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Union Square and Chinatown | SoMa, Civic Center, and Hayes Valley | Nob Hill and Russian Hill | North Beach | On the Waterfront | The Marina, Cow Hollow, and the Presidio | Golden Gate Park and the Western Shoreline | The Haight, the Castro, and Noe Valley | Mission District | Dogpatch | Pacific Heights and Japantown
Union Square and Chinatown
The Union Square area bristles with big-city bravado, while just a stone’s throw away is a place that feels like a city unto itself, Chinatown. The two areas share a strong commercial streak, although manifested very differently. In Union Square—a plaza but also the neighborhood around it—the crowds zigzag among international brands, trailing glossy shopping bags. A few blocks north, people dash between small neighborhood stores, their arms draped with plastic totes filled with groceries or souvenirs.
Union Square
Top Attractions
Union Square.
Ground zero for big-name shopping in the city and within walking distance of many hotels, Union Square is home base for many visitors. The Westin St. Francis Hotel and Macy’s line two of the square’s sides, and Saks, Neiman-Marcus, and Tiffany & Co. edge the other two. Four globular lamp sculptures by the artist R. M. Fischer preside over the landscaped, 2½-acre park, which has a café with outdoor seating, an open-air stage, and a visitor-information booth—along with a familiar kaleidoscope of characters: office workers sunning and brown-bagging, street musicians, shoppers taking a rest, kids chasing pigeons, and a fair number of homeless people. The constant clang of cable cars traveling up and down Powell Street helps maintain a festive mood.
The heart of San Francisco’s downtown since 1850, the square takes its name from the violent pro-Union demonstrations staged here before the Civil War. At center stage, Robert Ingersoll Aitken’s Victory Monument commemorates Commodore George Dewey’s victory over the Spanish fleet at Manila in 1898. The 97-foot Corinthian column, topped by a bronze figure symbolizing naval conquest, was dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 and withstood the 1906 earthquake. After the earthquake and fire of 1906, the square was dubbed “Little St. Francis” because of the temporary shelter erected for residents of the St. Francis Hotel. Actor John Barrymore (grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore and a notorious carouser) was among the guests pressed into volunteering to stack bricks in the square. His uncle, thespian John Drew, remarked, “It took an act of God to get John out of bed and the United States Army to get him to work.”
The square sits atop a handy four-level garage, allegedly the world’s first underground parking structure. Aboveground the convenient TIX Bay Area (415/433–7827, www.tixbayarea.com) provides half-price, day-of-performance tickets to performing-arts events, as well as regular full-price box-office services. TIP Tired of shopping? Grab a coffee and pastry right in the square at Emporio Rulli, sit at a small outdoor table, and take in the action. | Bordered by Powell, Stockton, Post, and Geary Sts., Union Sq.
Worth Noting
Maiden Lane.
Known as Morton Street in the raffish Barbary Coast era, this former red-light district reported at least one murder a week during the late 19th century. Things cooled down after the 1906 fire destroyed the brothels, and these days Maiden Lane is a chic, boutique-lined pedestrian mall (favored by brides-to-be) stretching two blocks, between Stockton and Kearny streets. Wrought-iron gates close the street to traffic most days between 11 and 5, when the lane becomes a patchwork of umbrella-shaded tables.
At 140 Maiden Lane you can see the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Francisco. Walking through the brick archway and recessed entry feels a bit like entering a glowing cave. The interior’s graceful, curving ramp and skylights are said to have been his model for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Xanadu Gallery, which showcases expensive Baltic, Latin American, and African folk art, occupies the space and welcomes Frank Lloyd Wright fans. | Between Stockton and Kearny Sts., Union Sq.
San Francisco Visitor Information Center.
Head downstairs from the cable-car terminus to the visitor center, where multilingual staffers answer questions and provide maps and pamphlets. Muni Passports are sold here, and you can pick up discount coupons—the savings can be significant, especially for families. If you’re planning to hit the big-ticket stops like the California Academy of Sciences and the Exploratorium and ride the cable cars, consider purchasing a CityPass (www.citypass.com/san-francisco) here. TIP The CityPass ($86, $64 ages 5–11), good for nine days, including seven days of transit, will save you more than 40%. The pass is also available at the attractions it covers, though if you choose the pass that includes Alcatraz—an excellent deal—you’ll have to buy it directly from Alcatraz Cruises. | Hallidie Plaza, lower level,900 Market St., at Market and Powell Sts., Union Sq. | 415/391–2000 | www.sanfrancisco.travel | Weekdays 9–5, Sat. 9–3; also May–Oct., Sun. 9–3.
Westin St. Francis Hotel.
Built in 1904 and barely established as the most sumptuous hotel in town before it was ravaged by fire following the 1906 earthquake, this grande-dame hotel designed by Walter Danforth Bliss and William Baker Faville reopened in 1907 with the addition of a luxurious Italian Renaissance–style residence designed to attract loyal clients from among the world’s rich and powerful. The hotel’s checkered past includes the ill-fated 1921 bash in the suite of the silent-film superstar Fatty Arbuckle, at which a woman became ill and later died. Arbuckle endured three sensational trials for rape and murder before being acquitted, by which time his career was kaput. In 1975 Sara Jane Moore, standing among a crowd outside the hotel, attempted to shoot then-president Gerald Ford. Of course the grand lobby contains no plaques commemorating these events. Every November the hotel’s pastry chef adds a new touch to his spectacular, rotating 12-foot-high gingerbread castle on display here; it’s fun to compare it with the grand walk-through gingerbread house at the Fairmont. TIP Some visitors make the St. Francis a stop whenever they’re in town, soaking up the lobby ambience or enjoying a cocktail in Clock Bar or a meal at Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak. | 335 Powell St., at Geary St., Union Sq. | 415/397–7000 | www.westinstfrancis.com.
Chinatown
Top Attractions
Chinatown Gate.
This is the official entrance to Chinatown. Stone lions flank the base of the pagoda-topped gate; the lions, dragons, and fish up top symbolize wealth, prosperity, and other good things. The four Chinese characters immediately beneath the pagoda represent the philosophy of Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), the leader who unified China in the early 20th century. Sun Yat-sen, who lived in exile in San Francisco for a few years, promoted the notion of friendship and peace among all nations based on equality, justice, and goodwill. The vertical characters under the left pagoda read “peace” and “trust,” the ones under the right pagoda “respect” and “love.” The whole shebang telegraphs the internationally understood message of “photo op.” Immediately beyond the gate, dive into souvenir shopping on Grant Avenue, Chinatown’s tourist strip. | Grant Ave. at Bush St., Chinatown.
Kong Chow Temple.
This ornate temple sets a somber, spiritual tone right away with a sign warning visitors not to touch anything. The god to whom the members of this temple pray represents honesty and trust. Chinese stores and restaurants often display his image because he’s thought to bring good luck in business. Chinese immigrants established the temple in 1851; its congregation moved to this building in 1977. Take the elevator up to the fourth floor, where incense fills the air. You can show respect by placing a dollar or two in the donation box and by leaving your camera in its case. Amid the statuary, flowers, and richly colored altars (red wards off evil spirits and signifies virility, green symbolizes longevity, and gold connotes majesty), a couple of plaques announce that “Mrs. Harry S. Truman came to this temple in June 1948 for a prediction on the outcome of the election . . . this fortune came true.” TIP The temple’s balcony has a good view of Chinatown. | 855 Stockton St., Chinatown | Free | Mon.–Sat. 9–4.
Fodor’s Choice | Tin How Temple.
Duck into the inconspicuous doorway, climb three flights of stairs, and be assaulted by the aroma of incense in this tiny, altar-filled room. In 1852, Day Ju, one of the first three Chinese to arrive in San Francisco, dedicated this temple to the Queen of the Heavens and the Goddess of the Seven Seas, and the temple looks largely the same today as it did more than a century ago. In the entryway, elderly ladies can often be seen preparing “money” to be burned as offerings to various Buddhist gods or as funds for ancestors to use in the afterlife. Hundreds of red-and-gold lanterns cover the ceiling; the larger the lamp, the larger its donor’s contribution to the temple. Gifts of oranges, dim sum, and money left by the faithful, who kneel mumbling prayers, rest on altars to different gods. Tin How presides over the middle back of the temple, flanked by one red and one green lesser god. Take a good look around, since taking photographs is not allowed. | 125 Waverly Pl., between Clay and Washington Sts., Chinatown | Free, donations accepted | Daily 10–4.
Worth Noting
Chinese Historical Society of America Museum and Learning Center.
The displays at this small, light-filled gallery document the Chinese-American experience—from 19th-century agriculture to 21st-century food and fashion trends—and include a thought-provoking collection of racist games and toys. The facility also has temporary exhibits of works by contemporary Chinese-American artists. | 965 Clay St., between Stockton and Powell Sts., Chinatown | 415/391–1188 | www.chsa.org | $5, free 1st Thurs. of month | Tues.–Fri. noon–5, Sat. 11–4.
FAMILY | Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.
Follow your nose down Ross Alley to this tiny but fragrant cookie factory. Workers sit at circular motorized griddles and wait for dollops of batter to drop onto a tiny metal plate, which rotates into an oven. A few moments later out comes a cookie that’s pliable and ready for folding. It’s easy to peek in for a moment, and hard to leave without a few free samples. A bagful of cookies—with mildly racy “adult” fortunes or more benign ones—costs under $5. You can also purchase the cookies “fortuneless” in their waferlike unfolded state, which makes snacking that much more efficient. TIP Photographing the cookie makers at work will set you back 50¢. | 56 Ross Alley, off Washington or Jackson St. west of Grant Ave., Chinatown | 415/781–3956 | Free | Daily 9–8.
Old Chinese Telephone Exchange.
After the 1906 earthquake, many Chinatown buildings were rebuilt in Western style with pagoda roof and fancy balconies slapped on. This building—today East West Bank—is the exception, an example of top-to-bottom Chinese architecture. The intricate three-tier pagoda was built in 1909. To the Chinese, it’s considered rude to refer to a person as a number, so the operators were required to memorize each subscriber’s name. As the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce boasted in 1914: “These girls respond all day with hardly a mistake to calls that are given (in English or one of five Chinese dialects) by the name of the subscriber instead of by his number—a mental feat that would be practically impossible for most high-schooled American misses.” | EastWest Bank,743 Washington St., Chinatown.
Portsmouth Square.
Chinatown’s living room buzzes with activity. The square, with its pagoda-shape structures, is a favorite spot for morning tai chi; by noon dozens of men huddle around Chinese chess tables, engaged in competition. Kids scamper about the square’s two grungy playgrounds (warning: the bathrooms are sketchy). Back in the late 19th century this land was near the waterfront. The square is named for the USS Portsmouth, the ship helmed by Captain John Montgomery, who in 1846 raised the American flag here and claimed the then-Mexican land for the United States. A couple of years later, Sam Brannan kicked off the gold rush at the square when he waved his loot and proclaimed, “Gold from the American River!” Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, often dropped by, chatting up the sailors who hung out here. Some of the information he gleaned about life at sea found its way into his fiction. A bronze galleon sculpture, a tribute to Stevenson, anchors the square’s northwest corner. A plaque marks the site of California’s first public school, built in 1847. | Bordered by Walter Lum Pl. and Kearny, Washington, and Clay Sts., Chinatown.
