Continental Airlines Flights from Honolulu (HNL) to San Francisco (SFO)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Continental Airlines, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Honolulu (HNL) to San Francisco (SFO) regularly scheduled to depart at 10:50pm and arrive at 5:50am. Usually a Boeing 757-300 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Honolulu, HI to San Francisco, CA is 5 hours.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
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During your San Francisco vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Alcatraz Island
Visible from Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz Island (aka "The Rock") has seen a checkered history. Juan Manuel Ayala was the first European to discover it in 1775 and named it after the many pelicans that nested on the island. From the 1850s to 1933, when the army vacated the island, it served as a military post, protecting the bay's shoreline. In 1934, the government converted the buildings of the military outpost into a maximum-security prison. Given the sheer cliffs, treacherous tides and currents, and frigid water temperatures, it was believed to be a totally escape-proof prison. Among the famous gangsters who occupied cell blocks A through D were Al Capone, Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz (because he was an expert in ornithological diseases), Machine Gun Kelly, and Alvin Karpis. It cost a fortune to keep them imprisoned here because all supplies, including water, had to be shipped in. In 1963, after an apparent escape in which no bodies were recovered, the government closed the prison. In 1969, a group of Native Americans chartered a boat to the island to symbolically reclaim the island for the Indian people. They occupied the island until 1971, the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to this day, when they were forcibly removed by the U.S. government (see www.nps.gov/alcatraz/indian.html for more information on the Native American occupation of Alcatraz). The next year the island became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The wildlife that was driven away during the military and prison years has begun to return -- the black-crested night heron and other seabirds are nesting here again -- and a new trail passes through the island's nature areas. Tours, including an audio tour of the prison block and a slide show, are given by the park's rangers, who entertain guests with interesting anecdotes.Allow about 2 1/2 hours for the round-trip boat ride and the tour. Wear comfortable shoes (the National Park Service notes that there are a lot of hills to climb on the tour) and take a heavy sweater or windbreaker, because even when the sun's out, it's cold out there. The excursion is popular and space is limited, so purchase tickets as far in advance as possible. Blue & Gold Fleet (tel. 415/705-5555; www.blueandgoldfleet.com) operates the tour; they accept American Express, MasterCard, and Visa, and there's a $2.25-per-ticket service charge for phone orders. You can also buy tickets in advance from the Blue & Gold ticket office on Pier 41 or online at www.telesales.com. Alcatraz night tours are also available and are a more intimate and wonderfully spooky experience. Check the Blue & Gold Fleet website for updated prices and departure times.For those who want to get a closer look at Alcatraz without going ashore, two boat-tour operators offer short circumnavigations of the island.
Pier 39
PIER 39 is a multilevel waterfront complex a few blocks east of Fisherman's Wharf. Constructed on an abandoned cargo pier, it is, ostensibly, a re-creation of a turn-of-the-20th-century street scene, but don't expect a slice of old-time maritime life. This is the busiest mall of the lot and allegedly welcomes 11 million visitors per year. It has more than 100 stores, 11 bay-view restaurants, a two-tiered Venetian carousel, a Hard Rock Cafe, and arcade and aquarium entertainment for the kids. And everything's slated toward helping you part with your travel dollars. It's the place that locals love to hate. That said, it does have a few perks: absolutely beautiful natural surroundings of bay views, fresh sea air, and hundreds of sunbathing sea lions lounging along its neighboring dock.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts/Yerba Buena Gardens
