Planning A Trip To The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Planning Your Trip

Whether your itinerary calls for exploring iconic San Francisco attractions or attending business meetings at the hotel, here is what you should pack for your trip to the City by the Bay.

What to Pack

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

San Francisco is famous for its outdoorsy lifestyle. Whether you’re hiking through Muir Woods, jogging down the Embarcadero, doing yoga in Golden Gate Park or kayaking in the Bay, make sure you pack appropriate activewear.

Exploring the City

San Francisco is only 47 square miles, but it’s brimming with first-class museums, upscale shopping, world-renowned restaurants — even a baseball stadium

San Francisco is famous for its hilly terrain. For a day of sightseeing, sneakers or flat comfortable shoes are highly recommended.

It never gets too hot or too cold, so dressing in layers and carrying a light jacket or sweater will keep you comfortable year-round.

If visiting in September or October — the city’s warmest months — pack a summery outfit or two.

Business Travel

A meeting at a financial company requires different attire than one at a tech startup. Research the company’s culture before packing.

A gray, black or navy suit is always a safe bet. You can dress it down by leaving the tie behind or taking the jacket off.

San Francisco is a walking city, so women should bring a pair of flats to change into if heels are an outfit must-have.

Evening Chic

From the ballet to the opera to Michelin-starred restaurants, San Francisco nightlife offers a little something for everyone.

The city is a foodie paradise. When visiting a fine dining restaurant, switch out jeans for an elegant dress and a jacket and tie.

Headed to the ballet or the opera? Bring along formalwear for the occasion.

To stay warm in the Bay Area weather, don’t forget an outer layer that will pair well with your eveningwear.

Cityscape of San Francisco at dusk with the Golden Gate Bridge lit up in the background.

What to Reserve

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

San Francisco’s diverse offerings mean there is a lot to explore, from towering redwoods to luxury experiences like wine tasting. Play it safe (and smart) by reserving these activities before you arrive.

Tours

One of the most uniquely San Franciscan experiences is a trip to Alcatraz Island. A mile and a half from Fisherman’s Wharf, this infamous prison once held notorious criminals like Al Capone. Today it’s part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, maybe the most popular. Book your spot through Alcatraz Cruises early (the night tour is less crowded). Tickets can be purchased 90 days in advance, and some tours frequently sell out.

Nightlife

If you’re in the mood for culture, you’ve come to the right city. The San Francisco Ballet is one of the most prestigious and oldest professional ballet companies in the U.S. The season runs January through May, with tickets usually going on sale a couple of months beforehand. The city is also home to the internationally acclaimed San Francisco Opera, well-known for its classical performances (“La Traviata” and “Turandot”) and for productions of new operas from current composers. Whether you opt for the ballet or the opera, you’ll want to secure your tickets well in advance.

Day Trips

One of the best things about San Francisco is its close proximity to Napa Valley. Just 55 miles north, this beautiful stretch of land is home to small towns surrounded by vineyards. Once you get there, leave the car behind and hop aboard the historical Napa Valley Wine Train. Book one of the train’s dinners or winery tours online in advance — dates and times vary. An even shorter distance away is Muir Woods National Monument. Here you can walk among the mighty coastal redwood trees — but not without reservations, which are required for all vehicles and shuttle riders starting in early 2018.

Dining Reservations

With access to wine country, lush produce and fresh seafood, San Francisco’s food scene are top-notch. For delicious farm-to-table dining, book a table at The Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, where Executive Chef Patrick O’Sullivan serves up Coastal California cuisine made from locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. For a unique dining experience, head to Lazy Bear in the Mission District. Here, the idea of sharing a meal with others is just as important as the food itself. Serving up modern American food in a communal setting, Chef David Barzelay creates the imaginative dishes that have earned the restaurant two Michelin stars. Lazy Bear releases each month’s reservations all at once, typically on a Wednesday a couple of weeks into the previous month.

Itineraries

Culinary Tours

It’s not just San Francisco’s close proximity to the Napa Valley and the Northern California farmland that makes it such an incomparable destination for dedicated foodies. With the tech boom, an entirely new culture of dining has emerged: fine dining with the rarest and highest-quality ingredients. Airy bistros that you could lounge in all day. And, thanks to a diverse immigrant population, a large variety of international cuisine. Come very hungry

Culinary Tours

Day 1

Morning

Sinfully Good French Toast. Indulge in the famous, deep fried French Toast, infused with Grand Marnier, at Sweet Maple on Sutter Street in Lower Pacific Heights. Afterwards, explore the many shops and specialty grocery stores in Japantown.

