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SAS Flights from London, Great Britain (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on SAS, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from London, Great Britain (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO), departing between 10:05am and 1:20pm. Usually a Boeing 777 is flown for this route. Generally, a movie is offered on this route. The average travel time from London, Great Britain to San Francisco, CA is 11 hours and 10 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
During your San Francisco vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Coit Tower
In a city known for its great views and vantage points, Coit Tower is one of the best. Located atop Telegraph Hill, just east of North Beach, the round, stone tower offers panoramic views of the city and the bay.Completed in 1933, the tower is the legacy of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy eccentric who left San Francisco a $125,000 bequest "for the purpose of adding beauty to the city I have always loved" and as a memorial to its volunteer firemen. She had been saved from a fire as a child and held the city's firefighters in particularly high esteem.Inside the base of the tower are impressive murals titled Life in California and 1934, which were completed under the WPA during the New Deal. They are the work of more than 25 artists, many of whom had studied under Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.The only bummer: The narrow street leading to the tower is often clogged with tourist traffic. If you can, find a parking spot in North Beach and hoof it.
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.
San Francisco Zoo (& Children's Zoo)
Located between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Merced, in the southwest corner of the city, the San Francisco Zoo is a fun place to take the kids -- especially if you make it to the hands-on Children's Zoo. The zoo, which was founded at its present site adjacent to the ocean in 1929, is 125 acres, with 100 acres currently developed. Over 950,000 visitors come here annually to see the almost 950 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Exhibit highlights include the new Lipman Family Lemur Forest, a forest setting for five endangered species of lemurs from Madagascar that features interactive components for the visitor; Gorilla World, a tranquil setting for a family group of western lowland gorillas; Koala Crossing, which connects to the Australian WalkAbout exhibit with its kangaroos, wallaroos, and emu; Penguin Island, home to a large breeding colony of Magellanic Penguins; the Feline Conservation Center, a wooded sanctuary and breeding facility for endangered snow leopards and other small cats; and the Primate Discovery Center, home to rare and endangered monkeys. In the South American Tropical Forest building, a large green anaconda can be found as well as other South American reptile and bird species. Puente al Sur (Bridge to the South) has a pair of giant anteaters, a rare Baird's tapir, and capybaras. The Lion House is home to rare Sumatran and Siberian tigers and African lions. You can see the big cats fed every day at 2pm (except Mon). African Savanna, the latest exhibit, which opened in mid-2004, is a 3-acre mixed-species habitat with giraffes, zebras, antelope, and birds.The 6-acre Children's Zoo offers kids and their families opportunities for close-up encounters with domestic rare breeds of goats, sheep, ponies, and horses in the Family Farm. Touch and feel small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians along the Nature Trail (open Memorial Day to Labor Day), and gaze at eagles and hawks stationed on Hawk Hill. Visitors can see the inner-workings of the Koret Animal Resource Center, a thriving facility that houses the animals used in the educational outreach programs, and visit the incredible Insect Zoo. One of the Children's Zoo's most popular exhibits is the Meerkat and Prairie Dog exhibit, where kids can crawl through tunnels and play in sand, just like these two amazing burrowing species.Don't miss the Little Puffer miniature steam train, which takes passengers around a 1/3-mile track, and the historic Dentzel Carousel (both $2 per ride).
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
San Francisco area, including:
Hotel Rex
Joie de Vivre, the most creative hotel group in the city, is the brilliance behind this restored historic building, which is near several fine galleries, theaters, and restaurants. The group kept some of the imported furnishings and the European boutique hotel ambience, but gave the lobby and rooms a $2-million face-lift, adding the decorative flair that makes its hotels among the most popular in town. The clublike lobby lounge is modeled after a 1920s literary salon and is, like all the group's properties, cleverly stylish. The renovated rooms are above average in size. If you have one of the rooms in the back, you'll look out over a shady, peaceful courtyard.
The Cartwright Hotel
Diametrically opposed to the hip-hop, happenin' Hotel Triton down the street, the Cartwright Hotel is geared toward the more mature traveler. Management takes pride in its reputation for offering comfortable rooms at fair prices, which explains why most guests have been repeat customers for a long time. Remarkably quiet, despite its convenient location near one of the busiest downtown corners, the eight-story hotel looks not unlike it did when it opened some 80 years ago. High-quality antiques collected during its decades of faithful service furnish the lobby and the individually decorated rooms, all of which were blessed with new carpets, mattresses, wallpaper, phones, and window treatments in 2001 and underwent a complete restoration in 2004 (think new paint and new furniture finishes). A nice perk usually reserved for fancier hotels is the fully equipped bathrooms, all of which have tubs, massaging showers, terry robes, and thick fluffy towels. Tip: Request a room with a view of the backyard; they're the quietest. Complimentary wine is served in the small library each night, and afternoon tea and cookies are a daily treat, as are the apples and hot beverages in the lobby. A breakfast room added in 2004 serves a complimentary expanded continental breakfast.
The Hotel Griffon
After pumping a cool $10 million into a complete rehab in 1989, the Hotel Griffon emerged as a top contender among San Francisco's small hotels. Ideally situated on the historic waterfront and steps from the heart of the Financial District, the Griffon is impeccably outfitted with a masculine design sensibility. It boasts contemporary features such as whitewashed brick walls, lofty ceilings, marble vanities, window seats, cherrywood furniture, and Art Deco-style lamps (really, this place is smooth). Be sure to request a bay-view room overlooking the Bay Bridge -- the added perks and view make it well worth the extra cost. Smokers, book a room elsewhere -- there's no puffing here.
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