San Francisco on a Budget

California’s coolest city, San Fran has long been a hippie haven and the home of counter culture. The city thrives on diversity and tolerance, with a vibrant ethnic population in Chinatown and Little Italy, and some of the best gay nightlife and gay Pride Parades on the West Coast.

Unlike other major US cities, San Francisco is pretty easy to tackle on a budget, and even the major tourist sights like the eerie prison of Alcatraz won’t set you back too far. Here’s our guide to a cheap city break:

Where to Stay

For budget accommodation, there are several San Francisco hostels close to the city center. Not just for cash strapped backpackers, some of the hostels have private and shared rooms, social events so you can meet other travelers, and great free travel resources like city tours, discounted tickets, and maps.

Free Things to Do

There’s plenty of free things to do in the city, like visiting the Golden Gate Bridge. A symbol of San Francisco (and California), you can cross the 1.7 mile-long art deco structure – built in 1937 – by car or on foot, and if there’s no fog, enjoy incomparable views of San Francisco Bay.

For more inspiring views, climb Coit Tower and check out the fascinating murals on the walls inside.

Many of the museums in San Francisco are free to enter on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of the month. But the Museo Italo-Americano, the Cable Car Museum and the San Francisco Art Institute galleries never charge an admission fee.

Other activities, like exploring the cities diverse neighbourhoods, attempting to climb those steep hills, browsing the stalls at Fisherman’s Wharf and (window) shopping at Union Square, all cost nothing.

Cheap Museums

There are also some more quirky museums that are pretty cheap to enter. The Cartoon Art Museum the only one in the western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of cartoon art in all its forms – that means comics, digital animation, illustration and videogames!

With seven major exhibitions a year, the museum has a classroom for cartoon art and a bookstore! Currently, you can check out the amazing puppets from Fantastic Mr. Fox, the much praised animated feature from independent filmmaker Wes Anderson; and the celebration of 50 years since the original release of the classic Walt Disney´s Sleeping Beauty, from pencil art and model sheets to animation cells, colour guides and behind-the-scenes photographs of the cast and crew!

Cheap Eats

You don´t have to spend your whole trip eating tasteless hot dogs or suspicious street food.

Chinatown should be your first stop for authentic Asian cuisine, or head to Little Italy for some old-school trattorias with bags of character.

You can find great value meals and massive portions at those fifties style diners – Taylor’s Refresher at the Ferry Builder’s Farmer’s Market serves generous leafy salads, grilled cheese sandwiches, Ahi tuna burgers and superrich milkshakes.

If you really want to cut, back, just pop to the supermarket and make a meal in the kitchen of your San Francisco hostel.

Tags: San Francisco