SF Visitor Information Center

Don’t trust the hours of operation on Unilocal!They literally closed at 3PM today for some reason on a holiday weekend. I don’t know why. ⁰⁄₁₀ not informative as an information center.

Not friendly employee I never ever met around 11AM. When I asked questions, he didn’t look my eyes, very focused on screen. But I must say not many tourists AT ALL Remind of guys not inquire a male staff.

Very helpful staff. Skip the muni passport. We spent $ 46 on two and never used them because you can Über anywhere for $ 7.

Really fast and friendly. Patient as well, which is a plis when working with foreign tourists.
Can’t make change but the wonderful man behind the desk helped me with a quarter for my bus. :D

We traveled from the Dublin/​Pleasanton BART station and this was an easy destination where we could get MUNI day passes. It was a bit confusing to find. The MUNI people sent me in the correct direction, but in the light of day, I didn’t see the office until i was above it.
There was a purchases line and I got into that quickly. It moved well and the person behind the counter was efficient, although a little lacking in friendliness. I can only imagine how much fun it is to dole out the same spiel every time a new customer walks up to the desk.
I bought two MUNI day passes and she was quick, the transaction went well, and she finished by explaining about scratching off the lottery-​ticket like Month and Day. Later, I saw people on the bus using similar passes, but they never scratched off anything. Hmm…
There were also brochures of all shapes and sizes all over the center and they even had free maps with bus routes.

We stopped by this visitor’s center when we got off BART coming from SFO. All we wanted was to get same transportation passes, use the restrooms and grabs a few maps, magazines. We got the passes, the lady who helped us wasn’t nice, welcoming, even barked at us since my husband was trying to pay using a few coins instead of a $ 1 bill and she said that she won’t take the change! Why not! She needs more manners and be nicer to tourists who spend money in San Francisco.
Also, this place has no restrooms. Really? They so need that!!! When we asked she told us to go to Burger King (where you can use the restrooms only if you’re a customer)!. The whole center needs a makeover. It’s too gloomy in there.
And all the people from all Visitor Centers in San Francisco need more training. They couldn’t be ruder. At the one in the airport, the lady that works there refused to sell us the passes because she was still arranging her booth and sent us away. Pretty rude! At the visitor’s center located inside Ghirardelli Square, the lady working there couldn’t answer a simple question but she was rolling her eyes, annoyed with me when I asked some additional ones to figure things out.
Very disappointed w. this place.

This next weekend will be my fourth visit to SF and as I’ve been planning what I was going to do, I remembered what a great resource the Visitors Center was. There was the token friendly old person who gave me recommendations and directions, there was the chance to buy discounted MUNI tickets and grab coupons and brochures and pamphlets for so much to see and do.
Yes, I know it isn’t the «real» or «underground» SF, but just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s not cool, kids.
Stop by and use this great resource to confirm or modify the plans you already made :-)

I’m actually a SF native but I discovered this visitor’s center by accident. There are tons of pamphlets for local attractions all around town and a few for activities in surrounding areas in the East Bay and South Bay. The categories represented include Dining, Hotels, Transportation, Tourist Activities, and free maps. A majority of the information is in English but I also saw a section with French and Spanish material.
My reason for the 4 stars is because I highly recommend checking this place out for coupons! In a lot of the pamphlets for the businesses and dining, discounts are available if you bring the paper along when you visit! I even saw lots of dining deals for restaurants in the surrounding area like Lori’s Diner (20% off), Johnny Rocket’s (10% off), New Delhi Indian Restaurant 50% off 2^nd entrée. I highly recommend this one!), etc. A lot of the dining deals were in the Bay City Guide. Check this place out if you’ve got some free time and want to play tourist. This place is kind of hidden. It’s next to the food cart underground in the Powell BART station, on the side with the stairs that lead up to the Cable Car Turnaround/​Forever 21/​GAP corner.

Wow, this is a great resource for locals and visitors alike!

I just want to say thank you. Especial thanks to the lady with glasses who helped us. You just saved your city.