Midday

An Unforgettable Hike. Drive to the Coastal Trail to hike the breathtaking Lands End. What begins with a steady incline through towering trees and wildflowers leads to a dramatic view of the Bay, a shipwreck, and the ruins of the majestic Sutro Baths, a saltwater swimming pool complex from the 19th century that was destroyed in a fire.

Reward Yourself. Outerlands serves one of San Francisco’s best brunches: enormous Dutch-style pancakes with ricotta, garlic grilled cheeses cooked on a cast-iron skillet, and kale and Gruyere quiches. Be prepared to wait for a bit on the weekends.

Afternoon

Small Bites at the Ferry Building. San Francisco’s old ferry terminal is now home to a gold mine of delicious food: Marla Bakery’s fluffy English muffins, the Imperial Tea Court’s dumplings, and Mijita’s Mexico City-style quesadillas. Sample international cheeses at Cowgirl Creamery and pick up a beautiful handmade vase or mug from Heath Ceramics.

Explore Chinatown. Just the walk into Chinatown, through an epic dragon-flanked red gate, is an experience. Within the 1.3-square-mile neighborhood, hundreds of stores sell produce and antiques. Stop at Golden Gate Fortune Cookie for freshly baked fortune cookies.

One to Get the Night Started. Chinatown’s Li Po Lounge, near The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, is famous among locals for one thing: Chinese mai tais. The drink incorporates rum, pineapple and Chinese liquor. Drink under the kitschy paper lanterns.

Evening

Sophisticated Mexican. After you’ve sampled from the city’s many taquerias, try Cala, a high-end Mexican restaurant opened by an acclaimed chef from Mexico City. Everything is good — especially the impossibly flaky rockfish and giant grilled sweet potatoes with spicy bone marrow salsa.

For Delightful Cocktails. At a large international bartender contest, the staff from ABV recently took home the top prize. Sip on Mumbai Mule (like a Moscow Mule with Indian spices) or the smoky, complex, sugarless Whiskey in Church.

Day 2

Morning

A Breakfast of Sweet Pastries. Patisserie consistently wins James Beard awards for its French pastries. The especially famous kouign amann — a crisp, caramelized pastry from Brittany made by folding dough with layers of butter and sugar — is pronounced like this: queen-a-mahn.

A Morning in the Park. An unmissable experience in San Francisco, the 1,000-acre Golden Gate Park contains a Japanese Tea House and Garden, the stunning Conservatory of Flowers, a carousel, and even a herd of bison. Devote a few hours to this unparalleled urban oasis.

Midday

The City’s Best Charcuterie. It’s likely that a meal at the bright and stylish Trou Normand will include spotting a large animal being rolled into the kitchen. Everything on the menu is made in-house by the staff. Don’t miss the excellent list of local wines.

Art to Be Experienced. Begin on the first floor of the newly reopened San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by looking up at the stunning oculus and wandering the Richard Serra installation. Then continue exploring all seven levels of modern masterpieces from artists including Alexander Calder and Dan Flavin.

Afternoon

A Break for Tea. Local gem Samovar offers a long list of interesting tea drinks: matcha lattes, turmeric chais, and odd, rare teas like Pu-erh. Take them to go or enjoy them on the sunny patio.

Evening

A Wine Tasting. Tucked away in the hotel lobby is the private and elegant JCB Tasting Room — an intimate, velvet-covered lounge where you can enjoy a flight of rare, exclusive and interesting wines from winemaker Jean-Charles Boisset.

Pitch-perfect Pizza and Pasta. Flour + Water serves the kind of pizza and pasta you might find in small-town Italy: chewy tortellini with truffles and crisp Neapolitan pies topped with stracciatella and sweet Calabrian chilies. As locals love this spot, make reservations far ahead or prepare to wait a little while.

