Spring is here, and while Berkeley is quite beautiful, sometimes you just want to spend a day away. This might not be so easy on a student\u2019s budget, but look no further, I have some ideas on how to take a day trip to San Francisco while ballin\u2019 on a budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hot girl walk across the Golden Gate Bridge\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since we\u2019ve already borne through the first few weeks of the spring semester, you\u2019re probably ready to switch up your routine of working out in the Recreational Sports Facility or hiking the Fire Trails every weekend. You may have already driven across the Golden Gate Bridge, but have you walked across it? It\u2019s a 4.7-mile walk from San Francisco\u2019s Crissy Field all the way to Sausalito, with 1.7 of it being on the bridge! We\u2019re used to admiring the Golden Gate Bridge from Berkeley, but this is the perfect opportunity to enjoy it from right underneath. Before you head onto the bridge, I recommend grabbing a coffee from Round House Cafe to power your multi-mile commute. Meander down the bridge, taking in the sights and catching up with your friends. Pro-tip: If you have long hair, make sure to bring a hair tie or claw clip to prevent your hair from becoming a tangled mess in the Bay wind! Once you reach the other side, head over to Golden Gate Market for some sandwiches or Barrel House Tavern for a sit-down lunch overlooking the water. After refueling, wander around Sausalito\u2019s downtown waterfront areas, window-shopping at the different stores and enjoying the town\u2019s quaintness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coffee or matcha shop hop<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but it\u2019s gotten to the time of the semester when the Berkeley cafes just aren\u2019t cutting it anymore. So, if you have some light homework to finish but want to get out of Berkeley, take the BART to the Mission District and head to Stonemill Matcha. As someone who only started loving matcha once I came to campus, I like to say that you can take the Golden Bear out of the Berkeley matcha scene, but you can\u2019t take the matcha lover out of the Golden Bear. I now have to try matcha in every city I visit.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re more of a coffee drinker \u2014 extra points if you love cars too \u2014 I have the perfect place for you! Check out Motoring Coffee, which offers a wide array of beverages in the presence of different featured cars, actually inside the cafe itself! Perhaps it\u2019ll help motivate you to do your work while looking at the fine vehicles.<\/p>\n
Take a ferry ride<\/p>\n
Did you know that you can also ride the ferry for free with your BayPass? Take the ferry from Oakland to the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal. Instead of enjoying the SF skyline from the Golden Gate Bridge, you can take it all in from the Bay itself. The ferry route takes you under the Bay Bridge, and there will be plenty of photo opportunities to put on your social media or to print out and use to decorate your Berkeley room. Once you hit land on the west Bay, walk around the Ferry Building and Pier 39, which has a ton of fun attractions you\u2019ll have to cross off your bucket list. You can also see the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge and Alcatraz Island all from one spot at the Ferry Building. Not to mention, your ears will be blessed by the seals resting on the docks by the pier! Then, once you are ready to go back home, you can either take the ferry back to Oakland or BART straight back to Berkeley for free!<\/p>\n
Thrift on Haight-Ashbury<\/p>\n
Want some retail therapy but don\u2019t want to spend a band? Check out Haight-Ashbury, an area famous for good thrifted pieces for good prices! Some of my favorite thrift stores include Buffalo Exchange and 2nd STREET, where I bought my favorite Levi\u2019s jacket for only $20! If you\u2019re looking for something to read \u2014 beyond The Daily Californian, of course \u2014 check out The Booksmith for some books and magazines. To capture this venture and keep it in your pocket or post it on your college wall, Club Photomatica has several photobooths where you can take photo strips for $7. Haight-Ashbury is right next to Golden Gate Park, so you can enjoy the landscape and reconnect with nature after exploring SF\u2019s materialistic world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grab dinner in Chinatown<\/p>\n
Chinatown is the perfect district for grabbing some cheap eats. One of my favorite dim sum places is Hon\u2019s Wun Tun House. Eat family-style with your friends to try out a few different plates! Think Din Tai Fung, but cheaper! Dim Sum Bistro is another delicious place where everything on the menu is less than $11. If you don\u2019t want to sit inside, you can always grab takeout and eat it at a nearby park. Then, if you\u2019re feeling like you need a sweet treat, there are so many good dessert spots, such as Golden Gate Bakery for egg tarts or Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory for some fresh, authentic fortune cookies.<\/p>\n
Picnic by the Painted Ladies<\/p>\n
Love to picnic on the Memorial Glade, but need some new scenery? In the heart of San Francisco reside the Painted Ladies. Have a picnic on the grass at Alamo Square, enjoy the view and people-watch amid SF\u2019s hustle and bustle. There\u2019s a Trader Joe\u2019s a few blocks away, so you can pick up some snacks with your friends for you all to munch on. Relax and enjoy the spring sunshine; you deserve it.<\/p>\n
You truly can\u2019t go wrong with daytripping into San Francisco. Whether you\u2019re looking for a long, beautiful walk along some of the most famous U.S. landmarks or stuffing your face with $10 xiao long bao in Chinatown, each experience will be memorable from your years as a Golden Bear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spring is here, and while Berkeley is quite beautiful, sometimes you just want to spend a day away.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[28027,71025,99436,3767,84162,99442,2076,99441,99433,99443,99440,2980,99431,11917,99435,2985,27144,99444,99439,143,44604,99432,99434,101,103,102,3624,104,106,105,99438,99437],"class_list":["post-216639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-2nd-street","tag-alcatraz-island","tag-barrel-house-tavern","tag-bart","tag-baypass","tag-booksmith","tag-budget","tag-buffalo-exchange","tag-chrissy-field","tag-club-photomatica","tag-downtown-san-francisco-ferry-terminal","tag-ferry-building","tag-fire-trails","tag-golden-gate-bridge","tag-golden-gate-market","tag-golden-gate-park","tag-haight-ashbury","tag-hon","tag-motoring-coffee","tag-oakland","tag-pier-39","tag-recreational-sports-facility","tag-round-house","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sausalito","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-stonemill-matcha","tag-the-mission-district"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}