Backpack & Budget : San Francisco on the Cheap

For those willing to share dormitory rooms, the San Francisco International Hostel at Ft. Mason offers inexpensive lodging in a great location. It’s on the waterfront in a park setting, just a short walk from Fisherman’s Wharf, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The best part: Rooms are just $13 per night.

Guests can arrange to take free guided walking tours, cycle for miles on a car-free road through parkland, and arrange low-cost transportation, either north or south along the coast, in a “hostel on wheels.”

The hostel is within Ft. Mason in a building that was a hospital during the latter part of the Civil War. Because it is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, both members and non-members of American Youth Hostels pay the same rate of $13 per person, per night.

Most of the dormitory rooms are shared by about 10 travelers. Smaller family rooms are also available, but are often reserved far in advance.

The hostel provides basic guest services such as a kitchen, laundry, linen rental, lockers and a ride/ message board. Services offered by volunteers include a manned information desk in the lobby and free two-hour walking tours, offered two or three times each week.

Reservations, which are essential, can be made using a credit card or by sending your first night’s fee as a deposit, at least two weeks in advance. For more information, contact the San Francisco International Hostel, Ft. Mason, Building 240, San Francisco 94123; telephone (415) 771-7277.

To reach the hostel by bus in San Francisco, take Muni bus No. 42 from the Trans Bay Terminal to Bay and Van Ness streets, then walk one block west. Airport shuttle services charge a flat rate of $9 for the trip to the hostel.

On the park grounds surrounding the hostel, you’ll find a variety of museums that offer free admission on the first Wednesday of each month, including the Mexican Museum, Museo ItaloAmericano, SF African American Historical and Cultural Society and SF Craft and Folk Art Museum.

If accommodations are not available at Ft. Mason, an economical alternative is another AYH hostel at Union Square. Although the setting can’t equal the one at Ft. Mason, this recently opened hostel offers lodging in rooms shared by only two or three travelers.

The hostel address is 312 Mason St., between Geary and O’Farrell streets. From the Trans Bay Terminal, take bus No. 38. Reservations can be made by telephone (48 hours’ notice is preferable) using major credit cards.

Cycle enthusiasts visiting the city should be happy to know that John F. Kennedy Drive, in the four-mile-long Golden Gate Park, is off-limits to cars on Sundays.

Another popular excursion is Alcatraz, the federal prison that until 1963 housed such notorious criminals as Al Capone and Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz).

The island is now part of the National Park Service. The hostel staff advises that budget travelers take the Red and White ferry service over for $5.50, then rent a $3 audiotape for a self-guided tour.

San Francisco is also on the route of the budget bus service known as Green Tortoise. The 40-passenger buses, complete with sleeping pads and stereos, travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Sundays. One-way fare for the 12-hour trip is $12. The San Francisco-to-Los Angeles leg is offered Friday nights. In addition, a 24-hour trip leaves San Francisco for Seattle twice a week (Monday and Friday), returning to San Francisco on Thursday and Sunday. Fare is $69 each way.

For more information, contact Green Tortoise Adventure Travel, Box 24459, San Francisco 94124; tel. (800) 227-4766 or (415) 821-0803.