Golden Gate Bridge, Japanese Tea Gardens and Pier 39 Sealions! / USA and Canada 2024

A busy day being a tourist in San Francisco. I tried to make the most of it, but the whole day went pretty poorly. 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

I decided to start my day at the third bus stop point, because I thought it would be a nice walk and a chance to explore the retail area of San Francisco. I walked through the fancy shops to Union Square which was beautiful, then got breakfast at a local deli. I then made my way to the Big Bus Tour stop and was mortified to see the length of the queue. It was huge! I'd already been past it a few times when exploring, but never for a second considered it would be the queue to get on the bus. 

After waiting to board for over an hour, every bus that came was supposedly "full", even though it was visibly empty in areas and had spaces. I asked if I could get on as I was alone, but I was told I had to keep waiting. They then promised us an empty bus was on it's way and after about another 30 minutes, it finally came. It was so frustrating to have to just wait and stand there, wasting the day away. The original plan was to stop at the Japanese Tea Gardens and Golden Gate Bridge in the morning, but I really wanted to do the Chinatown Walking Tour so I knew I didn't have time to do both now unfortunately. 

Instead, I stayed on the bus until the Golden Gate Bridge, getting off to take in the beautiful views and the incredible "Charmed" sites I grew up dreaming of visiting. I couldn't climb to the top quite as easily as I'd hoped, but it was still a beautiful site to take in and experience. I was quite impressed by how pretty the surrounding area was as well and it was fun to be able to see the pier where by "step brother" had just got married a few days before, but sadly I wasn't invited. 

It was what I thought would be a quick stop, then I could get back on the next bus to arrive, but unfortunately as became the norm for San Francisco Big Bus Tour, I was sat there waiting for what felt like hours. It was incredibly frustrating. 

I then made my way to Chinatown. One thing I had been really excited for was the Chinatown walking tour. It was annoyingly in the middle of the day and as I sat waiting for the bus, I knew it was getting tighter and tighter. I almost made it in time, but then at stop 1, I had to change buses again and there was a lag between arriving and setting back off again. Instead, I still got off at Chinatown but walked around myself, trying to take it all in and catch up to the tour group but I never did. It was still pretty, but I still don't know if I saw the official "temple". 

I then got back on the bus the next stop down, going through Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin's old stomping grounds and homes, before getting off at the painted ladies, which are a group of pastel painted homes. 

Again, back on the bus and this time, I finally got off at the Japanese Tea Gardens. I was originally planning on going to observatory for the galaxy exhibition, but I arrived 5 minutes after last entry and they sadly wouldn't let me back in. I decided to make my way through the open gardens and head to the Japanese Tea Gardens earlier than the ticket allowed, hoping for the best. 

When I arrived, they said I could go in but the free tickets were for 9am and not 5pm as the ticket stated which was again another frustration. Of course, by this point, I'd already gone out of my way to be there so I decided to go around and explore anyway and it was beautiful. It was a shame a lot of it was closed but nevertheless, enjoyable and very relaxing. 

After getting on a very late bus once again, I made my way back to the pier to explore Pier 39 and the famous sealions. I got there just as it was sunset and it was the perfect time to capture the landscape and watch the sealions as they were being very vocal!

My final stops of the city were for the free "The Flyer" experience. I was really excited for this after 2 previous good experiences in other cities, but it was honestly such a waste of time, money and energy. I did both of the options (San Francisco and Dinosaurs) and was very disappointed. The technology was really poor and the graphics blurry. It wasn't good. To end the night, I headed for fish and chips which were again mediocre at best. Then I made my way back to the hotel for a night to prepare for the next city on the agenda.