SoMa, Civic Center, and Hayes Valley
To a newcomer, SoMa (short for “south of Market”) and the Civic Center may look like cheek-by-jowl neighbors—they’re divided by Market Street. To locals, though, these areas are separate entities, especially since Market Street itself is considered such a strong demarcation line. Both neighborhoods have a core of cultural sights but more than their share of sketchy blocks. North of the Civic Center lies the western section of the frisky Tenderloin neighborhood, while to the east is hip Hayes Valley.
SoMa
Top Attractions
California Historical Society.
If you’re not a history buff, the CHS might seem like an obvious skip—who wants to look at fading old photographs and musty artifacts?—but these airy galleries are worth a stop. The shows here draw from the society’s vast repository of Californiana—hundreds of thousands of photographs, publications, paintings, and gold-rush paraphernalia. Special exhibits have included A Wild Flight of the Imagination: The Story of the Golden Gate Bridge and Hobos to Street People: Artists’ Responses to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present. TIP From out front, take a look across the street: this is the best view of the Museum of the African Diaspora’s three-story photo mosaic. | 678 Mission St., SoMa | 415/357–1848 | www.californiahistoricalsociety.org | $5 | Tues.–Sun. noon–5; galleries close between exhibitions.
Contemporary Jewish Museum.
Daniel Liebeskind designed the postmodern CJM, whose impossible-to-ignore diagonal blue cube juts out of a painstakingly restored power substation. A physical manifestation of the Hebrew phrase l’chaim (to life), the cube may have obscure philosophical origins, but Liebeskind created a unique, light-filled space that merits a stroll through the lobby even if current exhibits don’t entice you into the galleries. Be sure to check out the seam where old building meets new, and check the website for fun children’s activities linked to exhibits. TIP San Francisco’s best Jewish deli, Wise Sons, recently opened a counter in the museum, giving you a chance to sample the company’s wildly popular smoked trout. | 736 Mission St., between 3rd and 4th Sts., SoMa | 415/655–7800 | www.thecjm.org | $12; $5 Thurs. after 5 pm, free 1st Tues. of month | Thurs. 1–8, Fri.–Tues. 11–5.
Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD).
Dedicated to the influence that people of African descent have had all over the world, MoAD provokes discussion from the get-go with the question, “When did you discover you are African?” painted on the wall in the lobby. Recently renovated and reimagined for its 10th anniversary in 2015, MoAD is moving away from static historical displays toward temporary exhibits in its three new galleries over two upper floors. Its new status as a Smithsonian affiliate means access to resources, lecturers, and touring shows, and perhaps a higher profile for this institution, which has struggled to find its place. With floor-to-ceiling windows onto Mission Street, the museum fits perfectly into the cultural scene of Yerba Buena and is well worth a 30-minute foray. Happily, the museum retained its striking front-window exhibit: a three-story mosaic, made from thousands of photographs, that forms the image of a young girl’s face. TIP Walk up the stairs inside the museum to view the photographs up close—Malcolm X is there, Muhammad Ali, too, along with everyday folks—but the best view is from across the street. | 685 Mission St., SoMa | 415/358–7200 | www.moadsf.org | $10 | Wed.–Sat. 11–6, Sun. noon–5.
FAMILY | Fodor’s Choice | Yerba Buena Gardens.
There’s not much south of Market Street that encourages lingering outdoors—or indeed walking at all—with this notable exception. These two blocks encompass the Center for the Arts, the Metreon, Moscone Convention Center, and the convention center’s rooftop Children’s Creativity Museum, but the gardens themselves are the everyday draw. Office workers escape to the green swath of the East Garden, the focal point of which is the memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. Powerful streams of water surge over large, jagged stone columns, mirroring the enduring force of King’s words that are carved on the stone walls and on glass blocks behind the waterfall. Moscone North is behind the memorial, and an overhead walkway leads to Moscone South and its rooftop attractions. TIP The gardens are liveliest during the week and especially during the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, from May through October (www.ybgfestival.org), with free performances of everything from Latin music to Balinese dance.
Atop the Moscone Convention Center perch a few lures for kids. The historic Looff carousel ($4 for two rides) twirls daily 10–5. South of the carousel is the Children’s Creativity Museum (415/820–3320, creativity.org), a high-tech, interactive arts-and-technology center ($12) geared to children ages 3–12. Kids can make Claymation videos, work in a computer lab, check out new games and apps, and perform and record music videos. The museum is open year-round 10–4 from Wednesday through Sunday, and on Tuesday during the summer. Just outside, kids adore the excellent slides, including a 25-foot tube slide, at the play circle. Also part of the rooftop complex are gardens, an ice-skating rink, and a bowling alley. | Bordered by 3rd, 4th, Mission, and Folsom Sts., SoMa | www.yerbabuenagardens.com | Free | Daily sunrise–10 pm.
Worth Noting
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
SFMOMA closed for a massive expansion project in 2013 and is scheduled to reopen in 2016. Until then, the museum will draw from its collection to create joint exhibitions with the Asian Art Museum, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and other institutions. SFMOMA’s store—known for its fun gadgets, artsy doodads, and superb art and kids’ books—is relocating temporarily to 51 Yerba Buena Lane, off Mission and Market streets near 4th Street. | 151 3rd St., SoMa | 415/357–4000 | www.sfmoma.org.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
You never know what’s going to be on display at this facility in Yerba Buena Gardens, but whether it’s an exhibit of Mexican street art (graffiti to laypeople), innovative modern dance, or a baffling video installation, it’s likely to be memorable. The productions here, which lean toward the cutting edge, tend to draw a young, energetic crowd. TIP Present any public library card to receive a $2 discount. | 701 Mission St., SoMa | 415/978–2787 | www.ybca.org | Galleries $10, free 1st Tues. of month | Wed. noon–6, Thurs.–Sat. noon–8, Sun. noon–6, 1st Tues. of the month noon–8.
Civic Center
Fodor’s Choice | Asian Art Museum.
You don’t have to be a connoisseur of Asian art to appreciate a visit to this museum whose monumental exterior conceals a light, open, and welcoming space. The fraction of the Asian’s collection on display (about 2,500 pieces out of 15,000-plus total) is laid out thematically and by region, making it easy to follow historical developments.
Begin on the third floor, where highlights of Buddhist art in Southeast Asia and early China include a large, jewel-encrusted, exquisitely painted 19th-century Burmese Buddha and clothed rod puppets from Java. On the second floor you can find later Chinese works, as well as pieces from Korea and Japan. The joy here is all in the details: on a whimsical Korean jar, look for a cobalt tiger jauntily smoking a pipe, or admire the delicacy of the Japanese tea implements. The ground floor is devoted to temporary exhibits, often traveling shows such as recent ones about Balinese art, and the transformation of yoga. TIP During spring and summer, visit the museum the first Thursday evening of the month for extended programs and sip drinks while a DJ spins tunes. | 200 Larkin St., between McAllister and Fulton Sts., Civic Center | 415/581–3500 | www.asianart.org | $15, free 1st Sun. of month; $10 Thurs. 5–9 | Tues.–Sun. 10–5; Feb.–Oct., also Thurs. until 9.
City Hall.
This imposing 1915 structure with its massive gold-leaf dome—higher than the U.S. Capitol’s—is about as close to a palace as you’re going to get in San Francisco. (Alas, the metal detectors detract from the grandeur.) The classic granite-and-marble behemoth was modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Architect Arthur Brown Jr., who also designed Coit Tower and the War Memorial Opera House, designed an interior with grand columns and a sweeping central staircase. San Franciscans were thrilled, and probably a bit surprised, when his firm built City Hall in just a few years. The 1899 structure it replaced had taken 27 years to erect, as corrupt builders and politicians lined their pockets with funds earmarked for it. That building collapsed in about 27 seconds during the 1906 earthquake, revealing trash and newspapers mixed into the construction materials.
City Hall was spruced up and seismically retrofitted in the late 1990s, but the sense of history remains palpable. Some noteworthy events that have taken place here include the marriage of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio (1954); the hosing—down the central staircase—of civil-rights and freedom-of-speech protesters (1960); the murders of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay supervisor Harvey Milk (1978); the torching of the lobby by angry members of the gay community in response to the light sentence given to the former supervisor who killed both men (1979); and the registrations of scores of gay couples in celebration of the passage of San Francisco’s Domestic Partners Act (1991). February 2004 has come to be known as the Winter of Love: thousands of gay and lesbian couples responded to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex partners, turning City Hall into the site of raucous celebration and joyful nuptials for a month before the state Supreme Court ordered the practice stopped. That celebratory scene replayed during 2008, when scores of couples were wed between the court’s June ruling that everyone enjoys the civil right to marry and the November passage of California’s ballot proposition banning same-sex marriage. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the issue, ruling against the proposition.
On display in the South Light Court are artifacts from the collection of the Museum of the City of San Francisco (www.sfmuseum.org), including maps, documents, and photographs. That enormous, 700-pound iron head once crowned the Goddess of Progress statue, which topped the old City Hall building until it crumbled during the 1906 earthquake. City Hall’s centennial in 2013 kicked off three years of exhibits—the same amount of time it took to raise the building.
Across Polk Street from City Hall is Civic Center Plaza, with lawns, walkways, seasonal flower beds, a playground, and an underground parking garage. This sprawling space is generally clean but somewhat grim. A large part of the city’s homeless population hangs out here, so the plaza can feel dodgy. | Bordered by Van Ness Ave. and Polk, Grove, and McAllister Sts., Civic Center | 415/554–6023 recorded tour info, 415/554–6139 tour reservations | sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=1172 | Free | Weekdays 8–8 except holidays; free tours weekdays at 10, noon, and 2.
United Nations Plaza.
Locals know this plaza for two things: the farmers’ market held on Wednesday and Sunday—cheap and earthy to the Ferry Building’s pricey and beautiful—and the many homeless people, a consistent presence despite numerous efforts by the city to shunt them aside. Brick pillars listing various nations and the dates of their admittance into the United Nations line the plaza, and its floor is inscribed with the goals and philosophy of the United Nations Charter, which was signed at the War Memorial Opera House in 1945. The food-truck gathering Off the Grid (offthegridsf.com) livens up lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursday, with several vendors selling gourmet foods. | Fulton St. between Hyde and Market Sts., Civic Center.
Hayes Valley
SFJAZZ Center.
