United Airlines Flights from San Diego (SAN) to San Francisco (SFO)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on United Airlines, which operates 7 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from San Diego (SAN) to San Francisco (SFO), departing between 6:20am and 4:58pm, and 4 additional non-stop flights, departing between 7:05am and 7:55pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from San Diego, CA to San Francisco, CA is 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Quick Flight Searches
Weekend Trips - Search
Upcoming weekend flight specials and airline
deals on flights to San Francisco (SFO)
from San Diego (SAN)
During your San Francisco vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
California Academy of Sciences
Originally clustered around the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park (in multiple buildings) and intending to return there around 2008 after a complete rebuild, this grouping of outstanding museums is now across from Moscone West, near the Yerba Buena Gardens and Center for the Arts. In its new location the Steinhart Aquarium houses some 5,400 animals, including seahorses, turtles, snakes, and poison dart frogs as well as a two-story 20,000-gallon living coral reef featuring Harlequin Tush fish, Yellow Tangs, sea stars, and a giant clam. Kids love the "touch tide pool" where they can get their mitts on live sea life.An edited version of the Natural History Museum has also been transplanted and hosts changing exhibits such as "Ants: Hidden Worlds Revealed," which shows the insects in action within six different live ant colonies. Some of the museum's permanent displays have moved, too, including Snake Alley, where terrestrial snakes reside; Astrobiology, an exhibit exploring life in extreme environments; and ScienceNOW, which presents a frequently changing display of Academy research, breaking science news, and expeditions around the globe. Toddlers will love the Nature Nest, an education center with hands-on learning activities.Families should look into the Academy's calendar of events, which includes fun kid-friendly festivities such as face-painting, storytelling, animal origami, and exhibit-related stories and demonstrations.
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.
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Shaped like an Art Deco ship, the Maritime Museum is filled with sailing, whaling, and fishing lore. Remarkably good exhibits include intricate model craft and scrimshaw. The collection of shipwreck photographs and historic marine scenes includes an 1851 snapshot of hundreds of abandoned ships, deserted en masse by crews dashing off to participate in the gold rush. Beautifully carved, brightly painted wooden figureheads from old windjammers line the walls. Two blocks east, at the park's Hyde Street Pier, are several historic ships, now moored and open to the public.The Balclutha, one of the last surviving square-riggers and the handsomest vessel in San Francisco Bay, was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1886 and carried grain from California at a near-record speed of 300 miles a day. The ship is now completely restored. Kids can climb into the bunking quarters, visit the "slop chest" ("galley" to you, matey), and read the sea chanteys (clean ones only) that decorate the walls.The 1890 Eureka still carries a cargo of nostalgia for San Franciscans. It was the last of 50 paddle-wheel ferries that regularly plied the bay; it made its final trip in 1957. Restored to its original splendor at the height of the ferryboat era, the side-wheeler is loaded with deck cargo, including antique cars and trucks.The black-hulled, three-masted C. A. Thayer, built in 1895, was crafted for the lumber trade and carried logs felled in the Pacific Northwest to the carpentry shops of California. Unfortunately, it's undergoing renovation and isn't slated to return until 2006.Other historic ships docked here include the tiny two-masted Alma, one of the last scow schooners to bring hay to the horses of San Francisco; the Hercules, a huge 1907 oceangoing steam tug; and the Eppleton Hall, a side-wheel tugboat built in England in 1914 to operate on London's River Thames.At the pier's small-boat shop, visitors can follow the restoration progress of historic boats from the museum's collection. It's behind the maritime bookstore on your right as you approach the ships.
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.
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.
The Clift Hotel
Ian Schrager, king of such ultrahip hotels as New York's Royalton and Paramount, L.A.'s Mondrian, and Miami's Delano, renovated this classic old luxury property in 2001, erasing virtually every trace of its original integrity and replacing it with trendy hipness. No longer the spot for the older clientele, now it's all about young trendsetters who flock here for monochrome pale-purple streamlined rooms with often-miniscule bathrooms, glamorous atmosphere, and a heavy dose of attitude. Situated in the city's Theater District, 2 blocks from Union Square, the hotel's location is still key. The Redwood Room bar underwent renovation and is noticeably different, with its original sexy redwood walls and light fixtures accompanying Philippe Starck's whimsically luxurious and rather uncomfortable interior. Equally trend and expensive Asia de Cuba restaurant adjoins the swank lounge. Guest-room extras include individual climate control, two-line telephones, and windows that open -- a nice touch for guests who appreciate fresh air, but in my mind, the only reason to pay the high prices here is if you're interested in being surrounded by the young and hip. Otherwise, there are far better rooms about town at a similar or less-expensive price.
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 United Airlines
