With longer days and larger crowds of tourists wrapped in “I Heart San Francisco” sweatshirts, summer has undoubtedly arrived. Bringing with it the annual debate: where to vacay?
Before dusting off your international wish list and queuing up your flight tracker, consider this instead: indulging in a local staycation.
Whether you’ve lived in the Bay Area a few years, a few months or all your life, you're probably sitting on a healthy list of local attractions you've been meaning to check out. With just a few full days of touristing—without losing time to flight delays or jet lag—you could make a pretty good dent in that ever-growing list.
To show you how it's done, BARTable is giving five lucky locals staycation packages (for two) worth up to $1,100. Each package includes two- or three-night stays at luxury hotels in the heart of San Francisco, Oakland or Berkeley, plus entry to some of each city's top attractions—all just quick BART rides away.
The sweepstakes is open from now, July 6th, to July 31st, and entering is simple. First, scroll on to peruse the full prize packages. Then, to enter the promotion, head to bart.gov/staycation and vote for your favorite itinerary.
You can vote for just one, or all five if you can't decide. BARTable will choose five winners at random and announce their names at bart.gov/staycation on August 1st.
BARTable Summer Sweepstakes Prize Packages
Stay & Play In San Francisco #1
Stay
3 nights at Hilton's Parc 55 with breakfast for 2 daily
Play
2 tickets to the Contemporary Jewish Museum and 1 book by Roz Chast
2 tickets to the Asian Art Museum
2 tickets to the recently expanded San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Fisherman's Wharf Segway Tour via Electric Touring Co
2 $30 BART tickets
Prize Value: $935
Stay & Play In San Francisco #2
Stay
3 nights at Hilton SF Union Square
Play
2 tickets to the Contemporary Jewish Museum + one Roz Chast book
2 tickets to the Asian Art Museum
2 tickets to SFMOMA
Golden Gate Park Segway Tour via Electric Touring Co
2 $30 BART tickets
Prize Value: $935
Stay, Shop & Dine In The 49
Stay
3 nights at Park Central Hotel with breakfast for two daily
Play
2 tickets to SFMOMA
1 ‘Shop Small’ tote bag by Mafia Bags
$200 American Express gift card
2 $30 BART tickets
Dine
$100 gift card to Jersey, fine dining and pizza
$100 gift card to DOSA, South Indian street food
Prize Value: $1,070
Oakland Staycation
Stay
2 nights at the Oakland Marriott
Play
4 tickets to Children's Fairyland
4 Oakland A's tickets (choice of one weekend home game in August or September)
2 $30 BART tickets
Dine
$100 gift card to Lake Chalet
$25 gift card to Cookie Bar Creamery
Prize Value: $1,157
Visit Berkeley Staycation
Stay
2-night stay at Hotel Shattuck with breakfast at FIVE restaurant
Play
2 tickets to Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
2 tickets to Shotgun Players
4 Oakland A's tickets (choice of one weekend home game in August or September)
2 $30 BART tickets
Dine
$100 gift card to Corso
Prize Value: $806
To keep up with all things BARTable around the Bay Area, follow @SFBARTable on Twitter and Instagram, and fb.com/bartable on Facebook.
[Editor's Note: This is a sponsored article written by freelance writer Brittany Hopkins.]