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San Francisco for less: cutting costs in the West's most expensive city - Travel: Value Vacation - San Francisco, California

Lisa Taggart

This spring my husband and I achieved a small miracle in San Francisco: We spent three days and two nights enjoying great meals and city sights for less than it costs for a single weekend night--$359, including tax--at the Ritz-Carlton.

Some people said it couldn't be done, but we proved them wrong. Our money-saving strategies: We walked a lot, soaking up the city's stunning natural beauty and avoiding the cost and competition of parking. We talked to residents to ferret out good restaurant deals. And we sought out the bounty of free, unique-to-San Francisco experiences.

DAY ONE: A GOOD BASE

Our hotel was the San Remo, a 1906 European-style pension decorated with ferns, flowery comforters, and wood armoires, and located in North Beach. The lively neighborhood is packed with pastry shops and trattorias, an inheritance from the district's Italian settlers of a century ago.

The San Remo Hotel is one of the best deals in the city--if you don't mind sharing a bath. At $75 a night, the inconvenience was worth it; other North Beach hotels we checked out ran close to $200 a night. Two nights, including 14 percent hotel tax: $171. (Another good choice in North Beach is the Hotel Boheme; though rooms are pricier, they have a funky Beat-era charm.)

On our first foray, we jogged northwest up Columbus Avenue to the San Francisco Maritime Museum (free) for a peek at ship artifacts and a nice view of the bay. We strolled past the piers and museums at Fort Mason and the St. Francis Yacht Club all the way to the city's wave organ. San Francisco Bay plays this natural musical instrument through pipes that amplify the waves' sound. We gazed out at the water, listening to the groan of the pipes, and spotted two sea lions offshore peeking at us.

The long walk back covered several neighborhoods: In the gardens of the Palace of Fine Arts (free), we peered up at the muscular maidens atop architect Bernard Maybeck's columns built to resemble Roman ruins for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Nearby the Marina District's Chestnut Street was lined with upscale boutiques that made for fun window-shopping. After climbing the Chestnut stairs, we popped into the San Francisco Art Institute, where edgy student paintings and sculptures are displayed in the Spanish mission-style courtyard and works by international artists are exhibited at the institute's Walter and McBean Galleries (free). Plus, the back patio has incredible views of North Beach and the bay.

Several locals had recommended L'Osteria del Forno for its big plates and small prices. They were right: The little Italian eatery in the middle of North Beach has delicious homemade ravioli and tasty soup, which revived our tired legs. The tab for two appetizers and two entrees (including tax and tip) was $39.43.

DAY ONE

$359 IN POCKET

Two nights at the San Remo: $171 [down]$188 REMAINING

Exploring the waterfront and San Francisco Maritime Museum: FREE [down]$188 REMAINING

Marina District shopping and San Francisco Art Institute galleries: FREE [down]$188 REMAINING

Ravioli and soup dinner at L'Osteria del Forno: $39 [down arrow] $149 REMAINING

DAY TWO: VIEWS, MORE VIEWS, AND A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

We hit the streets again early Saturday, climbing Telegraph Hill and stopping at Coit Tower to admire the 1930s murals of laborers and the fantastic views (though we skipped the $3.75 elevator ride to the top of the tower). The best part of the walk was passing lovely old gardens as we descended the Filbert Street steps. A hummingbird buzzed past our heads, and above, in a magnolia tree, the hill's resident flock of wild parrots clucked and chattered.

At the bottom of the hill is Levi Plaza, where Lawrence Halprin's inspired landscaping works magic in the venerable San Francisco clothing company's courtyard.

Sustenance was close by at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. We elbowed our way past the sporty young couples sipping lattes to investigate our options--baked goods, burritos, all kinds of fruits and produce, and grilled sandwiches. Several local restaurants have booths here, serving inexpensive samplings of their menus.

After agonizing over so many good choices, we settled on a cakelike pain au chocolat from Miette Organic Bakery ($3) and scrambled eggs and tomatoes on a baguette from Hayes Street Grill ($4).

Ambling south along the waterfront, we joined the parade of seagulls and in-line skaters cruising the Embarcadero, pausing to read the historic markers along the route. One line that seemed written just for our quest was from a 1917 poem by Guenivieve Taggard: To sit together and drink the blue ocean/And eat the sun like a fruit.

Back in North Beach, we stumbled upon a great deal: Gaffe Trieste's weekly opera performances. The gifted Giotta family offers rousing musical shows weekly in their cozy cafe, a North Beach institution, all for the price of the city's best espresso--or, in our case, two yummy focaccia pizzas, $6.90.

Gallery and boutique browsing took up the rest of our afternoon. One stop we couldn't miss was City Lights Bookstore. Founded in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin, this literary landmark is where Beat poets such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg gathered to spark a literary and cultural revolution.

Dinner was another discovery: Down the semiseedy strip of Broadway, the Helmand is an elegant, white-tablecloth Afghan restaurant with an outstanding menu and moderate prices. Cost for homemade pasta with ground beef, cardamom-spiced rice, a salad, and appetizer was $41.

Afterward, we took another long walk (though in retrospect we'd recommend a cab, about $12) to see a quintessentially San Francisco production. The Audium sound-sculpture performance off Van Ness Avenue has been running for 27 years, but the show--an abstract melange of hundreds of recorded sounds played in varying rhythms, tones, and volumes from 169 speakers--was born of the Beat era. Sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers was somewhat claustrophobic, but the tones eventually induced a dreamlike state. Tickets for two: $24.

