San Francisco
Definitely one of the most beautiful and popular cities in California! You would fall in love with the streets, the food, and people. This city is one of the most diverse cities and you can notice that if you just have a walk in streets. There are various districts that are completely different from each other, and it is your turn the pick your favorite now!
I want to give some briefing about these districts now.
Richmond
This is a nice neighborhood to get your house from. It is safe, clean, and close to Baker Beach, which you can watch to sunset while seeing Golden Gate Bridge. There are some nice restaurants and cafes in here. Also Golden Gate Park is on the other end of the district, so you can walk or take to bus to there to spend a chill day. Rents might be a bit expensive since it is a nice neighborhood but you are in San Francisco, so you should be used to see high prices.
Sunset
This is the area between Golden Gate Park and Park Merced, which SFSU is located at. This area is like Richmond, safe and nice. You can go to Ocean Beach to chill. SFSU students usually rent places from this area. There are duplex villas with small gardens for barbecue days. There are bars and restaurants that you can access easily.
Park Merced
SFSU is located in here. You can go for walks around Lake Merced after your classes. Also, there is a mall next to the university with nice restaurants and shops. My favorite restaurant was Olive Garden, if you want to have good pasta and soup, I would suggest you to try this place. Good thing is about this area is you can reach with subway, which is faster than busses. So you can go to city center easier.
Presidio
Back to top! The area where Golden Gate Bridge is located at. So you would probably visiting this place for "I'm here!" themed photos in the first week. Some weeks, there are events in this area with food trucks and loads of people. Try to follow all these events if you want to have a good time. Palace of Fine Arts is also here, so make sure you visit all these touristic places before being a local.
Marina
Fisherman's Warf and piers are in this area. This place is one of the most touristic parts of SF. Yet, there are so nice restaurants in here. You have to try clam chowder soup in any local restaurant in here. Also, you should see Pier 39. Musical stairs, sea lion center and Open Heart is in here.There are shops and a small carousel is also located here. You should go to Bubba Gump Shrimp for a lunch or dinner too. If you walk more, you will see museums and aquarium.
Downtown
The place with shops and malls. You can take the subway from SFSU to here so it is pretty easy to go. Union Square with the famous heart is in this area. Also you can see the cable car and take a touristic ride with it. From here, you can walk to Chinatown and have a Chinese experience with local shops and restaurants. Financial district and Embarcadero is also close.
Castro
The gay district of San Francisco. You can see rainbows everywhere. Nice restaurants, weird shops, and fun clubs. On mondays, there is a deal in Qbar; all drinks are 1 dollar until the midnight! So, I would suggest you to stop by.
Mission
This place is full of design shops and cute lil bakeries. You can go to Dolores Park to chill with your friends with the city view. On the weekends, this place becomes so crowded and fun. You can see so many dogs running around and people playing music.
Haight - Ashbury
Crazy place, next to the Golden Gate Park. Such good shops that you can buy design products, hippies, colorful buildings, local restaurants. So, just visit this place.
The Weather
So, San Francisco is in Cali, yes. But that doesn't mean it's gonna be warm all the time. Meet Karl, the most famous fog in the world. This guy will make you buy so many jumpers.
What to wear?
Layers, so many layers. Weather always changes during the day, so it is gonna be cold in the mornin' and night, but you will feel hot during the day, so wear t-shirts and sweatshirts instead of sweaters.
Useful Applications
Citymapper: to find out which bus to wake
Uber: to call a taxi to take you wherever you want
Yelp: to answer "where to eat?" questions
