I expect you are here now, so Welcome to California!

I came over here to wish you Happy days and pleasant smiles! Then I noticed that you decided to stay at a hotel! Awesome! You will share won't you? You know when you get back home? Have fun!
Sunshiine

The Youth Hostel system is spartan but cheap and in great locations, hosts a lot of international travellers.

As for stuff to do... My simple advice is this: walk around the city. At the very least, take the transit system which goes EVERYWHERE for a good price. Don't take taxis unless you really need to get somewhere or away from something fast. San Francisco is really not as big of a place as it looks from the outside. My three favorite things to do in The City (as everyone calls it) is to eat in North Beach (cloud nine for Italian Food), walk the Wharf and people-watch, and hang out in the Mission District (cloud 9 for Mexican/South American food).

Some bits of advice:
-If it looks like a tourist trap, it is, and you will get trapped there for an inordinate amount of time in order to see something that will not be worth the bother.
-Don't give money to hobos, the SF hobo is a crafty guy. Just ignore him and he will get the message.
-Remember: if you are lost, California Street, Market Street, and Sacramento street are the major arteries.
-Definitely ditch the Junior Kites at the motel for a few nights and go seek out the night life.
-If City Lights bookstore doesn't have it, it's not worth reading.
-If it smells like incense, it's marijuana.
-Don't Panic. Also don't hitchhike.


Some Must see places for the first-time visitor.
-Golden Gate Park (De-young art museum, Academy of Sciences. The A of S has an indoor rainforest!)
-Golden Gate Bridge-Millions of tourists- see it from down at the waterfront at Fort Point, Because the tourist place up the hill is a hellish crowd.
-Alcatraz-riding the ferry is a good tour of the bay too. The kids will love the old prison!
-The Wharf, all the interesting piers, and everything to do with them. (watch out for Bushman, once he catches you, you will know exactly what I mean. Get one of his "Bushman scared the S**t out of me!" T-shirts- Classy!)
-City Center and the courthouse, there's a great farmer's market just south in UN Plaza.
-China Town (If you don't know what it is, don't eat it, although it's probably delicious and will cure things you didn't even know you had)
-North Beach (FOOD.)
-Haight+Ashbury- ground zero for the hippie movement. Might not be the best for kids. Look for the huge pair of legs sticking out a second story window.
-Stand under the Transamerica Pyramid, makes you feel tiny.
-See a baseball game.
-walk through the financial district, visit the Occupy Camp (assuming it's still there).
-The Presidio park is full of paths, landmarks, views, old buildings, and all kinds of people who jog at an inhuman pace.
-Check out the ruins of the Sutro Baths-my favorite place in the city.
-Go across the bay to Marin and see Muir Woods- If you haven't seen redwood trees, it's quite amazing.
-You are Kiteman after all, so kite on the beach!

If you end up going up the coast to the wine country or the forested counties or coast North of that (A great day-or-three detour from city bustle), I can show you around in person for that's where I am.

Have a great visit!

There is really nothing walking distance to the airport. You cannot walk there because it's only freeways going there. You can only get there by car, bus and BART train.
The Dylan is very close though and has a free shuttle bus. I stay there the night before early flights out of SFO. And there are Caltrain and BART train stops a block away, so the next morning you can get to the city very easily.

I just saw this! Let me ask my resident Englishman what he would feel up to in the same circumstances and I'll let you know.

This just in...
Two of my daughters just back from SF are raving about a Youth Hostile
10 min by American car driving with 4 children from crazy noisy SF...

She is sending a link to me soonest.
Reservations are necessary now !!!
They paid $100 for three nights for six.
Families get a private room, very clean...

A

Too bad you're not docking at LAX...Los Angeles. You could jump on a shuttle, take it to my part of the world...a thirty minute ride at that time of night. I'd pick you up, we could talk and share, go to breakfast,then you guys could take a nap at my place, then on to your destination. I'm surprised no one has offered this in SF. Good luck, hope you don't get too stressed out with that experience.

A motel for the night is definitely the way to go.

During your vacation, try to make time to drive down to Monterey; it is only about an hour away. It is a beautiful section of the coast and they have an outstanding aquarium. My visit was twenty years ago, but I know the aquarium and the beach are still there.

Have a great trip, and enjoy the fabulous fresh seafood.

If you start to feel too out-of-place, y'all can always give each other sharpie (biro?) temporary tattoos in order to blend in. :-)

After 16 hours on a plane, I would book a Motel. You want to enjoy your vacation don't you? Nothing worse that to start your wonderful vacation with a cranky wife and kids. Get a room, shower, get a good nights sleep,and wake up refreshed for your new adventure! I don't think you will regret it! Love the picture by the way. Oh yeah remember to bring your kiteman pillow! Hope your vacation will create memories for a life time. Sunshiine

Top Ten Things for Kiteman and Family to do in SF

10. Show up early at the apartment anyway whereby embarrassing the hosts or current occupants of said apartment and escalate into a squatter's war.

9. Decide what color to get your hair dyed. Teal, orange, fuscia pink and blonde are already taken.

8. Robot tattoos for everyone.

7. Enjoy a round of dumpster diving with the indigenous peoples.

6. Projection bomb the Golden Gate Bridge.

5. Prepare to busk for a few coins to supplement the meager artist-in-residence wages.

4. Wander the streets like other derelict families. Act normal.

3. Canvass the missions to find out that one question to ask God if he showed up at your front door.

2. Try roller skating through the hills of San Francisco.

1. Stand up on a box and proclaim "I am Kiteman, King of the Wooooorld..." and get pooped on by seagulls.

Two of my daughters and grand children were in SF yesterday
one took this pic so you can recognize it when you fall in from the sky
and welcome to your family :¬)

A

 
I am extremely jealous - That is a place I would really love to go.  We got a taste of the North East a couple of years ago but really want to go to the South as well.  Maybe in a couple of years . . .
(You're not flying Trans-Love airlines are you?) 

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

L

One word -- "AsiaSF." RogerX will never be the same...

On a more serious note...it's going to be at least 1 am when you final get through immigration and customs. The airport is going to be pretty dead, and you don't want to be trying to find your way around the City when everyone is dead tired from a transatlantic flight.

Get a decent hotel room close to the airport, and do some sightseeing the next morning before your flat's ready. My family and I stay at the Embassy Suites in South San Francisco when we go down there -- separate bedroom for the grownups, and a queen-size foldout couch for the boys. A full (American style) breakfast is included with the room.

Camp at the lab?

Or go to the piers and swim out and cuddle the sea lions

TBH, I think you're looking at closer to 1am before you clear through and get your luggage. If you manage to stay awake for the whole flight (which is recommended), you'll be starting off right with "hopefully" a good nights rest at a hotel. Anything else may be too much to handle as soon as you get there. (Jet lag isn't fun... especially with 2 kids). :P