On my recent weekend in San Francisco, I went on a cable car for the first time in about 15 years…read more So, we were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel down by Union Square, and the cable car station is located right around the corner, about 2 blocks away. That is one of the starting points for the cable car, and we were trying to get to Chinatown. When we arrived on a Saturday morning around 10am, there was a line. It did take us about 30 to 45 minutes to get onto a cable car, but they were moving steadily, and picking up passengers. Once we got on board, however, we noticed that the line had gotten even longer behind us, so we were glad we came when we did. We took the car uphill on the Powell/Hyde line, and told the engineer that we were trying to get to Chinatown. It was pretty much a straight shot uphill on Powell, and then we exited on Jackson Street, which was exactly where we wanted to be in the Chinatown neighborhood. Because we had bought a day long pass, we were able to use it throughout the day. We also had downloaded the Muni mobile app to see where the location of the cable cars were. I was excited to sit on the outside seat, and see the cars going by, other cable cars, and folks on the street waving hello. If you are nervous about the outside-facing cars they do have indoor seating as well. This iconic San Francisco tourist attraction, very unique, cannot be done anywhere else in the country. I highly recommend going on it.

Love this ride through SF, up and down hills, through Chinatown, Union Square…read more Great experience, fun people watching and seeing the neighborhoods & SF Victorian homes. . Lots to see, the cable car is all windows, seating and standing and hanging on from the steps.... It's a wonderful historic beloved part of SF. We used our clipper cards - (for seniors its HALF OFF) but for everyone, if you have one, you don't have to stand in the ticket line. Then, Get in the line around the cable car to board. Music playing, shade, benches too.

Wow, what an amazing day. Thank you Rose Chung and Claudine Cheng for APPI Hertitage Month…read moreCelebration with SF Muni Cable Car Ride. Cable Car Driver - Benny, and all his co-worker was so wonderful in supporting our event. You must take a ride on the cable car. So fun!

5 stars for a fun AND functional ride :) don't get me wrong, I do love a good cardio burn up…read moreCalifornia but sometimes I like to treat myself to a cable car ride instead. Hot tip: sit on the outside of the back of the car to enjoy a stunning look back down California with bridge views. This view is iconic and many pics/painting display this awesome view (I have one a painting in my living room!) You really can't go wrong with any seat but do make sure you get off at your correct stop to minimize hill walking if that is your goal.

The Powell/Mason Cable Car Turnaround is at Taylor and Bay Streets. It's the northern end of one of…read moreSan Francisco's famous cable car lines. Since these cars can't go in reverse, they use a wooden turntable to turn the nine-ton cars around 180 degrees so they can head back to Union Square. You can actually watch the gripmen and conductors push the cars by hand, which is pretty cool. For years, when I first moved to San Francisco, I used to catch the cable car here every morning and ride it all the way to the very end at Market Street, then walk to work. I did that just because it was fun, not because it made my commute faster or shorter! Over time, I got to know the cable car operators who worked the early shifts and many neighbors who also took the cable car to work, and we often chatted and shared a few laughs while waiting. We also enjoyed live performances from street musicians. It is a fun ride, especially for visitors and their families who take the cable car as part of their San Francisco visit experience.

Great tourist experience riding the cable car. They are beautiful original works of engineering…read moreart. The vistas and buildings along the way between Fishermans wharf and market are gorgeous. Only downside is side is the long long wait in queue. They took ages to load every act. I am sure there is a valid reason for the delays between departures ( the cars were there waiting). But it was a pain to wait. Perhaps a sign saying the cars go every 15 mins might have helped.

Being in San Francisco, you've gotta do at least one cable car ride -- whether just for the…read moreexperience or as a quick little "tour" down Market Street from Powell to Union Square. It's $9 each way though -- still trying to figure out why some "locals" could hop on at some stops -- without showing their MTR-pass.

The Powell & Hyde Cable Car Turnaround is one of those classic San Francisco sights that never…read morereally gets old. It is located at the end of the Powell-Hyde line near Fisherman's Wharf and is one of the three places where the cable cars are manually turned around for their return trip. It's fun watching the operators physically push and rotate the cable car on the turntable. It may be a simple process, but it is fascinating to watch. It might be because it's something you don't see in many places anymore. There's often a small crowd gathered around, so one can take a few minutes to watch, take photos, or even line up to ride the next car. The Powell-Hyde line itself is one of the most scenic routes in the city, passing landmarks like Lombard Street and offering great views of the bay along the way. It's a part of one of the last manually operated cable car systems in the world and is a part of San Francisco's history. I watched it as a teenager for the first time, and many times as an adult, and I still find it fascinating, a fun "San Francisco" experience.

The Powell/Mason Cable Car turnaround was an absolutely outstanding experience! Watching the manual…read moreturnaround is a San Francisco staple, but the ride itself was the real star. The operator was incredibly kind and friendly, making the trip even more special by letting me ring the bell for my birthday! It was such a unique, personal touch that I'll never forget. The ride up and down the steep hills offers some of the best views in the city and a cool, vintage breeze that you just can't get anywhere else. If you're looking for an iconic and memorable way to see San Fran, this is it. High quality service and a total blast!