Ice Cream With Personality. Humphry Slocombe makes oddball ice cream flavors that will make you smile — for instance, Elvis: The Fat Years, made with banana, peanut butter and bacon, and the super popular Secret Breakfast, made with cornflakes and whiskey.

Cultural Treasures

One of the most eclectic cities in America, San Francisco is filled with neighborhoods that have diverse and rich histories, with much of those histories well-preserved. (Where else can you find cable cars still roaring through streets?) Trace the path of the beatniks, who called North Beach their home, or visit the ruins of the city’s old bathhouse on the water. And don’t miss the many museums that can stand up to those of New York, London and Paris.

Day 1

Morning

Ride in a Cable Car. San Francisco lays claim to the world’s largest manually operated cable car network still in operation. Take one of the iconic cars from Union Square, a short six-minute walk from the hotel, to the Ferry Building stop — and hold on tight as it traverses the hills.

Breakfast at the Ferry Building. The city’s old ferry terminal now functions as a large food hall. Sample McEvoy olive oils, grab pour-over coffee from Blue Bottle and pick up a pastry from Marla, an excellent local bakery that makes fluffy English muffins from scratch.

Midday

Sail to Alcatraz. An island off the coast of San Francisco, Alcatraz is the former home to a federal prison, which is open to the public for tours. While on the island, you can also see tide pools and bird colonies. Book your ferry tickets a few weeks in advance as the boats fill up.

Afternoon

Wander North Beach. In the 1950s, Jack Kerouac and many others from the Beat Generation lived in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. Trace their steps at the legendary literary landmark City Lights Bookstore and the Vesuvio Cafe.

Take Advantage of Little Italy. North Beach is also San Francisco’s Little Italy, and the 95-year-old Tosca serves some of the city’s best and most inventive Italian fare. Don’t miss the crispy pigtails or beautiful simple bucatini with chilies.

Evening

A Night Out at the Ballet. The San Francisco Ballet company receives international accolades and is considered by many to be the best in the country. The company performs in San Francisco from January through May, tours for the summer and part of fall, and then returns every December for performances of The Nutcracker.

Day 2

Morning

An Architectural Landmark. The most famous skyscraper in San Francisco, the Transamerica Pyramid building towers over the rest of the city’s Financial District. Crushed white quartz gives it a pure white color.

Midday

The Big Museum. The just-renovated SF MoMA contains 170,000 square feet of art from the 20th century, including an impressive collection of Alexander Calder sculptures and large-scale canvas pieces from abstract painters. Don’t miss the Living Wall, a vertical garden of plants native to the Bay Area.

Lunch in the Park. Grab delicious California produce and a sandwich from Bi-Rite, a hyperlocal gourmet grocery, and have lunch on Dolores Park, a dreamy green space that faces one of the best views in the city. After, pick up salted caramel ice cream from Bi-Rite’s neighboring creamery.

Afternoon

Explore Chinatown. The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco is located next door to one of the city’s biggest treasures: the oldest Chinatown in America. Enter through the grand Chinatown Gate flanked by dragons, and wander through antique shops and a fortune cookie factory.

Evening

Wine in a Garden. Arlequin is one of the city’s best wine shops and, most importantly, allows you to drink the California reds, whites and bubbles in the shop’s shaded backyard garden.

A Farm-Fresh Dinner. Heralded as the restaurant of the future, the Perennial sources its meat and dairy from local North California farms and grows produce in the restaurant’s own hydroponic garden. Don’t miss the cocktails, which incorporate herbs from the garden.

Day 3

Morning

An Architectural Landmark. The most famous skyscraper in San Francisco, the Transamerica Pyramid building towers over the rest of the city’s Financial District. Crushed white quartz gives it a pure white color.

Midday

Afternoon

Evening

Wine in a Garden. Arlequin is one of the city’s best wine shops and, most importantly, allows you to drink the California reds, whites and bubbles in the shop’s shaded backyard garden.

A Farm-Fresh Dinner. Heralded as the restaurant of the future, the Perennial sources its meat and dairy from local North California farms and grows produce in the restaurant’s own hydroponic garden. Don’t miss the cocktails, which incorporate herbs from the garden.

Redicovering San Francisco's Charms

Born and raised in the Golden State, fashion bloggers Dylana and Natalie Suarez return to their roots with a trip to The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco and The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay.

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