Bay Area adventures: 4 day trips via a San Francisco Bay Ferry
Here’s where to eat, drink and play around the Bay Area’s ferry terminals in 2023.
Sailing away on a Bay Area ferry is similar to having your own private party cruise, but much less expensive. The whistling of the ocean breeze in your ears, the cold beers with happy, Hawaiian shirt-clad strangers, the views of Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge – sorry, BART, but why wouldn’t people take the ferry as often as possible?
The ferry is not only used by commuters. It’s an adventure in and of itself. And summer and fall are ideal seasons for taking advantage of our water-based fun-time transit and having a good time, both on board and after you disembark — tasty eats, interesting sights, and more. Here are four ideas for making a ferry trip to Alameda, Oakland, San Francisco, or Mare Island more memorable.
A quick note: We chose the San Francisco Bay Ferry over the equally lovely Golden Gate Ferry because it has more routes. Ferry fares range from $4.60 to $9.30 one way, depending on whether you use your Clipper card, an app, or a paper ticket, and children under five are free. Details and schedules can be found at https://sanfranciscobayferry.com/.
Without further ado, here’s what you might do if…
Arriving in Mare Island
The scenic drive from San Francisco to Vallejo takes about an hour, followed by a 15-minute ferry ride to Mare Island. The island, which was once a military base for boat and submarine construction, is now home to quirky art installations, a bustling brewery and the Vino Godfather Winery, and some of the best views of massive ship-building machines in the entire Bay.
Explore: The Mare Island Art Studios open their doors on Sunday afternoons to display paintings, sculptures, and quirky marionettes, as well as gifts like driftwood talismans and upcycled clothing. Extensive Burning Man creations can be found outside, including a three-story Victorian house on wheels (110 Pintado St., Vallejo; mareislandartstudios.com).
Alden Park is a one-of-a-kind, war-torn haven surrounded by dozens of concrete bomb shelters. There’s military hardware, such as a 28-foot submarine-launched Polaris missile, exotic tree species planted by a 19th century Navy commander, and an old wooden bandstand to lounge in while admiring the oddity of it all (Eighth Street at Railway Avenue, Vallejo).
Savage & Cooke, with its chic iron-and-wood vibes and Southern fried chicken, shrimp and grits, pimento cheese, and fluffy buttermilk biscuits, is located in the historic core. Reservations are required for tours and whiskey and bourbon tastings at the distillery, which is connected to the restaurant (1097 Nimitz Ave., Vallejo; savageandcooke.com).
Mare Island Brewing in the Coal Sheds is large enough to hide a blimp and packed with locals who enjoy projected sports games, foosball and darts, and an outdoor beer garden with views of the industrial Napa River. The Pie Wagon (850 Nimitz Ave., Vallejo; mareislandbrewingco.com/coal-shed) serves burgers with loaded baked-potato salad, shrimp louie, seasonal hand pies, and other delectable treats.
Arriving in Alameda
If you’re into concrete and urban ruin, both ferry terminals on the island (Alameda Seaplane Lagoon and Main Street Alameda) are in slightly desolate areas that can be fun to explore. Along the Oakland Estuary, Main Street in particular has old shipyard apparatuses arranged like fine art: turnbuckles once used on a top-secret ship, and a massive coil of chain that a vandal has labeled “The Doo Doo Sculpture.”
However, for Alameda, we recommend taking a bike on the ferry. Not only because things can be a bit of a walk, but also because the island’s wide, low-traffic roadways are a cyclist’s dream.
Explore: The USS Hornet Sea, Air, and Space Museum is only about a half-mile walk from the Seaplane Lagoon terminal. The Hornet, a retired aircraft carrier with exhibits on World War II and the Apollo Moon missions, as well as cool fighter jets parked on the deck (707 West Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda; $10-$20, uss-hornet.org), can keep you busy for hours.
The Alameda Point Antiques Faire, billed as Northern California’s largest antiques show, takes place on the first Sunday of each month near the Main Street terminal (3900 Main St., Alameda; $5-$15; alamedapointantiquesfaire.com). The Bay Area MakerFarm (2700 Barbers Point Road, Alameda; bayareamaker.farm) is a quirky installation with rescue chickens and ducks, equinox and solstice parties, community potlucks, and bike clinics.
Eat and drink: Alameda Point, on the former naval air station, has a plethora of options, many of which have open-air tables. Saltbreaker (2350 Saratoga St., Alameda; saltbreakeralameda.com) is a new neighborhood bistro that combines French technique with California cuisine, serving smoked-trout rillette, steak frites, and housemade chanterelle pasta.
Admiral Maltings is an actual malt vendor with a pub that pours cask-conditioned ales, German-style lagers, fruited sours, and dry-hopped IPAs as you browse Spirits Alley’s popular breweries and taprooms. Soft pretzels with malted butter, summer salads, and hearty barbecue plates with housemade hot sauce are available (651A West Tower Ave., Alameda; admiralmaltings.com).
Arriving in Downtown San Francisco
This terminal is humming with commuter and tourist activity, and ferry routes snake their way across the Bay. You can walk to downtown shops and restaurants or take a longer walk north along the Embarcadero to interesting museums, pier-side attractions, and seafood restaurants.
Explore: The Exploratorium, with its pitch-black Tactile Dome and science exhibits that create clouds and show space particle impacts, is a favorite of both kids and adults (Pier 15, Embarcadero at Green Street, San Francisco; $30-$40, exploratorium.edu). The San Francisco Railway Museum (77 Steuart St., San Francisco; streetcar.org/museum) is dedicated to the history of the city’s rail-based transit, with a replica 1911 motorman’s platform where you can play with the controls.
Eat and drink: There’s a reason the Ferry Building is so popular: its farmers markets, vendor carts, and numerous eateries. The best porchetta sandwich in San Francisco is served at Roli Roti, which is tender and juicy and topped with onion marmalade and rosemary sea salt (roliroti.com/events/month). Hog Island Oyster Co. serves raw oysters, A16 serves Italian sandwiches, Reem’s serves Arab street food, Humphry Slocombe serves ice cream, and much more.
Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, which serves Northern California-harvested fish eggs in tasting flights or on platters of smoked sturgeon, lox, and pickles, is a decadent treat. It is entirely up to you to order a celebratory glass of Champagne. (caviarcafe.com).
Arriving in Oakland
Jack London Square is a popular weekend hangout. Cultural festivals, art vendors, and dance performances are common, as are crowds at the waterside eateries and resident bowling alley. It’s a lively place to eat and admire the boats in the marina, or walk up Broadway to discover Oakland’s Chinatown, coffee shops, and art galleries.
Further north, there are excellent art galleries running roughly from Grand Avenue to 25th Street, and then there’s the Oakland Museum of California, with its thought-provoking retrospectives, a new kids’ “nature playspace,” and Friday night Off the Grid food truck parties (1000 Oak St., Oakland; $12-$19 admission, museumca.org).
ODIN (444 Oak St., Oakland; odinoakland.com) specializes in artisanal mezcal, tequila, and lesser-known Mexican spirits like sotol; it’s run by the same people who run nearby Nido’s Backyard restaurant and margarita garden. Matty’s Old Fashioned (464 8th St., Oakland; instagram.com/mattyburgers) is pitmaster Matt Horn’s new sit-down restaurant, with a much-hyped bologna sandwich and extremely decadent cheeseburger.
Consider Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine, which serves Instagram-worthy dishes like whole Tsunami Lobster with prawns and scallops and Volcano Cup Noodles with a huge short rib over instant ramen (336 Water St., Oakland; farmhousethai.com).
