5 Hour Lay over

I am travelling to Las Vegas from the UK in a few weeks time and have a 5 hour layover in San Francisco. I was wondering if anyone could help me with the following questions.

I understand the BART transport system runs from SFO Airport, which would be the best station to travel to for views of the Golden Gate Bridge?

Also could anyone recommend any other attractions worth taking in in this short space of time?

Many thanks in advance

5 Hour Lay over

Golden Gate Bridge is not close to any BART station at all. I think it is not practical to see it using public transportation between a 5 hours connection.

My suggestion is to take BART to Embarcadero. There you can visit the Ferry Building and see the Bay Bridge stroll along the bay. Allow 45 minutes each way. You will need to spend some time to clear custom after landing in SFO which will eat into your 5 hours spare time. Have a contingent plan. There may not be enough time for you to leave the airport after all.

5 Hour Lay over

I%26#39;m assuming your luggage is transferred directly? So you won%26#39;t have to worry about carrying your luggage along? Also, will you have already come through customs, or does your 5 hours include going through customs?

There are not any stops on BART that will take you directly to views of the GG Bridge. However, you could take BART to the Embarcadero station, then walk towards the Ferry Building at the end of Market St. and do one of a few things:

1) Walk along the waterfront on the Embarcadero- right next to the Ferry Building are stunning views of the bay and the Bay Bridge. There are some great places to grab a bite to eat as well, and you might even be there during the farmer%26#39;s market, which is a real treat. This option would probably take the least amount of time. But if you had time, you could walk all the way to Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf.

2) In front of the ferry building you can catch the ';F'; streetcar which will take you to Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf. From there you can get views of the bridge and Alcatraz.

3) If, by some miracle of timing, you make it to the Ferry Building in time to catch a ferry to Sausalito, you could get a quickie ';water'; tour of SF by going round trip to Sausalito, passing Alcatraz and some great views of the bridge and the skyline of the city. You%26#39;d have to watch your timing, though.

The other possibility would be to get off at Powell street and then catch the cable car to Fishermans Wharf. You%26#39;d see some great bits of SF scenery along the way and have that unique SF experience of riding a cable car. However, the lines for the cars are long and I%26#39;d worry about your ability to do the full round trip in your amount of time.

kevin - I will agree with the other posters that downtown will give you a nice taste of the City. Depending on what you are willing to spend, if you really want to see the Golden Gate, take BART to Civic Center or Powell and take a taxi from there to the bridge and back. I do not know the cost, but you could stop a bit on this side of the bridge for your photo op and on the way you would see a lot of the diverse architecture of the City as well. It really is a quite stunning location on this earth and for a one time trip it may be worth the cost to you.

in a few weeks is the Thanksgiving Holiday week, so avoid Powell Street cable car and Union Square all together to not waste time in shopping and sight-seeing crowds. There is a cable car at the end of California Street near Davis/Drumm if you want to pay $5 to ride it to the top of Nob Hill - but the other suggestions above to go to the Ferry Building could work.

You don%26#39;t say where you are going to after you arrive SFO so allow 2 hours minimum to process back through the security line if you are leaving for an overseas or international destination (even Hawaii can take you a little longer to get through security). 90 minutes if it is a domestic flight. There will be so many people in the airport spanning from Nov. 17-25 so be extra prepared for lines.

sorry, Las Vegas, should have 60 minute minimum to get through security if you have no bags to examine - shoes off, no metal, it%26#39;ll be a breeze through security ( keep a positive attitude )

Obsidian has a good point- if you%26#39;re here Thanksgiving weekend, (Thanksgiving is Thursday Nov. 22) don%26#39;t go near Powell or downtown. And if it%26#39;s the GG BRidge you really want to see, the cab idea isn%26#39;t a bad one. Embarcadero may still be a good choice for that, as there are always cabs available in front of the Hyatt Regency and the drive along the waterfront to get to the bridge would be a scenic one. Given your exchange rate, you can afford to splurge!

Of course, once you see a bit of SF, you may wish you were spending more time here than Las Vegas! ; )

actually there are a lot of factors to weigh in before we can help you out. Like what time will you be arriving in SF and what time you will be leaving. Also the time of year also has an effect, if it is during holiday season, like thanksgiving there might be more traffic.

Security lines at SFO in the mornings are outrageous, may take awhile to get back into the terminal to your gate. Also, mondays are also busy mornings, way long lines.

I was at SFO at 3 in the afternoon, there wasn%26#39;t much of a line but still about 15 minutes to get through.

The only consistent thing is the bart, usually takes about 45 minutes each way with a regular schedule, but beware also because it might be crowded with business people in the mornings or after work.

So you figure, 1 hour each way and another hour for security/boarding will give you maybe a couple of hours for visiting downtown. As others have said, may be hard to go to the gg bridge and back to give you enough time to get back to SFO but depends on how much you want to use the extra time you have available.