San Francisco is one of the most visited cities in the world and is home to several famous landmarks. Probably the most famous are the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.
Getting around San Fancisco:
In my opinion, San Fancisco is not very easy to get around. Some big cities, like New York and Paris, you can get just about anywhere you want to go on the subway or metro. San Fancisco has some public transportation. It is certainly better than other cities in California like Los Angeles and San Diego, but it is still a far cry from getting you everywhere you want to go. You will probably do quite a bit of walking and having a car in San Francisco can be very expensive. Parking at some hotels can be over $50 per night.
The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) consits of a few subway lines and a bunch of bus routes. If you are willing to pile onto a crowded bus and walk a few blocks between connections, BART can get you around the city. There are also the famous San Fancisco cable cars that run down two routes. The cable cars are a bit more expensive at $5 per ride, but they are one of the classic symbols of San Fancisco. You can purchase a daily or monthly pass that allows unlimited rides on the cable cars and buses.
Flying to San Francisco:
SFO
There are several major airports close to San Francisco. San Francisco International Airport is obviously the closest most convenient. The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train goes right into SFO which gives you easy access to the rest of the city. Flights into SFO might be a little more expensive, depending on your departure city and airline, but when you add up other transportion costs it might break even or be less expensive as a whole. It is very expensive to rent a car in San Francisco, partly because of parking. In areas such as Union Square, parking at hotels can be $50 per day. If you can get around by riding the BART, trolly cars, and walking you'll save a lot money and you can avoid trying to parallel park on steep hills.