This another one of the San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf 's activities.There is so much to see and to do here and that is one of the reason's why San Francisco is such a beautiful City.

Favorite thing: The reason I didn't put this under "Tourist Trap" is that we had to come here fairly often -- to go on our ferry tours and to visit the Ghirardelli Factory, and I really didn't find it that bad. I actually sort of liked this place in a weird, twisted kind of way. I was kinda fascinated with the place, especially the street performers and the more creative ways they used to get money.

One guy came up to me and gave me a "citation for smiling" -- started writing up a ticket and the whole thing. My fine: a "donation to a youth group". There was also a guy who disguised himself with a bunch of branches and sat on the side of the street. I thought it was a bush. (yeah, dumb enough to not think a bush was growing in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf). When we walked by, he jumped up and screamed "boo", inducing a loud scream from me, the intended victim. Of course, this is for the amusement of bystanders as well. Everyone had a good natured laugh, then he said, "now wasn't that laugh worth 25 cents?". "No" said my husband, and hustled me along. Ya gotta admit, these guys are pretty ingenious.

If you are here later in the evening or early in the morning, the crowds are manageable, and it's one of those things you have to do, even though you know it's bad for you. Like I said, you'll probably end up here anyway if you're going to take the ferry to Alcatraz or somewhere else, so you might as well spend an hour. An hour, tops.

Fondest memory: Fisherman's Wharf is probably one of the most festive and therefore crowded areas in San Francisco. So the bad news is that you have to fight the crowds. Parking can be very difficult to find here. Nonetheless, this is a great tourist attraction. There are a lot of nice museums and stores across the streets from Fisherman's Wharf. You should not miss this area.

Favorite thing: If you are a seafood lover, you've come to the right place. Your mouth is going to start to water when you see the fresh crabs, clams, lobsters, etc. at Fisherman's Wharf. The seafood is very fresh, straight from the sea. There are some really delicious seafood cocktails and fried items as well.

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Favorite thing: The much-maligned but massively popular Fisherman's Wharf is directly north of Russian Hill. There's no getting away from the Wharf's unspeakable kitschiness, but it's still fun. Packed with shopping centers, hokey museums and countless accommodations, it's also the gateway for several top attractions (Alcatraz, the Maritime Museum and the Historic Ships Pier). Pier 39 is the area's focal point - it's become as popular with a colony of sea lions as it is with tourists.