San Francisco and Beyond in 48 Hours

Oh, San Francisco - a city that I always wanted to visit. San Francisco seems to be the pioneer in many things. As a tech geek, it had always been my dream to visit the city where big tech giants have their headquarters. As a queer woman, I always wanted to see where the fight for equal rights for the LGBT community took place.

When we were planning our route for this road trip, Yvonne and I agreed that we would not have enough time to visit San Francisco. Our schedule was quite busy discovering nature and doing great hikes in the Southwest. Although I was a bit sad about this, it was not so dramatic. I would take doing a hike out in nature any time over visiting a new city.

But then, something happened. As you probably already know by now, our van got hit by a deer on our way to Zion National Park, and we had to rearrange our itinerary. We had to skip Zion National Park to get our window fixed in Las Vegas. Suddenly we had two extra days to discover anywhere we wanted.

Since we did not have anything booked for the second week of our road trip, we spontaneously decided to drive State Route 1 up to San Francisco with our campervan. I was so excited!

In this article you will be able to find:

• The activities that we did during our 48 hour visit in San Francisco
• How we stayed in San Francisco with a campervan without breaking the bank

Once we were in San Francisco, these are the activities that we did:

How to stay with your campervan in San Francisco without breaking the bank?

Our visit to San Francisco was very spontaneous. We found one campground, Candlestick RV Park, which is on the outskirts of the city and charges between US$115 - US$125 per night! No way we were going to pay that much for a poorly rated campground outside the city.

So Yvonne got creative. She found a hostel called Hostelling International by the Fisherman's Wharf. It is located near cool city districts and offers free guarded parking. As Yvonne was talking to the girl on the phone, she mentioned that we were arriving with a small converted car.

Yvonne asked the girl whether it would be ok that we pay for a bed and yet sleep in our van and she unofficially agreed. Upon check-in, the same girl was at the reception and she told us where the darkest part of the parking lot was so we could sleep in our van. After paying US$47.50, we were all set for staying in the city with our campervan.

We had a very peaceful sleep and were able to shower in the hostel's facilities the next day.

On our trip, we were able to stay at a friend's house on our second night. Should you not have the same option, you can always stay at the hostel two nights or stealth camp on a street that allows free parking.

If you decide to stealth camp, please be kind to your environment. Do not leave trash or waste behind.

For more tips on how to stay with your campervan in a city, check out Yvonne's post 'The 4 Best Approaches to Stay in a City With Your Campervan Rental'.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed our time in San Francisco. The amount of diversity and acceptance can be felt in the air, with multiple businesses catering to all kinds of humans. We got to experience delicious food and drinks and met a few locals. I really enjoyed being able to explore other areas outside the city limits.

One of the things that shocked me a bit about San Francisco is the number of homeless people. It seems that cities in California have the greatest homelessness population in the US. They don't tend to be violent, but you should be aware that you might be bumping into a few. Especially in the touristy areas, like the Financial District and Tenderloin neighborhood.

This article covered days 12-14 of our 15-day road trip itinerary through the Southwest of the US and California. Click on the yellow 'Show Entire Route' tab on top, to view our in-depth guides to each stop for an even greater insight for your own road trip through the Southwest and California.