Opened in 2013 to much fanfare, the center is devoted entirely to jazz. The debut week alone saw performances by McCoy Tyner, Joshua Redman, Regina Carter, Chick Corea, and Savion Glover, among others. Walk by and the street-level glass walls will make you feel as if you’re inside; head indoors and the acoustics will knock your socks off. Celebrated artists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet created the lobby murals. TIP Grab dinner at South, a rustic-Mexican restaurant developed by Charles Phan, the acclaimed chef of the Slanted Door; during showtime, you can listen to the musicians playing in the adjacent auditorium. | 201 Franklin St., at Fell St., Hayes Valley | 866/920–5299 | www.sfjazz.org.
Nob Hill and Russian Hill
In place of the quirky charm and cultural diversity that mark other San Francisco neighborhoods, Nob Hill exudes history and good breeding. Topped with some of the city’s most elegant hotels, Gothic Grace Cathedral, and private blue-blood clubs, it’s the pinnacle of privilege. One hill over, across Pacific Avenue, is another old-family bastion, Russian Hill. It may not be quite as wealthy as Nob Hill, but it’s no slouch—and it’s got jaw-dropping views.
Nob Hill
FAMILY | Cable Car Museum.
One of the city’s best free offerings, this museum is an absolute must for kids. You can even ride a cable car here—all three lines stop between Russian Hill and Nob Hill. The facility, which is inside the city’s last cable-car barn, takes the top off the system to let you see how it all works. Eternally humming and squealing, the massive powerhouse cable wheels steal the show. You can also climb aboard a vintage car and take the grip, let the kids ring a cable-car bell (briefly), and check out vintage gear dating from 1873.
The gift shop sells cable-car paraphernalia, including an authentic gripman’s bell for $600—it’ll sound like Powell Street in your house every day. For significantly less, you can pick up a key chain made from a piece of worn-out cable. | 1201 Mason St., at Washington St., Nob Hill | 415/474–1887 | www.cablecarmuseum.org | Free | Oct.–Mar., daily 10–5; Apr.–Sept., daily 10–6.
Grace Cathedral.
Not many churches can boast an altarpiece by Keith Haring and not one, but two labyrinths. The seat of the Episcopal Church in San Francisco, this soaring Gothic-style structure, erected on the site of the 19th-century railroad baron Charles Crocker’s mansion, took 53 years to build, wrapping up in 1964. The gilded bronze doors at the east entrance were taken from casts of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s incredible Gates of Paradise, which are on the Baptistery in Florence, Italy. A black-and-bronze stone sculpture of St. Francis by Beniamino Bufano greets you as you enter.
The 35-foot-wide limestone labyrinth is a replica of the 13th-century stone maze on the floor of Chartres Cathedral. All are encouraged to walk the ¼-mile-long labyrinth, a ritual based on the tradition of meditative walking. There’s also a terrazzo outdoor labyrinth on the church’s north side. The AIDS Interfaith Chapel, to the right as you enter Grace, contains a metal triptych by the late artist Keith Haring and panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt. TIP Especially dramatic times to view the cathedral are during Thursday-night evensong (5:15 pm) and during special holiday programs. | 1100 California St., at Taylor St., Nob Hill | 415/749–6300 | www.gracecathedral.org | Free; tours $25 | Weekdays 7–6, Sat. 8–6, Sun. 8–7; tour times vary.
Russian Hill
Top Attractions
Fodor’s Choice | Ina Coolbrith Park.
If you make it all the way up here, you may have the place all to yourself, or at least feel like you do. The park’s terraces are carved from a hill so steep that it’s difficult to see if anyone else is there or not. Locals love this park because it feels like a secret no one else knows about—one of the city’s magic hidden gardens, with a meditative setting and spectacular views of the bay peeking out from among the trees. A poet, Oakland librarian, and niece of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, Ina Coolbrith (1842–1928) introduced Jack London and Isadora Duncan to the world of books. For years she entertained literary greats in her Macondray Lane home near the park. In 1915 she was named poet laureate of California. | Vallejo St. between Mason and Taylor Sts., Russian Hill.
Lombard Street.
The block-long “Crookedest Street in the World” makes eight switchbacks down the east face of Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth streets. Residents bemoan the traffic jam outside their front doors, but the throngs continue. Join the line of cars waiting to drive down the steep hill, or avoid the whole mess and walk down the steps on either side of Lombard. You take in super views of North Beach and Coit Tower whether you walk or drive—though if you’re the one behind the wheel, you’d better keep your eye on the road lest you become yet another of the many folks who ram the garden barriers. TIP Can’t stand the traffic? Thrill seekers of a different stripe may want to head two blocks south of Lombard to Filbert Street. At a gradient of 31.5%, the hair-raising descent between Hyde and Leavenworth streets is the city’s steepest. Go slowly! | Lombard St. between Hyde and Leavenworth Sts., Russian Hill.
Fodor’s Choice | Macondray Lane.
San Francisco has no shortage of impressive, grand homes, but it’s the tiny fairy-tale lanes that make most want to move here, and Macondray Lane is the quintessential hidden garden. Enter under a lovely wooden trellis and proceed down a quiet, cobbled pedestrian lane lined with Edwardian cottages and flowering plants and trees. Watch your step—the cobblestones are quite uneven in spots. A flight of steep wooden stairs at the end of the lane leads to Taylor Street—on the way down you can’t miss the bay views. If you’ve read any of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City books, you may find the lane vaguely familiar. It’s the thinly disguised setting for part of the series’ action. | Between Jones and Taylor Sts., and Union and Green Sts., Russian Hill.
Worth Noting
San Francisco Art Institute.
A Moorish-tile fountain in a tree-shaded courtyard draws the eye as soon as you enter the institute. The number-one reason for a visit is Mexican master Diego Rivera’s The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City (1931), in the student gallery to your immediate left inside the entrance. Rivera himself is in the fresco—his broad behind is to the viewer—and he’s surrounded by his assistants. They in turn are surrounded by a construction scene, laborers, and city notables such as sculptor Robert Stackpole and architect Timothy Pfleuger. Making is one of three San Francisco murals painted by Rivera. The number-two reason to come here is the café, or more precisely the eye-popping, panoramic view from the café, which serves surprisingly decent food for a song.
The older portions of the Art Institute, including the lovely Mission-style bell tower, were erected in 1926. To this day, otherwise pragmatic people claim that ghostly footsteps can be heard in the tower at night. Ansel Adams created the school’s fine-arts photography department in 1946, and school directors established the country’s first fine-arts film program. Notable faculty and alumni have included painter Richard Diebenkorn and photographers Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, and Annie Leibovitz.
The Walter & McBean Galleries (415/749–4563; Open Tues. 11–7, Wed.–Sat. 11–6) exhibit the often provocative works of established artists. | 800 Chestnut St., Russian Hill | 415/771–7020 | www.sfai.edu | Galleries free | Hrs vary but building generally open Mon.–Sat. 9–7
North Beach
San Francisco novelist Herbert Gold calls North Beach “the longest-running, most glorious, American bohemian operetta outside Greenwich Village.” Indeed, to anyone who’s spent some time in its eccentric old bars and cafés, North Beach evokes everything from the Barbary Coast days to the no-less-rowdy Beatnik era.
Top Attractions
Coit Tower.
Whether or not you agree that it resembles a fire-hose nozzle, this 210-foot tower is among San Francisco’s most distinctive skyline sights. Although the monument wasn’t intended as a tribute to firemen, it’s often considered as such because of the donor’s special attachment to the local fire company. As the story goes, a young gold rush–era girl, Lillie Hitchcock Coit (known as Miss Lil), was a fervent admirer of her local fire company—so much so that she once deserted a wedding party and chased down the street after her favorite engine, Knickerbocker No. 5, while clad in her bridesmaid finery. She became the Knickerbocker Company’s mascot and always signed her name “Lillie Coit 5.” When Lillie died in 1929 she left the city $125,000 to “expend in an appropriate manner . . . to the beauty of San Francisco.”
You can ride the elevator to the top of the tower—the only thing you have to pay for here—to enjoy the view of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge; due north is Alcatraz Island. Most visitors saunter right past the 19 fabulous Depression-era murals inside the tower that depict California’s economic and political life, but take the time to appreciate the first New Deal art project supported by taxpayer money. The federal government commissioned the paintings from 25 local artists, and ended up funding a controversy. The radical Mexican painter Diego Rivera inspired the murals’ socialist-realist style, with its biting cultural commentary, particularly about the exploitation of workers. At the time the murals were painted, clashes between management and labor along the waterfront and elsewhere in San Francisco were widespread. The elements, the thousands of visitors that pass by them every year, and the lack of climate control in the tower have taken their toll on the murals, but restoration work done on the tower in 2013 should help protect them. TIP The views from the tower’s base are also expansive—and free. Parking at Coit Tower is limited; in fact, you may have to wait (and wait) for a space. Spare yourself the frustration and hike up, if you’re in good shape, or take the 39 bus. | Telegraph Hill Blvd. at Greenwich St. or Lombard St., North Beach | 415/362–0808 | Free; elevator to top $7 | Mar.–Sept., daily 10–5:30; Oct.–Feb., daily 9–4:30.
Grant Avenue.
Originally called Calle de la Fundación, Grant Avenue is the oldest street in the city, but it’s got plenty of young blood. Here dusty bars such as the Saloon and perennial favorites like the Savoy Tivoli mix with hotshot boutiques, odd curio shops like the antique jumble that is Aria, atmospheric cafés such as the boho haven Caffè Trieste, and authentic Italian delis. While the street runs from Union Square through Chinatown, North Beach, and beyond, the fun stuff in this neighborhood is crowded into the four blocks between Columbus Avenue and Filbert Street. | North Beach.
The Birds of Telegraph Hill
While on Telegraph Hill, you might be startled by a chorus of piercing squawks and a rushing sound of wings. No, you’re not about to have a Hitchcock bird-attack moment. These small, vivid green parrots with cherry red heads number in the hundreds; they’re descendants of former pets that escaped or were released by their owners. (The birds dislike cages, and they bite if bothered—must’ve been some disillusioned owners along the way.)
The parrots like to roost high in the aging cypress trees on the hill, chattering and fluttering, sometimes taking wing en masse. They’re not popular with some residents, but they did find a champion in local bohemian Mark Bittner, a former street musician. Bittner began chronicling their habits, publishing a book and battling the homeowners who wanted to cut down the cypresses. A documentary, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, made the issue a cause célèbre. In 2007 City Hall, which recognizes a golden goose when it sees one, stepped in and brokered a solution to keep the celebrity birds in town. The city would cover the homeowners’ insurance worries and plant new trees for the next generation of wild parrots.
Fodor’s Choice | Telegraph Hill.
