You need not always pay in the city by the bay, writes Alexia Santamaria.
Even if you've never been to San Francisco before, it feels like such a familiar city — the Golden Gate bridge with its famous misty haze providing the backdrop to so many well-known movies and images. It's a place anyone and everyone can enjoy — and its friendly, creative vibe, good times and big smiles make you feel as if anything is possible. But is it still as much fun if you're seeing San Fran on a restricted budget? — we know some places really aren't. Yes, absolutely — much of the enjoyment of this vibrant city is soaking up the atmosphere and cruising the neighbourhoods, which doesn't cost a thing. Here are some tips for all the other stuff:
Getting around
You don't need to rent a car to get around the city — San Francisco has great public transportation systems: BART to get from the airport into the city and MUNI to get around town (including the historic cable cars and F-Line streetcars, tourist must-dos in themselves). It's also one of the best walking cities in the States — and of course there's Lyft and Uber if needed.
Food
There are plenty of options for good, inexpensive eating in this city — and many of these cheap eating areas will simultaneously expose you to San Francisco's multicultural nature.
While you're checking out the murals the Mission District, drop into a taqueria for Mexican and other Latino options. Japantown is great for Japanese food (funnily enough, but actually there's some good Korean there too) and neighbourhoods like the Richmond and Sunset Districts also are full of discoveries. There are plenty of reasonable, very authentic, Italian gems in beautiful historic North Beach, as well.
