43 guides
San Francisco
Neighborhoods, landmarks, food and plans for the city by the bay.
Sights
- San Francisco · Sights The Golden Gate BridgeWalk it, bike it, or find the viewpoint that frames it best.
- San Francisco · Sights Alcatraz IslandBooking the ferry, the cellhouse audio tour and the night visit.
- San Francisco · Sights Riding the Cable CarsThe last manually operated cable car system in the world still climbs Nob Hill. Here is how to ride it without spending an hour in line.
- San Francisco · Sights Lombard StreetOne block of eight hairpin bends, built in the 1920s because the hill was too steep to drive straight.
- San Francisco · Sights Coit Tower and Telegraph HillA slim concrete tower on the hill above North Beach, with a lobby full of Depression-era murals and the best stairway walk in town.
- San Francisco · Sights The Painted Ladies and Alamo SquareA row of Victorian houses with the downtown skyline behind them: one of the most photographed views in the city.
- San Francisco · Sights The Ferry BuildingThe clock tower at the foot of Market Street, now a food hall and the busiest ferry terminal on the bay.
- San Francisco · Sights The Palace of Fine ArtsA Roman-style rotunda reflected in a lagoon, built for a world's fair and saved by the people who loved it.
- San Francisco · Sights Twin PeaksTwo grassy summits in the middle of the city, with the whole of San Francisco laid out below.
- San Francisco · Sights Lands End TrailA wild cliff-top trail at the city's north-western tip, with ruins, shipwrecks and the Golden Gate Bridge across the water.
- San Francisco · Sights Pier 39 and the Sea LionsShops, carousel and crowds, plus the one thing nobody planned: a colony of sea lions that moved in after an earthquake.
- San Francisco · Sights The ExploratoriumHundreds of hands-on exhibits on a pier over the bay. It is supposedly for children; adults stay just as long.
- San Francisco · Sights The Walt Disney Family MuseumNot a theme park but a biography: the life of Walt Disney, told by his family, in a former army barracks.
- San Francisco · Sights California Academy of SciencesAn aquarium, a planetarium, a rainforest and a natural history museum under one living roof in Golden Gate Park.
- San Francisco · Sights The de Young MuseumFine art in a copper building that is slowly turning green, with a free tower that looks over the whole park.
- San Francisco · Sights Illuminate SF: the City's Light ArtAfter dark, San Francisco becomes a gallery of light: artworks on bridges, buildings and piers, best seen on foot in winter.
Neighborhoods
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods Fisherman's WharfThe busiest part of the waterfront. Skip the souvenir strip and it still has ships, old arcade machines and the best crab on a paper plate.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods ChinatownThe oldest Chinatown in North America, and still a working neighborhood. Walk past the souvenir shops and it opens up.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods North BeachEspresso, focaccia and poetry: the old Italian quarter that sheltered the Beat writers, under Telegraph Hill.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods Haight-AshburyVictorian houses, vintage shops and the long shadow of 1967.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods The Mission and Dolores ParkThe sunniest neighborhood in the city: an eighteenth-century mission, alleys of murals, taquerias, and a park that turns into a party on warm weekends.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods SoMaWarehouses turned galleries and towers: the city's museum quarter, a park on a rooftop, and baseball by the bay.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods The Fillmore and JapantownTwo neighborhoods side by side: the old jazz district where rock found its biggest stage, and one of the last Japantowns in the country.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods The CastroThe center of LGBTQ life in San Francisco for half a century, under the hills of Twin Peaks.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods Nob HillThe steepest money in the city: railroad barons' mansions became grand hotels around a small park at the top of the hill.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods The PresidioA former army post turned national park at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, with forests, beaches and some of the best views in the city.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods Golden Gate ParkA thousand acres of gardens, lakes and museums, built on sand dunes and stretching all the way to the Pacific.
- San Francisco · Neighborhoods The EmbarcaderoThe waterfront promenade the city got back when an earthquake brought down the freeway that hid it.
Food
- San Francisco · Food Central Market and Mid-MarketThe long middle stretch of Market Street: grand theaters, City Hall, cheap and excellent food, and some of the city's hardest streets.
- San Francisco · Food Sourdough and Clam ChowderTangy bread, a bowl of chowder made from it, and crab cracked on the waterfront: the city's oldest food traditions.
- San Francisco · Food Dim Sum in ChinatownSmall plates, big tables and a lot of tea. A short guide to doing dim sum well.
- San Francisco · Food The Mission BurritoA huge, foil-wrapped burrito packed with rice, beans and meat: the Mission District's most famous export.
- San Francisco · Food Ferry Plaza Farmers MarketCalifornia's farms, ranches and bakeries set up around the Ferry Building several mornings a week. Saturday is the big one.
Plan
- San Francisco · Plan San Francisco in One DayOne day, mostly on foot: the hills, the old neighborhoods, the waterfront and the bridge at sunset.
- San Francisco · Plan San Francisco in Three DaysThree days, three moods: the bay, the hills and the parks.
- San Francisco · Plan Where to Stay in San FranciscoWhich neighborhood suits your trip, and which to skip.
- San Francisco · Plan Getting Around San FranciscoYou do not need a car. You do need comfortable shoes, a transit app and a plan for the hills.
- San Francisco · Plan Best Time to Visit San FranciscoThe warmest month is not July. A short guide to the city's upside-down seasons.
- San Francisco · Plan San Francisco on a BudgetOne of the most expensive cities in the country, and still full of things that cost nothing.
- San Francisco · Plan San Francisco with KidsCable cars, sea lions, a science museum the size of a pier and parks with something for every age.
- San Francisco · Plan The Best Views in San FranciscoA city of hills is a city of views. Eight of the best, from famous summits to hidden staircases.
Day trips
- San Francisco · Day trips Muir Woods and SausalitoAncient redwoods in the morning, a harbor town in the afternoon and the ferry home past Alcatraz.
- San Francisco · Day trips Napa and Sonoma in a DayTwo wine valleys, an hour or so north of the city. Pick one, book ahead, and do not try to see everything.