Residents here have some of the city’s best views, as well as the most difficult ascents to their aeries. The hill rises from the east end of Lombard Street to a height of 284 feet and is capped by Coit Tower. Imagine lugging your groceries up that! If you brave the slope, though, you can be rewarded with a “secret treasure” San Francisco moment. Filbert Street starts up the hill, then becomes the Filbert Steps when the going gets too steep. You can cut between the Filbert Steps and another flight, the Greenwich Steps, on up to the hilltop. As you climb, you can pass some of the city’s oldest houses and be surrounded by beautiful, flowering private gardens. In some places the trees grow over the stairs so it feels like you’re walking through a green tunnel; elsewhere, you’ll have wide-open views of the bay. The cypress trees that grow on the hill are a favorite roost of local avian celebrities the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill; you’ll hear the cries of the cherry-headed conures if they’re nearby. And the telegraphic name? It comes from the hill’s status as the first Morse code signal station back in 1853. | Bordered by Lombard, Filbert, Kearny, and Sansome Sts., North Beach.
Washington Square.
Once the daytime social heart of Little Italy, this grassy patch has changed character numerous times over the years. The Beats hung out here in the 1950s, hippies camped out in the 1960s and early ‘70s, and nowadays you’re more likely to see kids of Southeast Asian descent tossing a Frisbee than Italian folks reminiscing about the old country. In the morning, elderly Asians perform the motions of tai chi. Then and later you might see homeless people hanging out on the benches, and by midday young locals sunbathing or running their dogs. Lillie Hitchcock Coit, in yet another show of affection for San Francisco’s firefighters, donated the statue of two firemen with a child they rescued. TIP The North Beach Festival, the city’s oldest street fair, celebrates the area’s Italian culture here each June. | Bordered by Columbus Ave. and Stockton, Filbert, and Union Sts., North Beach.
Worth Noting
Beat Museum.
“Museum” might be a stretch for this tiny storefront that’s half bookstore, half memorabilia collection. You can see the 1949 Hudson from the movie version of On the Road and the shirt Neal Cassady wore while driving Ken Kesey’s Merry Prankster bus, “Further.” There are also manuscripts, letters, and early editions by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, but the true treasure here is the passionate and well-informed staff, which often includes the museum’s founder, Jerry Cimino: your short visit may turn into an hours-long trip through the Beat era. TIP The excellent two-hour walking tour goes beyond the museum to take in favorite Beat watering holes and hangouts in North Beach. | 540 Broadway, North Beach | 415/399–9626 | www.thebeatmuseum.org | $8; walking tours $30 | Sun.–Thurs. 10–7, Fri.–Sat. 10–10.
Levi Strauss Headquarters.
The carefully landscaped complex appears so collegiate that it’s affectionately known as LSU—short for Levi Strauss University. Lawns complement the redbrick buildings, and gurgling fountains drown out the sounds of traffic, providing a perfect environment for brown-bag and picnic lunches. The Vault, the lobby exhibition space, has displays focusing on the history of the company, including jeans that saw the gold rush, videos about Levi’s marketing and textile restoration, and temporary displays such as the jeans made for celebs like Lady Gaga and Elton John. TIP You can purchase Levi’s and Dockers straight from the source at the cozy lobby boutique. The wonderful Filbert Steps to Coit Tower are across the street. | Levi’s Plaza,1155 Battery St., North Beach | 415/501–6000 | www.levistrauss.com | Free | Weekdays 9–6, weekends noon–5.
On the Waterfront
San Francisco’s waterfront neighborhoods have fabulous views and utterly different personalities. Kitschy, overpriced Fisherman’s Wharf struggles to maintain the last shreds of its existence as a working wharf, while Pier 39 is a full-fledged consumer circus. The Ferry Building draws well-heeled locals with its culinary pleasures, firmly connecting the Embarcadero and downtown. Between the Ferry Building and Pier 39 a former maritime no-man’s-land is filling in with the recently relocated Exploratorium, a new $90-million cruise-ship terminal, Alcatraz Landing, fashionable waterfront restaurants, and restored, pedestrian-friendly piers.
Top Attractions
FAMILY | Alcatraz.
Thousands of visitors come every day to walk in the footsteps of Alcatraz’s notorious criminals. The stories of life and death on “the Rock” may sometimes be exaggerated, but it’s almost impossible to resist the chance to wander the cell block that tamed the country’s toughest gangsters and saw daring escape attempts of tremendous desperation. Fewer than 2,000 inmates ever did time on the Rock, and though they weren’t the worst criminals, they were definitely the worst prisoners, including Al “Scarface” Capone, Robert “The Birdman” Stroud, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
Some tips for escaping to Alcatraz: 1) Buy your ticket in advance. Visit the website for Alcatraz Cruises (www.alcatrazcruises.com) to scout out available departure times for the ferry. Prepay by credit card and keep a receipt record; the ticket price covers the boat ride and the audio tour. Pick up your ticket at the “will call” window at Pier 33 up to an hour before sailing. 2) Dress smart. Bring a jacket to ward off the chill from the boat ride and wear comfortable shoes. 3) Go for the evening tour. You’ll get even more out of your Alcatraz experience at night. The evening tour has programs not offered during the day, the bridge-to-bridge view of the city twinkles at night, and your “prison experience” will be amplified as darkness falls. 4) Be mindful of scheduled and limited-capacity talks. Some programs are only given once a day (the schedule is posted in the cell house) and have limited seating, so keep an eye out for a cell-house staffer handing out passes shortly before the start time.
The boat ride to the island is brief (15 minutes), but affords beautiful views of the city, Marin County, and the East Bay. The audio tour, highly recommended, includes observations by guards and prisoners about life in one of America’s most notorious penal colonies. Plan your schedule to allow at least three hours for the visit and boat rides combined. Not inspired by the prison? Wander around the lovely native plant gardens and (if the tide is cooperating) the tide pools on the north side of the island. | Pier 33, Embarcadero | 415/981–7625 | www.nps.gov/alca | $30, including audio tour; $37 evening tour, including audio | Ferry departs every 30–45 mins Sept.–late May, daily 9:30–2:15, 4:20 for evening tour Thurs.–Mon. only; late May–Aug., daily 9:30–4:15, 6:30 and 7:30 for evening tour.
The Bay Lights.
Adored by romance seekers, local families, and tourists alike, installation artist Leo Villareal’s jaw-dropping LED light sculpture on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge has become an iconic San Francisco experience. As you travel west into the city along the bridge’s upper deck you can view the sculpture’s 25,000 lights dancing across its western span, but this installation is best seen from the Embarcadero. Initially intended as a temporary installation, a permanent fixture is planned for early 2016 in collaboration with the state of California. | Embarcadero | thebaylights.org.
FAMILY | Fodor’s Choice | Exploratorium.
Walking into this fascinating “museum of science, art, and human perception” is like visiting a mad-scientist’s laboratory. Most of the exhibits are supersize, and you can play with everything. After moving into larger digs on the Embarcadero in 2013, the Exploratorium has even more space for its signature experiential exhibits, including a brand-new Tinkering Studio and a glass Bay Observatory building, where the exhibits inside help visitors better understand what they see outside.
Quintessential exhibits remain: Get an Alice in Wonderland feeling in the distortion room, where you seem to shrink and grow as you walk across the slanted, checkered floor. In the shadow room, a powerful flash freezes an image of your shadow on the wall; jumping is a favorite pose. “Pushover” demonstrates cow-tipping, but for people: stand on one foot and try to keep your balance while a friend swings a striped panel in front of you (trust us, you’re going to fall).
More than 650 other exhibits focus on sea and insect life, computers, electricity, patterns and light, language, the weather, and more. “Explainers”—usually high-school students on their days off—demonstrate cool scientific tools and procedures, like DNA sample-collection and cow-eye dissection. One surefire hit is the pitch-black, touchy-feely Tactile Dome ($15 extra; reservations required). In this geodesic dome strewn with textured objects, you crawl through a course of ladders, slides, and tunnels, relying solely on your sense of touch. Lovey-dovey couples sometimes linger in the “grope dome,” but be forewarned: the staff will turn on the lights if necessary. TIP Patrons must be at least seven years old to enter the Tactile Dome, and the space is not for the claustrophobic. | Piers 15–17, Embarcadero | 415/561–0360 general information, 415/561–0362 Tactile Dome reservations | www.exploratorium.edu | $29 | Tues.–Sun. 10–5; Thurs. 6 pm–10 pm ages 18 and over only.
F-line.
The city’s system of vintage electric trolleys, the F-line, gives the cable cars a run for their money as a beloved mode of transportation. The beautifully restored streetcars—some dating from the 19th century—run from the Castro District down Market Street to the Embarcadero, then north to Fisherman’s Wharf. Each car is unique, restored to the colors of its city of origin, from New Orleans and Philadelphia to Moscow and Milan. TIP Purchase tickets on board; exact change is required. | www.streetcar.org | $2.25.
Fodor’s Choice | Ferry Building.
The jewel of the Embarcadero, erected in 1896, is topped by a 230-foot clock tower modeled after the campanile of the cathedral in Seville, Spain. On the morning of April 18, 1906, the tower’s four clock faces, powered by the swinging of a 14-foot pendulum, stopped at 5:17—the moment the great earthquake struck—and stayed still for 12 months.
Today San Franciscans flock to the street-level marketplace, stocking up on supplies from local favorites such as Acme Bread, Scharffen Berger Chocolate, Cowgirl Creamery, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Humphry Slocombe ice cream. Slanted Door, the city’s beloved high-end Vietnamese restaurant, is here, along with highly regarded Bouli Bar. The seafood bar at Hog Island Oyster Company has fantastic bay view panoramas. On the plaza side, the outdoor tables at Gott’s Roadside offer great people-watching with their famous burgers. On Saturday morning the plazas outside the building buzz with an upscale farmers’ market where you can buy exotic sandwiches and other munchables. Extending south from the piers north of the building all the way to the Bay Bridge, the waterfront promenade out front is a favorite among joggers and picnickers, with a front-row view of sailboats plying the bay. True to its name the Ferry Building still serves actual ferries: from its eastern flank they sail to Sausalito, Larkspur, Tiburon, and the East Bay. | At foot of Market St., Embarcadero | 415/983–8030 | www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com.
Quick Bites: Buena Vista Café.
At the end of the Hyde Street cable-car line, the Buena Vista packs ‘em in for its famous Irish coffee—which, according to owners, was the first served stateside (in 1952). The place oozes nostalgia, drawing devoted locals as well as out-of-towners relaxing after a day of sightseeing. It’s narrow and can get crowded, but this spot provides a fine alternative to the overpriced tourist joints nearby. | 2765 Hyde St., at Beach St., Fisherman’s Wharf | 415/474–5044 | www.thebuenavista.com.
FAMILY | Fodor’s Choice | Hyde Street Pier.
Cotton candy and souvenirs are all well and good, but if you want to get to the heart of the Wharf—boats—there’s no better place to do it than at this pier, one of the Wharf area’s best bargains. Depending on the time of day, you might see boatbuilders at work or children pretending to man an early-1900s ship.
