Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fast
Facts
APARTMENT RENTALS
For short-
term rentals, your best bet is
www.
craigslist.org.
You'll most likely nego-
tiate a rental directly from the unit's
owner (or the person subletting).
American Marketing Systems
www.amsires.com
and
Executive
Suites
www.executivesuites-sf.com
offer furnished apartments for
rentals of a few days or more,
although rates can be high. To
research house exchanges, check
out
Homelink International
www.homelink.org,
which has over
14,000 listings in several countries,
and
Homebase Holidays
www.
homebase-hols.com.
ATMS/CASHPOINTS
As in most cities
these days, obtaining money is a
simple matter of lining up at the
nearest ATM and plugging in your
bankcard. Unless you go to an ATM
from your bank, they all charge fees
of $1.50 to $3. The
Cirrus
y
800/
424-7787; www.mastercard.com
and
PLUS
y
800/843-7587; www.visa.
com
networks span the globe; look
at the back of your bankcard to see
which network you're on, then call
or check online for ATM locations at
your destination. Find out your daily
withdrawal limit before you depart.
BABYSITTING
Most hotel concierges
will simply provide referrals to a
babysitting service, which guests
must then call on their own. Local
companies supplying short-term
sitters are:
American Child Care
Service
y
415/285-2300; www.
americanchildcare.com,
Bay Area
2nd Mom
y
888/926-3666; www.
2ndmom.com,
and
Town & Coun-
try Resources
y
800/398-8810 or
415/567-0956; www.tandcr.com.
For
$100 per child, you can give kids a
memorable night out through the
Explorer's Club
y
415/902-7014;
www.eckidsclub.com.
BANKING HOURS
Most banks are
open Monday through Friday from
9am to 5pm. Many banks also have
ATMs for 24-hour banking.
B&BS
Go to
Bed & Breakfast
Inns Online
y
615/868-1946;
www.bbonline.com
or
Pamela
Lanier's Bed & Breakfasts
www.
lanierbb.com.
BIKE RENTALS
If you want to bike
along the Golden Gate Promenade
over the Golden Gate Bridge over to
Sausalito, your best bet is
Blazing
Saddles,
1095 Columbus Ave. and
Pier 41, Fisherman's Wharf
y
415/
202-8888
. Rental prices ($7 per
hour, $28 per day) include helmets,
locks, front packs, rear racks, maps,
and advice. Tandems, kids' trailers,
and baby seats are available.
Avenue Cyclery,
756 Stanyan St.
y
415/387-3155,
offers bike sales
and rentals and is convenient to
Golden Gate Park. Rental rates are
$7 per hour or $28 per day, and
they do stock children's bikes and
tandems.
CLIMATE
See “The Weather,” ear-
lier in this chapter.
CONCERTS
See “Tickets,” below.
CONSULATES & EMBASSIES
All
embassies are located in the
nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
Some consulates are located in
major U.S. cities, and most nations
have a mission to the United Nations
in New York City. For a directory of
embassies in Washington, D.C. call
y
202/555-1212
or log on to
www.
embassy.org/embassies.
The follow-
ing are SF consulate addresses for a
selection of countries: The
con-
sulate of Australia
is at 625 Mar-
ket Street, Suite 200, San Francisco
y
415/536-1970.
The
embassy of
Australia
is at 1601 Massachusetts
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036
y
202/797-3000; www.austemb.org.
