Healthy San Fransisco travel guide -what to eat, drink + do
I'm back on my side of the pond after what felt like a rather whirlwind ten-ish days over in California. We packed in a lot and I left wanting to go back as soon as possible as I've left with a long list of things that I still want to do, or to revisit. One of my favourite parts of the trip was an overnight stay in San Fransisco. I would highly recommend spending a long weekend visiting the city if you can. San Fran is a reasonably compact city, so is easy to get around by foot, bike or bus. It is famous for being hilly, and whilst steep sloped streets do loom out of nowhere, it wasn't nearly as much as I'd anticipated. That being said, it was still fun to look at my phone and seen how many flights of stairs I had effectively climbed! To see more of what I've been up to in San Francisco and California, head over to my YouTube channel, where a blog of the trip has also gone live!
Eats
Both of the places I ate breakfast in San Francisco were okay, but probably not worth a mention here -you win some, you lose some. Luckily, I had plenty of other meals to choose from for recommendations!
Jane on Fillmore - this place is hugely popular with locals. I came here with Elise for lunch and tucked into a huge Happy Hippie bowl with three different dips and homemade seed crackers. Delish. Elise went for a classic avocado toast on with homemade bread and a soft boiled egg. It looked gorgeous, if rather small compared to my salad, and had the perfect yolk. The only thing was that Elise's egg was cold, which was rather odd. Alongside food, Jane also sells an array of colourful lattes, herbal teas, chai, juice and bottles of kombucha.
Nourish cafe - I didn't actually make it here, much to my disappointment, but I've been recommended it so many times that I had to put it on here for you! This is a fab vegan eatery for savoury and sweet. Their Nourish bowls get rave reviews and both the almond butter and cacao spreads are made in-house. This cafe will be top of my list for next time I go for sure.
Drinks
Asha tea house - hands down the best matcha in the city, available as ceremonial grade, straight up, espresso-style, latte or macchiato. There are lots of other teas to choose from as well if matcha isn't your thing, plus you can buy your tea leaves and matcha powder to go here.If you happen to be walking down Union Street, keep going until you reach Polk Street and pop in Saint Frank for a coffee break. Theres a choice of which roast you want to base your coffee on, and the almond and macadamia milk is unctuous and made in-house.
Do
If you have time in your day, book yourself in for an early morning workout at one of the plethora of boutique studios in the city. I bookmarked so many on my map -Laughing Lotus yoga, Karma Yoga, Bodyrok pilates and Barry's Bootcamp to name just a few. There's a definite culture of going to a class before work in San Francisco, so you can find yourself a session from as early as 5am. If that's too early (!) there's lots on offer up until about 9am, after which things go quiet until the evening. Preplan your journey to the studio so that you get there on time. I used Classpass to get me great deals across a variety of studios.Cycle the golden gate bridge. I hired a bike from Blazing Saddles, who have locations across the city. Most people cycle across and then get the ferry back. If it is peak season or a weekend, consider getting the ferry and then cycling. Just be aware that you'll be doing more hills and the route to the ferry is less well signposted. Alternatively, cycle both ways! Allow yourself at least 4 hours for this trek.If cycling isn't for you, get around in a GoCar. These bright yellow little karts allow you to quickly travel around the city on guided routes, perfect for couples. Be mindful of San Francisco traffic, which is a bit fast! One of the routes takes you to the Golden Gate bridge and back in two hours, so is good if you're short on time -perhaps use that extra time to go to Alcatraz prison island.
San Francisco, you have my heart.
I fell in love with San Francisco and can't wait to come back and tick more of the city off my list. Are there any places that I missed that you'd recommend? Images taken from Jane the Bakery and Nourish Cafe.