Don’t pass up the centerpiece collection of historic vessels, part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, almost all of which can be boarded. The Balclutha, an 1886 full-rigged three-masted sailing vessel that’s more than 250 feet long, sailed around Cape Horn 17 times. Kids especially love the Eureka, a side-wheel passenger and car ferry, for her onboard collection of vintage cars. The Hercules is a steam-powered tugboat, and the C.A. Thayer is a beautifully restored three-masted schooner.
Across the street from the pier and a museum in itself is the maritime park’s Visitor Center (499 Jefferson St., 415/447–5000; Open June–Aug., daily 9:30–5:30; Sept.–May, daily 9:30–5), whose fun, large-scale exhibits make it an engaging stop. See a huge First Order Fresnel lighthouse lens and a shipwrecked boat. Then stroll through time in the exhibit “The Waterfront,” where you can touch the timber from a gold rush–era ship recovered from below the Financial District, peek into 19th-century storefronts, and see the sails of an Italian fishing vessel. | Hyde and Jefferson Sts., Fisherman’s Wharf | 415/561–7100 | www.nps.gov/safr | Ships $5 (ticket good for five days) | June–Aug., daily 9:30–5:30; Sept.–May, daily 9:30–5.
Jackson Square Historic District.
This was the heart of the Barbary Coast of the Gay ‘90s—the 1890s, that is. Although most of the red-light district was destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake, the remaining old redbrick buildings, many of them now occupied by advertising agencies, law offices, and antiques firms, retain hints of the romance and rowdiness of San Francisco’s early days.
With its gentrified gold rush–era buildings, the 700 block of Montgomery Street just barely evokes the Barbary Coast days, but this was a colorful block in the 19th century and on into the 20th. Writers Mark Twain and Bret Harte were among the contributors to the spunky Golden Era newspaper, which occupied No. 732 (now part of the building at No. 744). From 1959 to 1996 the late ambulance-chaser extraordinaire, lawyer Melvin Belli, had his headquarters at Nos. 722 and 728–730. There was never a dull moment in Belli’s world; he represented clients from the actress Mae West to Gloria Sykes (who in 1964 claimed that a cable-car accident turned her into a nymphomaniac) to the disgraced televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Whenever he won a case, he fired a cannon and raised the Jolly Roger. Belli was also known for receiving a letter from the never-caught Zodiac killer.
Restored 19th-century brick buildings line Hotaling Place, which connects Washington and Jackson streets. The lane is named for the head of the A.P. Hotaling Company whiskey distillery (451 Jackson St., at Hotaling Pl.), the largest liquor repository on the West Coast in its day. (Anchor Distillery still makes an occasional Hotaling whiskey in the city, by the way; look for this single malt for a sip of truly local flavor.) TIP The exceptional City Guides (415/557–4266, www.sfcityguides.org) Gold Rush City walking tour covers this area and brings its history to life. | Bordered by Columbus Ave., Broadway, and Washington and Sansome Sts., Jackson Square.
FAMILY | Fodor’s Choice | Musée Mécanique.
Once a staple at Playland-at-the-Beach, San Francisco’s early-20th-century amusement park, the antique mechanical contrivances at this time-warped arcade—including peep shows and nickelodeons—make it one of the most worthwhile attractions at the Wharf. Some favorites are the giant and rather creepy “Laffing Sal,” an arm-wrestling machine, the world’s only steam-powered motorcycle, and mechanical fortune-telling figures that speak from their curtained boxes. Note the depictions of race that betray the prejudices of the time: stoned Chinese figures in the “Opium-Den” and clown-faced African Americans eating watermelon in the “Mechanical Farm.” TIP Admission is free, but you’ll need quarters to bring the machines to life. | Pier 45, Shed A, Fisherman’s Wharf | 415/346–2000 | www.museemechanique.org | Free | Weekdays 10–7, weekends 10–8.
FAMILY | Pier 39.
The city’s most popular waterfront attraction draws millions of visitors each year who come to browse through its shops and concessions hawking every conceivable form of souvenir. The pier can be quite crowded, and the numerous street performers may leave you feeling more harassed than entertained. Arriving early in the morning ensures you a front-row view of the sea lions that bask here, but if you’re here to shop—and make no mistake about it, Pier 39 wants your money—be aware that most stores don’t open until 9:30 or 10 (later in winter).
Brilliant colors enliven the double-decker San Francisco Carousel ($3 per ride), decorated with images of such city landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street.
Follow the sound of barking to the northwest side of the pier to view the sea lions that flop about the floating docks. During the summer, orange-clad naturalists answer questions and offer fascinating facts about the playful pinnipeds—for example, that most of the animals here are males.
At the Aquarium of the Bay (415/623–5300 or 888/732–3483, www.aquariumofthebay.org; $19.95, hours vary but at least 10–6 daily), moving walkways transport you through a space surrounded on three sides by water filled with indigenous San Francisco Bay marine life, from fish and plankton to sharks. Many find the aquarium overpriced; if you can, take advantage of the family rate ($64 for two adults and two kids under 12).
Parking is across the street at the Pier 39 Garage (with validation from a Pier 39 restaurant, one hour free before 6 pm, two hours after 6 pm), off Powell Street at the Embarcadero; look for the mural of the gray whales to spot it. | Beach St. at Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf | www.pier39.com.
Worth Noting
FAMILY | Fisherman’s Wharf.
It may be one of the city’s best-known attractions, but the Wharf is a no-go zone for most locals, who shy away from the tourist crowds, overpriced food, and cheesy shops. If you can’t resist a visit, come early to avoid the crowds and get a sense of the Wharf’s functional role—it’s not just an amusement park replica. Two delights amid the tackiness, both at Pier 45, are the Museé Mécanique, a repository of old-fashioned but still working penny-arcade entertainments, and the World War II–era sub the USS Pampanito. | Jefferson St. between Leavenworth St. and Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf | www.fishermanswharf.org.
Ghirardelli Square.
Most of the redbrick buildings in this early-20th-century complex were once part of the Ghirardelli factory. Now tourists come here to pick up the famous chocolate, though you can purchase it all over town and save yourself a trip to what is essentially a mall. But this is the only place to watch the cool chocolate manufactory in action. Placards throughout the square describe the factory’s history. | 900 North Point St., Fisherman’s Wharf | 415/775–5500 | www.ghirardellisq.com.
FAMILY | San Francisco Railway Museum.
A labor of love brought to you by the same vintage-transit enthusiasts responsible for the F-line’s revival, this one-room museum and store celebrates the city’s streetcars and cable cars with photographs, models, and artifacts. The permanent exhibit includes the replicated end of a streetcar with a working cab—complete with controls and a bell—for kids to explore; the cool, antique Wiley birdcage traffic signal; and models and display cases to view. Right on the F-line track, just across from the Ferry Building, this is a great quick stop. | 77 Steuart St., Embarcadero | 415/974–1948 | www.streetcar.org | Free | Daily 10–6; closed Mon. in winter.
Transamerica Pyramid.
It’s neither owned by Transamerica nor is it a pyramid, but this 853-foot-tall obelisk is the most photographed of the city’s high-rises. Excoriated in the design stages as “the world’s largest architectural folly,” the icon was quickly hailed as a masterpiece when it opened in 1972. Today it’s probably the city’s most recognized structure after the Golden Gate Bridge. Visit the small, street-level visitor center to see the virtual view from the top, watch videos about the building’s history, and perhaps pick up a T-shirt. TIP A fragrant redwood grove along the east side of the building, replete with benches and a cheerful fountain, is a placid patch in which to unwind. | 600 Montgomery St., Financial District | www.thepyramidcenter.com.
USS Pampanito.
Get an intriguing, if mildly claustrophobic, glimpse into life on a submarine during World War II on this small, 80-man sub, which sank six Japanese warships and damaged four others. TIP There’s not much in the way of interpretive signs, so opt for the audio tour to learn about what you’re seeing. | Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf | 415/775–1943 | www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm | $12 (family pass $25) | Oct.–late May, Sun.–Thurs. 9–6, Fri. and Sat. 9–8; late May–Sept., daily 9–8.
The Marina, Cow Hollow, and the Presidio
Yachts bob at their moorings, satisfied-looking folks jog along the Marina Green, and multimillion-dollar homes overlook the bay in the picturesque, if somewhat sterile, Marina neighborhood. Does it all seem a bit too perfect? Well, it got this way after the hard knock of Loma Prieta—the current pretty face was put on after hundreds of homes collapsed in the 1989 earthquake. Just west of this waterfront area is a more natural beauty: the Presidio. Once a military base, this beautiful, sprawling park is mostly green space, with hills, woods, and the marshlands of Crissy Field. Between old-money Pacific Heights and the well-heeled, postcollegiate Marina lies comfortably upscale Cow Hollow.
The Marina
Fodor’s Choice | Palace of Fine Arts.
At first glance this stunning, rosy rococo palace seems to be from another world, and indeed, it’s the sole survivor of the many tinted-plaster structures (a temporary classical city of sorts) built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the world’s fair that celebrated San Francisco’s recovery from the 1906 earthquake and fire. The expo buildings originally extended about a mile along the shore. Bernard Maybeck designed this faux–Roman classic beauty, which was reconstructed in concrete and reopened in 1967. A victim of the elements, the Palace required a piece-by-piece renovation that was completed in 2008.
The pseudo-Latin language adorning the Palace’s exterior urns continues to stump scholars. The massive columns (each topped with four “weeping maidens”), great rotunda, and swan-filled lagoon have been used in countless fashion layouts, films, and wedding photo shoots. After admiring the lagoon, look across the street to the house at 3460 Baker Street. If the maidens out front look familiar, they should—they’re original casts of the “garland ladies” you can see in the Palace’s colonnade.
Inside the palace is a performance venue favorited by local community groups and international musicians. | 3301 Lyon St., at Beach St., Marina | 415/561–0364 Palace history tours | www.palaceoffinearts.org | Free | Daily 24 hrs.
Cow Hollow
Octagon House.
This eight-sided home sits across the street from its original site on Gough Street; it’s one of two remaining octagonal houses in the city (the other is on Russian Hill), and the only one open to the public. White quoins accent each of the eight corners of the pretty blue-gray exterior, and a colonial-style garden completes the picture. The house is full of antique American furniture, decorative arts (paintings, silver, rugs), and documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, including the contents of a time capsule left by the original owners in 1861 that was discovered during a 1950s renovation. A deck of Revolutionary-era hand-painted playing cards takes an antimonarchist position: in place of kings, queens, and jacks, the American upstarts substituted American statesmen, Roman goddesses, and Indian chiefs. | 2645 Gough St., near Union St., Cow Hollow | 415/441–7512 | Free, donations encouraged | Feb.–Dec., 2nd Sun. and 2nd and 4th Thurs. of month noon–3; group tours weekdays by appointment.
