As we touched down in San Francisco for the start of our two week long California road trip with the kids, I was desperately hoping that at 8 and 5 years old, they would get the same level of enjoyment from this kind of trip as we had before they came along. 

We gambled on San Francisco being the best place to start, building up to the theme parks in LA rather than piquing from the outset (or so we thought). Surely an open top bus over the Golden Gate would prove to be the highlight? Or perhaps the seals at Pier 39? Maybe even the harbour cruise around the bay and Alcatraz? An outsider was the year-round Christmas shop, which given my kids enthusiasm for Christmas, was in with a chance. Turns out none of these proved to be the highlight for any of us, despite them all being great in their own right.

To understand what did make our No. 1 and why, I have to take you back to 1993 when a film called Demolition Man was released, set in a fictional city in the year 2032. This futuristic film gave us a glimpse of what Hollywood thought things would look like 39 years into the future – or as things currently stand, 8 years from now. Typically Hollywood got carried away, however on our first morning in San Francisco, my mind was immediately cast back to this film when I saw a car drive past with no-one at the wheel. The future as predicted in 1993, appeared to have arrived. Enter Waymo.

A quick chat with the hotel concierge and I learned that Waymo is San Francisco’s latest and undeniably most exciting tech offering, which has only been available to the public for a month or so – essentially driverless Ubers.

The app told me exactly when and where the car would be waiting. It also told me that my initials would be shown on the spinning electronic carousel on top of the car so I could easily identify it as mine. Car duly identified, I was able to unlock it through the app. We all piled in, me in the front seat, family in the back, no-one in the driving seat.

Touchscreens in the front and back welcomed us and told us to buckle up, confirm our destination, and press the button to begin trip, which we did, prompting the car to inch into traffic, the steering wheel moving without the aid of a human as I looked on mildly uncomfortably, gripping the handle a little firmer than usual. 

Incredibly, that feeling soon passed as I became more comfortable as a passenger in my driverless car – more comfortable in fact than I am with real people at the wheel. The level of intelligence and driving capability displayed as we progressed through the middle of a hilly and very busy city was staggering. Not once did it do anything questionable or concerning, even successfully turning right on red lights (as you can in the US) and yielding comfortably to pedestrians. What was even more surprising was how normal it quickly felt, and how locals had confidently taken to having them on their streets – not one pedestrian flinched or turned back!

The icing on the cake however, was its ability to navigate across a few lanes of traffic and into the entrance of our hotel, manoeuvre around parked cars, and drop us off right by the entrance door to our hotel. And then drive away on its own, which somehow felt even more odd. Where was it going?

So there it was – the future. The best unexpected experience we were to have in San Francisco, all for $15. If you are going to San Franscisco anytime soon, I implore you to jump in and take a ride before it becomes the norm – you’ll have Waymo fun that you ever thought possible. 

As for the rest of the trip, well the issue became how we could top that unexpected experience and to manage the kids’ expectations about our hire car being driverless for the entire trip. 

Thankfully, the majesty of Yosemite National Park, the rugged beauty of the coast, the laid-back surf culture as we progressed towards LA, the familiarity of Hollywood (from TV shows and movies apparently…) and the excitement of the theme parks all added to the high bar set so early on in San Fransisco. However, none felt quite as surreal and futuristic.

My guess is that by 2032, Waymo will have developed flying cars and rebranded to Flymo… (sorry).

For more inspiration, take a look at our San Francisco Holidays pages.