DAY TWO

Hiking Telegraph Hill for views and murals at Coit Tower: FREE * $149 REMAINING

Late pain au chocolat and scrambled egg breakfast at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market: $7 * $142 REMAINING

1917 poem by Guenivieve Taggard: To sit together and drink the blue ocean/And eat the sun like a fruit: FREE * $142 REMAINING

Opera and focaccia pizzas at Caffe Trieste: $7 * $135 REMAINING

Meet the Beats--poets, that is--on the shelves of City Lights Bookstore: FREE * $135 REMAINING

Afghan dinner at Helmand, $41, followed by sound sculpture performance at the Audium: $24 * $70 REMAINING

DAY THREE: HISTORY BY RAIL AND ON FOOT

Sunday breakfast was bagels and scrambled eggs at nearby Caffe la Piazza ($10.45). Up Mason Street, the Cable Car Museum (free) is command central for the city's rolling antiques. We peered through underground windows to see the steadily turning pulleys and wheels that keep all of the city's cable cars moving at 9 1/2 miles per hour.

Naturally, we boarded one ($4 for two) and journeyed to Market Street, where we hopped on one of the city's sleek, historic streetcars ($2), riding up Market to Dolores Street and walking south to Mission Dolores.

One of the oldest buildings in San Francisco--the city's first Catholic mass was held in 1776--this is also where we scored one of the weekend's best bargains: a City Guides walking tour (free). We gawked at the mission's stained glass and 4-foot-thick adobe walls, and learned the structure was built of 36,000 bricks by Ohlone Indians. Though the tour was free, we left a well-deserved donation ($15).

It was a bit of a splurge, but the nearby restaurant Grub was packed with chic urbanites. We dove into our burgers and homemade chips, ($22.05), satisfied we were in the heart of the Castro's hipness.

One last trek (cable car: $4) took us to Grace Cathedral (free, but we left a $3 donation), a hulking gray Gothic-style Episcopalian church on the top of Nob Hill. By luck, our visit coincided with a Sunday concert. Though tickets to the small chamber where a harpsichordist and soprano performed Baroque pieces would have busted our budget, at $20 each, the hauntingly beautiful music followed us throughout the massive chapel, drifting up to the 91-foot-high ceiling. We stopped at a side gallery and listened while examining a Keith Haring triptych, the artist's last work before his death in 1990.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set and the, soft light seemed an extension of the cathedral's eerie melodies. I reached into my pocket for the souvenir snow globe I'd purchased on our walk the first day--at $8.65, it was probably the biggest indulgence of the trip. In its little dome, snowflakes dropped onto the TransAmerica Pyramid.

And knowing we had spent a weekend in San Francisco for just $358.48 seemed pretty sublime too.

DAY THREE

Bagel and egg breakfast at Caffe la Piazza: $11 * $59 REMAINING

Watching pulleys at the Cable Car Museum: FREE * $59 REMAINING

Hopping a cable car and streetcar: $6 * $53 REMAINING

City Guides walking tour of Mission Dolores: FREE * $53 REMAINING

Tip for guide: $15 * $38 REMAINING

Burger lunch at Grub: $22 * $16 REMAINING

Cable car, $4, to Grace Cathedral; $3 donation: * $9 REMAINING

Souvenir snow globe: $9 * REMAINING CHANGE $0

RELATED ARTICLE: San Francisco travel planner

For visitor information, contact the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau: (415/283-0177 or www.sfcvb.org) for travel deals.

ATTRACTIONS

* Audium. 8:30 P.M. Fri-Sat. 1616 Bush St.; (415) 771-1616 or www.audium.org.

* Grace Cathedral. 1100 California St.; (415) 749-6300 or www.gracecathedral.org.

* Mission San Francisco de Asis. 3321 16th St.; (415) 621-8203 or www.missiondolores.org.

* San Francisco Art Institute. Closed Sun-Mon. Walter and McBean Galleries. 800 Chestnut St.; (415) 749-4563 or www.sanfranciscoart.edu.

* San Francisco Cable Car Museum and Car Barn. 1201 Mason St.; (415) 474-1887 or www.cablecarmuseum.com.

* San Francisco City Guides walking tours. Daily tours of many city neighborhoods. (415) 557-4266 or www.sfcityguides.org.

* San Francisco Maritime Museum. Beach and Polk Streets; (415) 561-7100 or www.nps.gov/safr.

DINING

* Caffe la Piazza. 700 Columbus Ave.; (415) 392-9290.

* Caffe Trieste. 601 Vallejo St.; (415) 392-6739.

* Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. 8-1:30 Sat. Green St. at the Embarcadero.

* Grub. Closed Mon. 3499 16th St.; (415) 552-7645.

* The Helmand. 430 Broadway; (415) 362-0641.

* L'Osteria del Forno. Note: cash only. Closed Tue. 519 Columbus; (415) 982-1124.

LODGING

* Hotel Boheme. From $164. 444 Columbus; (415) 433-9111 or www.hotelboheme.com.

* San Remo Hotel. 2237 Mason St.; (415) 776-8688 or www.sanremohotel.com.

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