The Presidio
Top Attractions
Fodor’s Choice | Golden Gate Bridge.
With its simple but powerful art-deco design, the 1.7-mile suspension span that connects San Francisco and Marin County was built to withstand winds of more than 100 mph. It’s also not a bad place to be in an earthquake: designed to sway almost 28 feet, the Golden Gate Bridge (unlike the Bay Bridge) was undamaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. If you’re on the bridge when it’s windy, stand still and you can feel it swaying a bit.
Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge under your own power is exhilarating—a little scary, and definitely chilly. From the bridge’s eastern-side walkway, the only side pedestrians are allowed on, you can take in the San Francisco skyline and the bay islands; look west for the wild hills of the Marin Headlands, the curving coast south to Lands End, and the Pacific Ocean. On sunny days, sailboats dot the water, and brave windsurfers test the often-treacherous tides beneath the bridge. A vista point on the Marin County side provides a spectacular city panorama.
A structural engineer, dreamer, and poet named Joseph Strauss worked tirelessly for 20 years to make the bridge a reality, first promoting the idea of it and then overseeing design and construction. Though the final structure bore little resemblance to his original plan, Strauss guarded his legacy jealously, refusing to recognize the seminal contributions of engineer Charles A. Ellis. In 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge district finally recognized Ellis’s role, though Strauss, who died less than a year after opening day in 1937, would doubtless be pleased with the inscription on his statue, which stands sentry in the southern parking lot: “The Man Who Built the Bridge.”
You won’t see it on a T-shirt, but the bridge is perhaps the world’s most publicized suicide platform, with an average of one jumper about every 10 days. Signs on the bridge refer the disconsolate to special telephones, and officers patrol the walkway and watch by security camera to spot potential jumpers. Funding has finally been approved for a suicide barrier, an unobtrusive net not unlike the one that saved 19 workers during the bridge’s construction.
While at the bridge you can grab a healthy snack at the art deco–style Bridge Café. The recently erected Bridge Pavilion sells attractive, high-quality souvenirs and has a small display of historical artifacts. At the outdoor exhibits, you can see the bridge rise before your eyes on hologram panels, learn about the features that make it art deco, and read about the personalities behind its design and construction. City Guides offers free walking tours of the bridge every Thursday and Sunday at 11 am. | Lincoln Blvd. near Doyle Dr. and Fort Point, Presidio | 415/921–5858 | www.goldengatebridge.org | Free | Pedestrians Mar.–Oct., daily 5 am–9 pm; Nov.–Feb., daily 5 am–6 pm; hrs change with daylight saving time. Bicyclists daily 24 hrs.
Fodor’s Choice | Presidio.
When San Franciscans want to spend a day in the woods, they come here. The Presidio has 1,400 acres of hills and majestic woods, two small beaches, and stunning views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin County. Famed environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy’s work greets visitors at the Arguello Gate entrance. The 100-plus-foot Spire, made of 37 cypress logs reclaimed from the Presidio, looks like a rough, natural version of a church spire. TIP The Presidio’s best lookout points lie along Washington Boulevard, which meanders through the park.
Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Presidio was a military post for more than 200 years. Don Juan Bautista de Anza and a band of Spanish settlers first claimed the area in 1776. It became a Mexican garrison in 1822, when Mexico gained its independence from Spain; U.S. troops forcibly occupied the Presidio in 1846. The U.S. Sixth Army was stationed here until 1994.
The Presidio is now a thriving community of residential and nonresidential tenants, who help to fund its operations by rehabilitating and leasing its more than 700 buildings. In 2005 Bay Area filmmaker George Lucas opened the Letterman Digital Arts Center, his 23-acre digital studio “campus,” along the eastern edge of the land. Seventeen of those acres are exquisitely landscaped and open to the public. If you have kids in tow or are a Star Wars fan yourself, sidle over to the Yoda Fountain (Letterman Drive at Dewitt Road), between two of the arts-center buildings, then take your picture with the life-size Darth Vader statue in the lobby, open to the public on weekdays.
The Presidio Trust, created to manage the Presidio and guide its transformation from military post to national park, has now turned its focus to rolling out the welcome mat to the public. The Presidio’s visitor-serving tenants, such as the Asian-theme SenSpa, the House of Air Trampoline Park, Planet Granite climbing gym, the Walt Disney museum, a fabulous lodge at the Main Post, the newly reopened Officers’ Club, and a handful of restaurants have helped with this goal. With old military housing now repurposed as apartments and homes with rents up to $13,000 a month, the Presidio is a very popular place to live and boasts a much higher rate of families with children than the rest of San Francisco (36% vs 16% in the rest of the city). Still, the $6 million that Lucas Film Ltd.—since 2012 a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company—shells out annually for rent does plant a lot of saplings.
The Presidio also has a golf course, a visitor center, and picnic sites; the views from the many overlooks are sublime.
Especially popular is Crissy Field, a stretch of restored marshland along the sand of the bay. Kids on bikes, folks walking dogs, and joggers share the paved path along the shore, often winding up at the Warming Hut, a combination café and fun gift store at the end of the path, for a hot chocolate in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. Midway along the Golden Gate Promenade that winds along the shore is the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center, where kids can get a close-up view of small sea creatures and learn about the rich ecosystem offshore. Just across from the Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field Center offers great children’s programs and has cool science displays. West of the Golden Gate Bridge is sandy Baker Beach, beloved for its spectacular views and laid-back vibe (read: you’ll see naked people here). This is one of those places that inspires local pride. | Between Marina and Lincoln Park, Presidio | www.presidio.gov.
Walt Disney Family Museum.
This beautifully refurbished brick barracks house is a tribute to the man behind Mickey Mouse, the Disney Studios, and Disneyland. The smartly organized displays include hundreds of family photos, and well-chosen videos play throughout. Disney’s legendary attention to detail becomes particularly evident in the cels and footage of Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, and other animation classics. “The Toughest Period in My Whole Life” exhibit sheds light on lesser-known bits of history: the animators’ strike at Disney Studios, the films Walt Disney made for the U.S. military during World War II, and his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee during its investigation of Communist influence in Hollywood. The glass-walled gallery showcasing Disney’s wildlife films takes full advantage of the museum’s location, with a lovely view of Presidio trees and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. The liveliest exhibit and the largest gallery documents the creation of Disneyland with a fun, detailed model of what Disney imagined the park would be. Teacups spin, the Matterhorn looms, and that world-famous castle leads the way to Fantasyland. You won’t be the first to leave humming “It’s a Small World.” In the final gallery, titled simply “December 16, 1966,” a series of sweet cartoons chronicles the world’s reaction to Disney’s sudden death. The one-way flow of the galleries deposits you near the attractive gift shop, which carries cool Disney-related stuff, and a café serving sandwiches, salads, and drinks. The downstairs theater shows Disney films (free with admission, $7 without) most days. | Main Post,104 Montgomery St., off Lincoln Blvd., Presidio | 415/345–6800 | www.waltdisney.org | $20 | Wed.–Mon. 10–6.
Worth Noting
FAMILY | Fort Point.
Dwarfed today by the Golden Gate Bridge, this brick fortress constructed between 1853 and 1861 was designed to protect San Francisco from a Civil War sea attack that never materialized. It was also used as a coastal-defense fortification post during World War II, when soldiers stood watch here. This National Historic Site is now a sprawling museum of military memorabilia. The building, which surrounds a lonely, windswept courtyard, has a gloomy air and is suitably atmospheric. It’s usually chilly, too, so bring a jacket. The top floor affords a unique angle on the bay. TIP Take care when walking along the front side of the building, as it’s slippery, and the waves have a dizzying effect.
On the days when Fort Point is staffed (on Friday and weekends), guided group tours and cannon drills take place. The popular, guided candlelight tours, available only in winter, book up in advance, so plan ahead. Living-history days take place throughout the year, when Union soldiers perform drills, a drum-and-fife band plays, and a Civil War–era doctor shows his instruments and describes his surgical technique (gulp). | Marine Dr. off Lincoln Blvd., Presidio | 415/556–1693 | www.nps.gov/fopo | Free | Fri.–Sun. 10–5.
Golden Gate Park and the Western Shoreline
More than 1,000 acres, stretching from the Haight all the way to the windy Pacific coast, Golden Gate Park is a vast patchwork of woods, trails, lakes, lush gardens, sports facilities, museums—even a herd of buffalo. There’s more natural beauty beyond the park’s borders, along San Francisco’s wild Western Shoreline.
Golden Gate Park
Top Attractions
FAMILY | Fodor’s Choice | California Academy of Sciences.
With its native plant–covered living roof, retractable ceiling, three-story rain forest, gigantic planetarium, living coral reef, and frolicking penguins, the California Academy of Sciences is one of the city’s most spectacular treasures. Dramatically designed by Renzo Piano, it’s an eco-friendly, energy-efficient adventure in biodiversity and green architecture. The roof’s large mounds and hills mirror the local topography, and Piano’s audacious design completes the dramatic transformation of the park’s Music Concourse. Moving away from a restrictive role as a museum that catalogued natural history, the academy these days is all about sustainability and the future. The locally beloved dioramas in African Hall have survived the transition, however.
By the time you arrive, hopefully you’ve decided which shows and programs to attend, looked at the academy’s floor plan, and designed a plan to cover it all in the time you have. And if not, here’s the quick version: Head left from the entrance to the wooden walkway over otherworldly rays in the Philippine Coral Reef, then continue to the Swamp to see Claude, the famous albino alligator. Swing through African Hall and gander at the penguins, take the elevator up to the living roof, then return to the main floor and get in line to explore the Rainforests of the World, ducking free-flying butterflies and watching for other live surprises. You’ll end up below ground in the Amazonian Flooded Rainforest, where you can explore the academy’s other aquarium exhibits. Phew.
TIP Considering the hefty price of admission here, start out early and take advantage of in-and-out privileges to take a break. | 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park | 415/379–8000 | www.calacademy.org | $34.95, save $3 if you bike, walk, or take public transit here; free 1 Sun. per quarter | Mon.–Sat. 9:30–5, Sun. 11–5.
Conservatory of Flowers.
Whatever you do, be sure to at least drive by the Conservatory of Flowers—it’s too darn pretty to miss. The gorgeous, white-framed 1878 glass structure is topped with a 14-ton glass dome. Stepping inside the giant greenhouse is like taking a quick trip to the rain forest, with its earthy smell and humid warmth. The undeniable highlight is the Aquatic Plants section, where lily pads float and carnivorous plants dine on bugs to the sounds of rushing water. On the east side of the conservatory (to the right as you face the building), cypress, pine, and redwood trees surround the Dahlia Garden, which blooms in summer and fall. Adding to the allure are temporary exhibits such as a past one devoted to prehistoric plants; an annual model-train display punctuated with mini buildings, found objects, and dwarf plants; and a butterfly garden that returns periodically. To the west is the Rhododendron Dell, which contains 850 varieties, more than any other garden in the country. It’s a favorite local Mother’s Day picnic spot. | John F. Kennedy Dr. at Conservatory Dr., Golden Gate Park | 415/666–7001 | www.conservatoryofflowers.org | $8, free 1st Tues. of month | Tues.–Sun. 10–4:30 | No strollers allowed inside.
de Young Museum.
