Money-Saving Tips for Your San Francisco Visit

7 Ways to Save on a San Francisco Vacation

You may leave your heart in San Francisco, but you don't have to leave your life savings here too. Here are some ideas to keep ways to keep the cost of your trip under control.

• Shop Around for Airfare: Check all three area airports: San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC). Oakland is closer to the city than San Jose, but you can get transportation into San Francisco from either one. Use Kayak.com to check fares and compare prices. Did you know that Southwest Airlines does not participate in any of the fare-comparison sites? Always check their prices separately by going directly to their website.

• Don't Rent a Car: San Francisco is a small city (49 square miles) and most of the tourist attractions are located in about a third of it. Parking is hard to find and driving in the city traffic can ruin the best of moods. To make matters worse, many of the centrally located hotels charge $20 or more per day for parking. Explore other ways of getting around instead. If you want to go out of the city on a day trip, rent a car for a day at a car rental agency that has a city office.

• Choose an inexpensive hotel or even better, use our simple guide to finding the best hotel rates in San Francisco to get a nice hotel for the price of a "cheap" one. If you don't mind the communal nature of hostels, they're very cheap, and some have private rooms. They are also sometimes inconveniently located, so ask questions when you make your reservation or locate them on a map.

• Get a Discount Admission Card: The San Francisco CityPass includes a seven-day Muni Pass for unlimited rides on cable cars, light rail and city buses. You also get admission to various attractions, and a San Francisco Bay Cruise. Be sure you're interested in enough of the attractions and activities to make it cost-effective. Save time and order it advance from Kijubi.com. The Go San Francisco Card comes in 3, 5 and 7-day versions and offers a lot of choices for things to do. Do a little comparison shopping to choose the one that will work best for you.

• Buy a Muni Passport: The Muni Passport is good for unlimited travel on cable cars, streetcars and buses, and offers discounts on many area attractions (usually $1 to $2 off).

• Free Attractions: You can't get much cheaper than this. Some of the things you can see for free include Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Golden Gate Park (some of the park's attractions charge admission, but getting into the park is free). City Guides tours are always free.

• Do Lunch (or not): If you want to try an expensive restaurant, their lunch prices are often lower than dinner. Or, (this is one of my favorite strategies) get a really cheap lunch and use most of your meal budget for dinner. Every January, many of San Francisco's top restaurants participate in the Dine About Town program, offering special, fixed price meals for discounted prices.