San Francisco, California

a note to PDid and the wife. You're welcome to join us for a trip to Sausalito.

Best in 3 Days Itinerary

Day 1

In the morning explore Fisherman's Wharf and its jumble of tourist shops, street performers, and artists. Pier 39 is a consumer extravaganza, where a double-decker Venetian Carousel shares space with touristy shops and Underwater World, a fascinating walk-through glimpse of ocean life. Don't miss the antics of the hundreds of sea lions basking in the sun. Hop on a cable car (the Powell-Hyde line is the most dramatic) at the wharf and take in sweeping views of the bay, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge as you rattle your way to Union Square, ground zero for sophisticated shopping. The charming cafes and boutiques of Maiden Lane are worth a look. Later, head to the area south of Market Street (SoMa) to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to see works by local, European, and Mexican masters. Then take in an evening of culture on Geary Street's theater row, or quaff a cocktail and watch the sun set at one of Union Square's sky-view lounges, such as Harry Denton's Starlight Room at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.

Day 2

Begin the day with a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, then head to North Beach, the Italian quarter. Join locals from the old country for breakfast Italian style: an espresso and pastry at an outdoor café along Columbus Avenue. Allow an hour or two to wander this small area filled with tempting delis, bakeries, and pasta houses. You'll see such beat-era landmarks as City Lights Bookstore and reminders of the city's bawdy past in the steamy shops and clubs of Broadway. Be sure to walk up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. You'll be rewarded with breathtaking views of the bay andthe city's tightly stacked homes. Spend the afternoon exploring labyrinthine Chinatown, where tea and herb shops, fish markets, and exotic-produce stalls spill onto the street. Then take the California Street cable car up blue-blood Nob Hill and top off the evening with a cocktail at the Crown Room, the Fairmont Hotel's skyline bar. Or back in North Beach take in Beach Blanket Babylon, the quirky musical revue of San Francisco, at Club Fugazi.

Day 3

Take a morning ferry from Pier 41 to the infamous prison on Alcatraz Island. Or if you are drawn to the bucolic vistas across the bay, take a ferry north to Marin County's Tiburon or Sausalito for a stroll through town and lunch overlooking the bay. (Ferries to both towns depart from Fisherman's Wharf, and those to Sausalito only from the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero.) When you return to the mainland, head to the epicenter of 1960s counterculture, Haight-Ashbury, where the streets are lined with excellent music and book shops and groovy vintage-clothing stores. Join the in-line skaters, runners, and walking enthusiasts in picnic-perfect Golden Gate Park - the city's most glorious green space, with more than 1,000 acres of greenery stretching from the Haight to the Pacific. Among the gardens, lakes, and playing fields you'll find the serene Japanese Tea Garden and the California Academy of Sciences, the city's famed natural-history museum. Spend the rest of the afternoon sightseeing or strolling in the park, around Stow Lake. Don't miss the Dutch Windmill on the park's coastal edge. Head up to the Cliff House for dinner or a drink and a view of the Pacific sunset.

For the hotel industry in San Francisco, things have rarely been so bleak. But for travelers looking for a hotel bargain in a city that is often ranked in polls as America's favorite urban destination, there may never be a better time to visit.

Battered by chronic low occupancy that began with the collapse of the dot-com economy in 2000 and that continued in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks and the Iraq war, many of the city's boutique hotels now routinely offer rates of $100 a night or less for a double room, before taxes.

Several major luxury hotels around Union Square, in the heart of the city's shopping and theater districts, have offered promotional rates this summer from $110 to $125 a night for a double room, about half what many were charging in the boom years at the end of the 1990's.

''These are the lowest rates that we've seen since we went into business in 1986,'' said Eric Gustavson, a partner in Topaz Hotel Services, which runs a popular Web site ( www.hotelres.com ) that specializes in discount rates at major hotels in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Examples abound on his Web site for travel this fall, including the Westin St. Francis on Union Square at $129 a night, the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf and Donatello at $109. (All these rates are for double rooms, before taxes, which add 14 percent to the bill.) The best bargain may be the King George Hotel, a newly renovated boutique hotel one block from Union Square and the Powell Street cable-car line, with rates beginning at $65 a night; the usual undiscounted rates start at $145. The newly opened Hotel Cosmo off Union Square is offering rates beginning at $85 a night this fall.