This is the better of the two lines in my opinion. Especially if you get on from Fisherman's Wharf…read more I highly recommend not getting on at the Union Square end as it is infinitely busier than the other end. Especially if you get there in the morning. This route hits some great hills with excellent views of the city & bay as it goes up the hills as well as stops at Chinatown and Lombard Street. Just know that there are not on/off privileges. My only 'complaint' is that the employees here really take their time. but that's not exclusive to this line. No one working here appears to be in a rush at all to get cars on their way. You can especially see this down at the Fisherman's Wharf end where there is often a line of cars waiting to be turned around, loaded, & sent back on their way.

Powell street was decked out for NBA All Star and I was one of the lucky few that got to be able to…read morecheck out some cool events. There is going to be a foot locker and shoe palace opening on the Powell street locations which will be really good for the city because there is a major bounce back happening. I truly believe that the city is on an upward trend which is really good for the beautiful city of San Francisco. A lot of NBA Players and Legends were walking around the area and how truly lucky we are to live in a beautiful city like San Francisco so let's please take care of it!

It May Not Be Too Practical Now, But It Sure Is Fun And A Vision Of Our Future Selves We Should…read moreHave Pursued Ardently More Than 100 Years Ago. SITREP I love cable cars. They are fun. Great to ride. Great to catch on Powell Street. And great to ride up the hills of San Francisco. For me, it's a time-trip up & down memory lane. It's sad that this costs $6 as a single-rate trip, rather than as a free community-sponsored endeavor to convince people of the benefits of mass transit. Both Muni and BART our outgrowths of these modest cable car-beginnings. But in addition, it's critical to drive home to the citizenry with these tangible object-lessons when comparing the vast amounts of money that were poured into fossil fuels and cars, and how little that accomplished for the community good by comparison. SAD SAD HISTORY As such, cable cars on this line remain a vestige of a bygone era when we, as a society, were on the "right track" (har har, I love puns) to creating a transportation infrastructure that was both useful and did not have a huge carbon footprint such as the one created by cars & gad that are imperiling our lives today. However, the very tragic greedy collusion of oil magnates, coal barons, and car company overlords at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, ensured that for at least for a full century (and until well into another century) that fossil fuels, such as gas and coal, would continue to drive our cars and trains. And not only was it greedy, but it has damaged our planet. If we had remained an enlightened American society - instead of a greedy capitalist one - we would not be facing be the level of global warming we are today. And perhaps we would not have implicitly set a bar for industrialization that the Chinese and Indian sub-continent feel the need to duplicate now, furthering endangering our planet. MORE THAN A TOY OR TOURIST TRAP So when I see the beloved cable cars today, I think a lot of "what if?". What if the cable car had led to the earlier development a bullet trains? What if the cable car tracking mechanisms had been advanced faster, from chains, cables and tracks, to high-speed levitation? What if the trains of some future Sci-Fi dream were in fact the trains of NOW, a hundred years earlier, because we had actually engineered them to be? THE LOWDOWN If not for a greedy hiccup in time, this would have been the path we would have firmly remained upon.

Back on the cable car ..it's $9 for a single ride ..most days and until 11 pm…read more Fun delightful SF past time

Horrible experience…read more I have been living in San Francisco for 10 years and never had the desire to ride this before, mostly because I had never heard anything good about it. Unfortunately, my experience confirmed everything I had heard. My child loves trains and buses, so we decided to give it a try to make him happy. We waited for two hours, and then out of nowhere they announced it was delayed. When someone asked how long the delay would be, the staff said, "I don't know." It was extremely frustrating -- isn't it their job to know what's going on? If they had been clear from the beginning, we would have left, but we thought it might only be a 10-minute delay. Almost 40 minutes later, they said it was closed and they didn't know when it would reopen. They mentioned there was a "free bus" around the corner, but people were fighting just to get on it because it was the only one they provided. Just a reminder: each ticket costs $9, yet no one explained anything or offered help. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson. Wanting to make my child happy, we tried again another day. I honestly hope my child never asks to ride it again. After waiting another hour, just as we were about to get on, the man taking tickets told me -- in a very rude way -- that he would not accept my ticket and told me to move so others could get in. When I asked why and what he meant, he just repeated, "I'm not taking your ticket. Move." No explanation, no help, just rudeness. My husband told him we would buy another ticket, and even then he refused to let us on -- despite the car staying there for another 10 minutes. Completely unacceptable service and an awful experience overall.

The cable cars are a staple of San Francisco. And if you're a tourist, it's most likely high up on…read moreyour bucket list of things to do. However, do yourself a favor and don't get on to the cable car from this location. This is the beginning (or end) of 2 lines. Because of that, it is busy but turning the cable cars around can take time which means load time can be slow. And given that it is in the heart of downtown, it is an area of very heavy foot traffic. That means long long lines. It's going to eat up a ton of (what could be) precious time in your day. If you are here to just see a cable car and see what it looks like to have them turn around/switch lines, then great. You can see that from the area easily. However, if you are wanting to actually ride one of the cars, It's a better plan to get on to the other end of one of the lines and ride it in to Union. You will have a much quicker/shorter wait.