It seems that everyone in town has a strong opinion about the de Young Museum: Some adore its striking copper facade, while others just hope that the green patina of age will mellow the effect. Most maligned is the 144-foot tower, but the view from its ninth-story observation room, ringed by floor-to-ceiling windows and free to the public, is worth a trip here by itself. The building almost overshadows the de Young’s respected collection of American, African, and Oceanic art. The museum also plays host to major international exhibits, such as 100 works from Paris’s Musée National Picasso and a collection of the work of Jean Paul Gaultier from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; there’s often an extra admission charge for these. The annual Bouquet des Art is a fanciful tribute to the museum’s collection by notable Bay Area floral designers. TIP On many Friday evenings, the museum hosts fun, free, family-centered events, with live music, art projects for children, and a wine and beer bar (the café stays open late, too). | 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park | 415/750–3600 | deyoung.famsf.org | $10, good for same-day admittance to the Legion of Honor; free 1st Tues. of month | Tues.–Sun. 9:30–5:15; mid-Jan.–Nov., Fri. until 8:45.
Worth Noting
San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden.
As you amble through the manicured landscape, past Japanese sculptures and perfect miniature pagodas, and over ponds of carp, you may feel transported to a more peaceful plane. Or maybe the shrieks of kids clambering over the almost vertical “humpback” bridges will keep you firmly in the here and now. Either way, this garden is one of those tourist spots that’s truly worth a stop (a half hour will do). And at 5 acres, it’s large enough that you’ll always be able to find a bit of serenity, even when the tour buses drop by. The garden is especially lovely in March and April, when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. | Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., off John F. Kennedy Dr., Golden Gate Park | 415/752–4227 | www.japaneseteagardensf.com | $8, free Mon., Wed., and Fri. if you enter by 10 am | Mar.–Oct., daily 9–6; Nov.–Feb., daily 9–4:45.
San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.
One of the best picnic spots in a very picnic-friendly park, the 55-acre arboretum specializes in plants from areas with climates similar to that of the Bay Area. Walk the Eastern Australian garden to see tough, pokey shrubs and plants with cartoon-like names, such as the hilly-pilly tree. You don’t have to go to Muir Woods to see the largest living things on earth: the garden has a 4-acre redwood grove in the heart of the city. Kids gravitate toward the large shallow fountain and the pond with ducks, turtles, and egrets. Free tours leave the main gate daily at 1:30 and, from spring to fall, from the Friend Gate Friday through Sunday at 2. | Lincoln Way and 9th Ave. entrance, Golden Gate Park | 415/661–1316 | www.sfbotanicalgarden.org | $7, free 2nd Tues. of month and daily 7:30 am–9 am | Mid-Mar.–Sept., 7:30–6; Oct.–early Nov., 7:30–5; early Nov.–Jan., 7:30–4; Feb.–mid-Mar., 7:30–5; garden closes one hour after last entry.
The Western Shoreline
Top Attractions
Cliff House.
A meal at the Cliff House isn’t just about the food—the spectacular ocean view is what brings folks here—but the cuisine won’t leave you wanting. The vistas, which include offshore Seal Rock (the barking marine mammals who reside there are actually sea lions), can be 30 miles or more on a clear day—or less than a mile on foggy days. TIP Come for drinks just before sunset; then head back into town for dinner.
Three buildings have occupied this site since 1863. The current building dates from 1909; a 2004 renovation has left a strikingly attractive restaurant and a squat concrete viewing platform out back. The complex, owned by the National Park Service, includes a gift shop.
Sitting on the observation deck is the Giant Camera, a camera obscura with its lens pointing skyward housed in a cute yellow-painted wooden shack. Built in the 1940s and threatened many times with demolition, it’s now on the National Register of Historic Places. Step into the dark, tiny room inside (for a $3 fee); a fascinating 360-degree image of the surrounding area—which rotates as the “lens” on the roof rotates—is projected on a large, circular table. TIP In winter and spring you may also glimpse migrating gray whales from the observation deck.
To the north of the Cliff House lie the ruins of the once grand glass-roof Sutro Baths, which you can explore on your own (they look a bit like water-storage receptacles). Adolf Sutro, eccentric onetime San Francisco mayor and Cliff House owner, built the bath complex, including a train out to the site, in 1896, so that everyday folks could enjoy the benefits of swimming. Six enormous baths (some freshwater and some seawater), more than 500 dressing rooms, and several restaurants covered 3 acres north of the Cliff House and accommodated 25,000 bathers. Likened to Roman baths in a European glass palace, the baths were for decades the favorite destination of San Franciscans in search of entertainment. The complex fell into disuse after World War II, was closed in 1952, and burned down (under questionable circumstances) during demolition in 1966. | 1090 Point Lobos Ave., Richmond | 415/386–3330 | www.cliffhouse.com | Free | Weekdays 9 am–9:30 pm, weekends 9 am–10 pm.
Fodor’s Choice | Legion of Honor.
The old adage of real estate—location, location, location—is at full force here. You can’t beat the site of this museum of European art atop cliffs overlooking the ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin Headlands. A pyramidal glass skylight in the entrance court illuminates the lower-level galleries, which exhibit prints and drawings, English and European porcelain, and ancient Assyrian, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian art. The 20-plus galleries on the upper level display the permanent collection of European art (paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and tapestries) from the 14th century to the present day.
The noteworthy Auguste Rodin collection includes two galleries devoted to the master and a third with works by Rodin and other 19th-century sculptors. An original cast of Rodin’s The Thinker welcomes you as you walk through the courtyard. As fine as the museum is, the setting and view outshine the collection and also make a trip here worthwhile.
The Legion Café, on the lower level, serves tasty light meals (soup, sandwiches, grilled chicken) inside and on a garden terrace. (Unfortunately, there’s no view.) Just north of the museum’s parking lot is George Segal’s The Holocaust, a stark white installation that evokes life in concentration camps during World War II. It’s haunting at night, when backlighted by lights in the Legion’s parking lot. TIP Admission to the Legion is also good for same-day admission to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. | 34th Ave. at Clement St., Richmond | 415/750–3600 | legionofhonor.famsf.org | $10, $2 off with proof of Bay Area public transit, free 1st Tues. of month | Tues.–Sun. 9:30–5:15.
Fodor’s Choice | Lincoln Park.
Although many of the city’s green spaces are gentle and welcoming, Lincoln Park is a wild, 275-acre park in the Outer Richmond with windswept cliffs and panoramic views. The newly renovated Coastal Trail, the park’s most dramatic one, leads out to Lands End; pick it up west of the Legion of Honor (at the end of El Camino del Mar) or from the parking lot at Point Lobos and El Camino del Mar. Time your hike to hit Mile Rock at low tide, and you might catch a glimpse of two wrecked ships peeking up from their watery graves. WARNING: Be careful if you hike here; landslides are frequent, and people have fallen into the sea by standing too close to the edge of a crumbling bluff top.
On the tamer side, large Monterey cypresses line the fairways at Lincoln Park’s 18-hole golf course, near the Legion of Honor. At one time this land was the Golden Gate Cemetery, where the dead were segregated by nationality; most were indigent and interred without ceremony in the potter’s field. In 1900 the Board of Supervisors voted to ban burials within city limits, and all but two city cemeteries (at Mission Dolores and the Presidio) were moved to Colma, a small town just south of San Francisco. When digging has to be done in the park, bones occasionally surface again. | Entrance at 34th Ave. at Clement St., Richmond.
Worth Noting
Ocean Beach.
Stretching 3 miles along the western side of the city from the Richmond to the Sunset, this sandy swath of the Pacific coast is good for jogging or walking the dog—but not for swimming. The water is so cold that surfers wear wet suits year-round, and riptides are strong, so only brave the waves if you are a strong swimmer or surfer—drownings are not infrequent. As for sunbathing, it’s rarely warm enough here; think meditative walking instead of sun worshipping.
Paths on both sides of the Great Highway lead from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard (near the zoo); the beachside path winds through landscaped sand dunes, and the paved path across the highway is good for biking and in-line skating (though you have to rent bikes elsewhere). The Beach Chalet restaurant and brewpub is across the Great Highway from Ocean Beach, about five blocks south of the Cliff House. | Along Great Hwy. from Cliff House to Sloat Blvd. and beyond.
FAMILY | San Francisco Zoo.
Occupying prime oceanfront property, the zoo is touting its metamorphosis into the “New Zoo,” a wildlife-focused recreation center that inspires visitors to become conservationists. Integrated exhibits group different species of animals from the same geographic areas together in enclosures that don’t look like cages. More than 250 species reside here, including endangered species such as the snow leopard, Sumatran tiger, grizzly bear, and a Siberian tiger.
The zoo’s superstar exhibit is Grizzly Gulch, where orphaned grizzly bear sisters Kachina and Kiona enchant visitors with their frolicking and swimming. When the bears are in the water, the only thing between you and them is (thankfully thick) glass. Grizzly feedings are at 11:30 am daily.
The Lemur Forest has four varieties of the bug-eyed, long-tailed primates from Madagascar. You can help hoist food into the lemurs’ feeding towers and watch the fuzzy creatures climb up to chow down. African Kikuyu grass carpets the circular outer area of Gorilla Preserve, one of the largest and most natural gorilla habitats of any zoo in the world. Trees and shrubs create communal play areas.
Ten species of rare primates—including black howler monkeys, emperor tamarins, and lion-tailed macaques—live and play at the two-tier Primate Discovery Center, which contains 23 interactive learning exhibits on the ground level.
Magellanic penguins waddle about the rather sad concrete Penguin Island, splashing and frolicking in its 200-foot pool. Feeding times are 10:30 and 3:30. Koalas peer out from among the trees in Koala Crossing, and kangaroos and wallabies headline the Australian Walkabout exhibit. The 7-acre Puente al Sur (Bridge to the South) re-creates habitats in South America, replete with giant anteaters and capybaras.
An African Savanna exhibit mixes giraffes, zebras, kudus, ostriches, and many other species, all living together in a 3-acre section with a central viewing spot accessed by a covered passageway.
The 6-acre Children’s Zoo has about 300 mammals, birds, and reptiles, plus an insect zoo, a meerkat and prairie-dog exhibit, a nature trail, a nature theater, a huge playground, a restored 1921 Dentzel carousel, and a mini steam train. A ride on the train costs $5, and you can hop astride one of the carousel’s 52 hand-carved menagerie animals for $3. | Sloat Blvd. and 47th Ave., Sunset | 415/753–7080 | www.sfzoo.org | $17, $1 off with Muni transfer (take Muni L–Taraval streetcar from downtown) | Mid-Mar.–Oct., daily 10–5; Nov.–mid-Mar., daily 10–4.