The Yerba Buena Center, which opened in 1993, is the city's cultural facility, similar to New York's Lincoln Center but far more fun on the outside. It stands on top of the northern extension of the underground Moscone Convention Center. The center's two buildings present music, theater, dance, and visual arts. James Stewart Polshek designed the 755-seat theater, and Fumihiko Maki designed the Galleries and Arts Forum, which features three galleries and a space designed especially for dance. Cutting-edge computer art, multimedia shows, traditional exhibitions, and performances occupy the center's high-tech galleries.More commonly explored is the 5-acre Yerba Buena Gardens, a great place to relax in the grass on a sunny day and check out several artworks. The most dramatic outdoor piece is an emotional mixed-media memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. Created by sculptor Houston Conwill, poet Estella Majozo, and architect Joseph de Pace, it features 12 panels, each inscribed with quotations from King, sheltered behind a 50-foot-high waterfall. For most, this pastoral patch is a brief stopover to the surrounding attractions. New to the gardens in 2004 are seasonal free outdoor festivals held on varied dates from May through October. It's definitely worth discovering whether you can catch one of these, as performances include dance, music, poetry, and more by the San Francisco Ballet, Opera, and Symphony and others; see www.ybgf.org for details.On the periphery of Yerba Buena Gardens are a number of worthy individually operated excursions. In the Children's Center, Zeum (tel. 415/777-2800) includes a cafe, interactive cultural center, bowling lanes, ice-skating rink, fabulous 1906 carousel, and interactive play and learning garden. Sony's Metreon Entertainment Center (tel. 415/369-6000; www.metreon.com) is a 350,000-square-foot complex housing great movie theaters, an IMAX theater, a bountiful gourmet food court, interactive attractions (including one that features Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and surprisingly exciting virtual bowling), and shops. As part of the plan to develop this area as the city's cultural hub, the California Historical Society opened at 678 Mission St. in 1995 and is home to a research library and a publicly accessible California photography and fine arts collection.
The Golden Gate Hotel
San Francisco's stock of small hotels in historic turn-of-the-20th-century buildings includes some real gems, and the Golden Gate Hotel is one of them. It's 2 blocks north of Union Square and 2 blocks down (literally) from the crest of Nob Hill, with cable car stops at the corner for easy access to Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown. The city's theaters and best restaurants are also within walking distance. But the best thing about the 1913 Edwardian hotel is that it's family run: John and Renate Kenaston and daughter Gabriele are hospitable innkeepers who take obvious pleasure in making their guests comfortable. Each individually decorated room has handsome antique furnishings (plenty of wicker) from the early 1900s, quilted bedspreads, fresh flowers, and recently updated carpeting. Request a room with a claw-foot tub if you enjoy a good, hot soak. Afternoon tea is served daily from 4 to 7pm, and guests are welcome to use the house fax and computer with wireless DSL free of charge.
Westin St. Francis
At the turn of the 20th century, Charles T. Crocker and a few of his wealthy buddies decided that San Francisco needed a world-class hotel, and up went the St. Francis. Since then, hordes of VIPs have hung their hats and hosiery here, including Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Queen Elizabeth II of England, Mother Teresa, King Juan Carlos of Spain, the shah of Iran, and all the U.S. presidents since Taft. In 1972, the hotel gained the 32-story Tower, doubling its capacity and adding banquet and conference centers. The older rooms of the main building vary in size and have more old-world charm than the newer rooms, but the Tower is remarkable for its great views of the city from above the 18th floor.Although the St. Francis is too massive to offer the personal service you get at the smaller deluxe hotels on Nob Hill, few other hotels in San Francisco can match its majestic aura. Stroll through the vast, ornate lobby, and you can feel 100 years of history oozing from its hand-carved redwood paneling. The hotel has done massive renovations costing $185 million over the past decade, replacing the carpeting, furniture, and bedding in every main-building guest room; gussying up the lobby; and restoring the facade.The Westin makes kids feel right at home, too, with a goody bag upon check-in. The tower's Grandview Rooms, which were renovated in 2001, today evoke a contemporary design along the lines of the W Hotel. The historic main building accentuates its history with traditional, more elegant ambience, high ceilings, and crown molding. Alas, the venerable Compass Rose tearoom is no longer, but in its place is a new (debuted in August of 2004) fancy restaurant, Michael Mina, by the famed chef of Aqua.
24 Henry
Its Castro location is not the only thing that makes 24 Henry a good choice for gay travelers. The building, an 1870s Victorian on a serene side street, is quite charming. The 10 guest rooms have high ceilings, period furniture, and voice mail. Guests tired of tromping around the neighborhood can watch TV or read in the double parlor (where breakfast is served). All rooms are nonsmoking.
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Other direct flights to San Francisco (SFO) on Continental Airlines