This review is for the Cable Car Turntable at Powell and Market Streets in the Union Square/SoMa…read more(South of Market) area in San Francisco. The cable cars are fun and iconic. They've been a symbol of the city for over 150 years now, since 1873. There are four turntables: 1. Powell and Market Streets (this one) in Union Square near SoMa. 2. Taylor and Bay Streets in North Beach near Fisherman's Wharf. 3. Hyde and Beach Streets in Fort Mason near Fisherman's Wharf. 4. Car barn next to the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill. There are three lines: 1. California 2. Powell/Hyde 3. Powell/Mason The California line is a straight shot, roughly east-west, on California Street from the Financial District to Nob Hill, Pork Gulch, and Pacific Heights. The California line doesn't include any turntables. The Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason lines travel roughly north-south between the Union Square/SoMa and Fisherman's Wharf areas. These two lines include the four turntables mentioned above. The cable cars are a popular tourist attraction and therefore, you'll always see tourists lined up waiting to board at the turntables. This turntable at Powell and Market is located "downtown" in a retail area. There are a lot of shops nearby as well as the San Francisco Centre shopping mall across the street (formerly Westfield San Francisco Centre): https://www.yelp.com/biz/westfield-san-francisco-centre-san-francisco-3 During our most recent visit to San Francisco, we stayed at the Axiom Hotel ( https://www.yelp.com/biz/axiom-hotel-san-francisco ) which is adjacent to this turntable. The hotel is home to the Turn Cafe and Little Sweet, the former being aptly named: https://www.yelp.com/biz/turn-caf%C3%A9-little-sweet-san-francisco-12 I recommend all of these places. Along with retail and hotels, this area also has numerous restaurants and office towers/buildings, and the turntable is situated right next to a major BART station (Powell Street Station) and an SF Muni station (Powell Station). In addition, each day, vendors set up tables and canopies to sell stuff and you're likely to run into street performers and religious folks holding signs and speaking into megaphones. So, there's a lot going on around this turntable. As for the turntable experience itself, it can be interesting to watch the SF Muni staff (the cable cars are operated by SF Muni) manually operate the turntables. Coming and going from our hotel, we noticed this turntable was consistently busy with riders, day and night. Cable car tickets must be purchased in advance. I like to use the Clipper Card on my phone because it works for BART too. For more information on buying tickets, visit https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/cable-cars Also, I recommend checking out the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill, just west of Chinatown. Admission is free: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cable-car-museum-san-francisco

Traveling by ferry is such a wondrous experience…read more So traveling by ferry to the island of Tiburon is the only way to travel there! The Golden Gate Ferry ride offers spacious quarters, amazing views, and good snack and beverage choices. There are cozy chairs inside or comfortable chairs on either outside deck (deck levels dependent on which ferry boat you get). There are cell phone charging stations by several seats if you bring your charging chord. And staff and riders alike always seem overjoyed to be sharing the experience with you. I take this ferry several times a month sometimes during the week and weekend to visit family. This is truly a unique and quintessential Bay Area experience worth having.

PREFACE- this is a rewrite for a review I wrote the other day but posted it to the wrong Ferry…read moreCompany whose owner was so polite and courteous to let me knnow. Thank you Margaret of Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry!!! Here is my story: 5th Star for the gorgeous view sailing in the San Francisco Bay. Uber'd over to Tiburon from Inner Sunset. Our intent was to ferry back to SFO then leisurely muni or foot mobile our way back to Inner Sunset. The ferry ride was well organized but you need to know a few things and they are: Be sure you have your Clipper card. If you don't you will need to scan the upc code from the sign at the entrance and load your card for at least $10 OR ELSE, you will not be on that ride (There are attendants at the entrance with their scanner for your Clipper Card) Soft drinks, snacks and adult beer and wine are available for purchase on the 2nd level. Lower level, 2nd level, 3rd level provide seating. 2nd and 33rd level have outside deck seating. Restroom facilities available on the lower and 2nd level. Best part? San Francisco blessed me with a perfect weather and blue sky day so my sail back to SFO was ABSOLUTELY perfect. I'll hand it to the ferry system at large! They got the system down pact in summary? and you want to cruse/sail the Bay? Ferry is the way to go ($8/ one way per adulty)

We bought the daily pass through the Muni Mobile app. In retrospect, it was worthless. The driver…read moredidn't look at it and the reader by the back door didn't work. Most people just came on without showing anything. The buses run frequently and ours were clean. Expect to stand as ours were mostly full to the point where getting off was a chore.

Goes from wharf north Beach loops ..union square ..disappears after ...harrison highway ..mystery…read morebus ..runs frequently ..easy to use..hop on