Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
31
Great Garages
When y ou appr oach a garage , r ead the sig ns car efully. You ma y see a sig n
offering a cheap all- day rat e. I n fac t, that rat e ma y apply only t o cars that
arrive early in the morning . A fter that, rat es can be as high as $4 ev ery 15
minutes! G arages at plac es like PIER 39 ma y adv ertise fr ee or disc ounted
parking; but impossibly small writing underneath explains that validation from
a st ore or r estaurant is r equired. The best rat es ar e at cit y-owned garages ,
many of which ar e listed here:
Union Square Garage,
333 P ost St.; $3/first hour , $13/4 hours .
Sutter-Stockton G arage,
444 St ockton St. (Union S q.); $2/first hour , $9/4
hours.
Ellis-O'Farrell G arage,
123 O 'Farrell St. (Union S q.); $2.50/first hour , $11.50/4
hours.
Fifth and M ission Garage,
833 M ission St. (S oMa); $3/first hour , $12/4 hours .
Portsmouth S quare G arage,
733 Kearn y St. at Cla y ( Chinatown); $2.50/first
hour, $9/4 hours .
North Beach Garage,
735 Vallejo St. near P owell; $2.50/first hour , $9/4 hours .
2
issues r eading maps, y our v acation could
turn chilly (or very, very loud) the moment
you exit the motorway. Along with aggres-
sive local driv ers, one-way str eets, no
right/left turns when y ou really need one,
and dead ends, ther e's a decided lack of
parking and too many o veranxious meter
maids ready to pounce. Fortunately, it isn't
necessary to driv e to many of the places
you'll want to go. When driving is impera-
tive, you can easily r ent a car for the day .
For those of y ou who ar e arriving in the
city by car, park at your hotel and do your
best to use public transportation or walk.
Rental Cars
There's no r eason to r ent a car at the air-
port only to park it in San Francisco while
you tour on foot or b y Muni. With a res-
ervation, y ou can pick up a r ental car in
the city on the day you'll be using it. Most
rental car companies will be delighted to
pick you up and drop you off right at your
hotel if necessar y, but many hav e offices
near Union Square.
Companies that have offices downtown
include
Avis,
675 P ost St. (
&
415/885-
5011;
www.avis.com);
Budget,
5 E mbar-
cadero Ctr . (
&
415/433-3717;
www .
budget.com);
Enterprise,
222 M ason St.
(
&
415/837-1700;
www.enterprise.com);
Hertz,
325 Mason St. (
&
415/771-2200;
www.hertz.com); and
Thrifty,
350 O'Farrell
St. (
&
415/788-8111;
www.thrifty.com).
Driving Rules
California law r equires that both driv ers
and passengers wear seat belts. Cellphones
must be hands-fr ee while driving; use a
headset, earphone, or speaker phone—or
just pull over. Children up to age 6 or who
weigh less than 60 pounds must use a car
seat or booster seat. Cars may turn right
on a red light (unless otherwise indicated)
after making a complete stop and yielding
to traffic and pedestrians. Also, make a
complete stop at stop signs, not a r olling
stop; our local traffic police lo ve to write
tickets for that seemingly innocuous
offense. Cable cars and str eetcars always