The Haight, the Castro, and Noe Valley
These distinct neighborhoods wear their personalities large and proud, and all are perfect for just strolling around. Like a slide show of San Franciscan history, you can move from the Haight’s residue of 1960s counterculture to the Castro’s connection to 1970s and ‘80s gay life to 1990s gentrification in Noe Valley. Although historic events thrust the Haight and the Castro onto the international stage, both are anything but stagnant—they’re still dynamic areas well worth exploring.
The Haight
Haight-Ashbury Intersection.
On October 6, 1967, hippies took over the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets to proclaim the “Death of Hip.” If they thought hip was dead then, they’d find absolute confirmation of it today, what with the only tie-dye in sight on the famed corner being a Ben & Jerry’s storefront.
Everyone knows the Summer of Love had something to do with free love and LSD, but the drugs and other excesses of that period have tended to obscure the residents’ serious attempts to create an America that was more spiritually oriented, more environmentally aware, and less caught up in commercialism. The Diggers, a radical group of actors and populist agitators, for example, operated a free shop a few blocks off Haight Street. Everything really was free at the free shop; people brought in things they didn’t need and took things they did.
Among the folks who hung out in or near the Haight during the late 1960s were writers Richard Brautigan, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, and Gary Snyder; anarchist Abbie Hoffman; rock performers Marty Balin, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Grace Slick; LSD champion Timothy Leary; and filmmaker Kenneth Anger. If you’re keen to feel something resembling the hippie spirit these days, there’s always Hippie Hill, just inside the Haight Street entrance of Golden Gate Park. Think drum circles, guitar players, and whiffs of pot smoke. | Haight.
The Castro
Fodor’s Choice | Castro Theatre.
Here’s a classic way to join in the Castro community: grab some popcorn and catch a flick at this 1,500-seat art-deco theater; opened in 1922, it’s the grandest of San Francisco’s few remaining movie palaces. The neon marquee, which stands at the top of the Castro strip, is the neighborhood’s great landmark. The Castro was the fitting host of 2008’s red-carpet preview of Gus Van Sant’s film Milk, starring Sean Penn as openly gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. The theater’s elaborate Spanish baroque interior is fairly well preserved. Before many shows the theater’s pipe organ rises from the orchestra pit and an organist plays pop and movie tunes, usually ending with the Jeanette McDonald standard “San Francisco” (go ahead, sing along). The crowd can be enthusiastic and vocal, talking back to the screen as loudly as it talks to them. Classics such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? take on a whole new life, with the assembled beating the actors to the punch and fashioning even snappier comebacks for Elizabeth Taylor. Head here to catch sing-along classics like Mary Poppins, a Fellini film retrospective, or the latest take on same-sex love. | 429 Castro St., Castro | 415/621–6120 | www.castrotheatre.com.
Cafe Flore.
Sometimes referred to as Cafe Floorshow because it’s such a see-and-be-seen place, Cafe Flore serves coffee drinks, beer, and tasty café fare. It’s a good place to catch the latest Castro gossip. | 2298 Market St., at Noe St., Castro | 415/621–8579 | www.cafeflore.com.
GLBT Historical Society Museum.
The two-gallery Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Historical Society Museum, the first of its kind, presents multimedia exhibits from its vast holdings covering San Francisco’s queer history. In the remodeled main gallery, you might hear the audiotape Harvey Milk made for the community in the event of his assassination; explore artifacts from “Gayborhoods,” lost landmarks of the city’s gay past; or flip through a memory book with pictures and thoughts on some of the more than 20,000 San Franciscans lost to AIDS. Though certainly not for the faint of heart (those offended by sex toys and photos of lustily frolicking naked people may, well, be offended), the museum offers an inside look at these communities so integral to the fabric of San Francisco life. | 4127 18th St., near Castro St., Castro | 415/621–1107 | www.glbthistory.org | $5, free 1st Wed. of the month | Mon. and Wed.–Sat. 11–7, Sun. noon–5.
Harvey Milk Plaza.
An 18-foot-long rainbow flag, the symbol of gay pride, flies above this plaza named for the man who electrified the city in 1977 by being elected to its Board of Supervisors as an openly gay candidate. In the early 1970s Milk had opened a camera store on the block of Castro Street between 18th and 19th streets. The store became the center for his campaign to open San Francisco’s social and political life to gays and lesbians.
The liberal Milk hadn’t served a full year of his term before he and Mayor George Moscone, also a liberal, were shot in November 1978 at City Hall. The murderer was a conservative ex-supervisor named Dan White, who had recently resigned his post and then became enraged when Moscone wouldn’t reinstate him. Milk and White had often been at odds on the board, and White thought Milk had been part of a cabal to keep him from returning to his post. Milk’s assassination shocked the gay community, which became infuriated when the infamous “Twinkie defense”—that junk food had led to diminished mental capacity—resulted in a manslaughter verdict for White. During the so-called White Night Riot of May 21, 1979, gays and their allies stormed City Hall, torching its lobby and several police cars.
Milk, who had feared assassination, left behind a tape recording in which he urged the community to continue the work he had begun. His legacy is the high visibility of gay people throughout city government; a bust of him was unveiled at City Hall on his birthday in 2008, and the 2008 film Milk gives insight into his life. A plaque at the base of the flagpole lists the names of past and present openly gay and lesbian state and local officials. | Southwest corner of Castro and Market Sts., Castro.
Noe Valley
Golden Fire Hydrant.
When all the other fire hydrants went dry during the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake, this one kept pumping. Noe Valley and the Mission District were thus spared the devastation wrought elsewhere in the city, which explains the large number of pre-quake homes here. Every year on April 18th (the anniversary of the quake) folks gather here to share stories about the earthquake, and the famous hydrant gets a fresh coat of gold paint. | Church and 20th Sts., southeastern corner, across from Dolores Park, Noe Valley.
Castro and Noe Walk: The Castro and Noe Valley are both neighborhoods that beg to be walked—or ambled through, really, without time pressure or an absolute destination. Hit the Castro first, beginning at Harvey Milk Plaza under the gigantic rainbow flag. If you’re going on to Noe Valley, first head east down Market Street for the cafés, bistros, and shops, then go back to Castro Street and head south, past the glorious art-deco Castro Theatre, checking out boutiques and cafés along the way (Cliff’s Variety, at 479 Castro Street, is a must). To tour Noe Valley, go east down 18th Street to Church (at Dolores Park), and then either strap on your hiking boots and head south over the hill or hop the J–Church to 24th Street, the center of this rambling neighborhood.
Mission District
The Mission has a number of distinct personalities: it’s the Latino neighborhood, where working-class folks raise their families and where gangs occasionally clash; it’s the hipster hood, where tattooed and pierced twenty- and thirtysomethings hold court in the coolest cafés and bars in town; it’s a culinary epicenter, with the strongest concentration of destination restaurants and affordable ethnic cuisine; it’s the face of gentrification, where high-tech money prices out longtime commercial and residential renters; and it’s the artists’ quarter, where murals adorn literally blocks of walls long after the artists have moved to cheaper digs. It’s also the city’s equivalent of the Sunshine State—this neighborhood’s always the last to succumb to fog.
Top Attractions
Balmy Alley Murals.
Mission District artists have transformed the walls of their neighborhood with paintings, and Balmy Alley is one of the best-executed examples. Many murals adorn the one-block alley, with newer ones continually filling in the blank spaces. In 1971, artists began teaming with local children to create a space to promote peace in Central America, community spirit, and (later) AIDS awareness; since then dozens of artists have added their vibrant works. TIP Be alert here: the 25th Street end of the alley adjoins a somewhat dangerous area. | 24th St. between and parallel to Harrison and Treat Sts., alley runs south to 25th St., Mission.
Fodor’s Choice | Dolores Park.
A two-square-block microcosm of life in the Mission, Dolores Park is one of San Francisco’s liveliest green spaces: dog lovers and their pampered pups congregate, kids play at the extravagant, recently reconstructed playground, and hipsters hold court, drinking beer on sunny days. During the summer, the park hosts movie nights; performances by Shakespeare in the Park, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and the San Francisco Symphony; and any number of pop-up events and impromptu parties. Spend a warm day here—maybe sitting at the top of the park with a view of the city and the Bay Bridge—surrounded by locals and that laid-back San Francisco energy, and you may well find yourself plotting your move to the city. The park continues to be well visited during a major renovation expected to continue through 2015. | Between 18th and 20th Sts. and Dolores and Church Sts., Mission.
Mission Dolores.
Two churches stand side by side here, including the small adobe Mission San Francisco de Asís, which, along with the Presidio’s Officers’ Club, is the oldest standing structure in San Francisco. Completed in 1791, it’s the sixth of the 21 California missions founded by Franciscan friars in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Its ceiling depicts original Ohlone Indian basket designs, executed in vegetable dyes. The tiny chapel includes frescoes and a hand-painted wooden altar.
There’s a hidden treasure here, too. In 2004 an archaeologist and an artist crawling along the ceiling’s rafters opened a trapdoor behind the altar and rediscovered the mission’s original mural, painted with natural dyes by Native Americans in 1791. The centuries have taken their toll, so the team photographed the 20-by-22-foot mural and began digitally restoring the photographic version. Among the images is a dagger-pierced Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The small museum here covers the mission’s founding and history, and the pretty little cemetery—which appears in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo—contains the graves of mid-19th-century European immigrants. (The remains of an estimated 5,000 Native Americans lie in unmarked graves.) Services are held in both the old mission and next door in the handsome multidome basilica. | Dolores and 16th Sts., Mission | 415/621–8203 | www.missiondolores.org | $5, audio tour $7 | Nov.–Apr., daily 9–4; May–Oct., daily 9–4:30.
Worth Noting
Clarion Alley Murals.
Inspired by the work in Balmy Alley, a new generation of muralists began creating a fresh alley-cum-gallery here in 1992. The works by the loosely connected artists of the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) represent a broad range of styles and imagery, an exuberant, flowery exhortation to Tax the Rich; a lesbian celebration including donkey heads, skirts, and rainbows; and some of the first black-and-white murals in the city. The alley’s murals offer a quick but dense glimpse at the Mission’s contemporary art scene. | Between Valencia and Mission Sts. and 17th and 18th Sts., Mission.
Galería de la Raza.
San Francisco’s premier showcase for contemporary Latino art, the gallery exhibits the works of mostly local artists. Events include readings and spoken word by local poets and writers, screenings of Latin American and Spanish films, and theater works by local minority theater troupes. The gallery may close between exhibits, so call ahead. Just across the street, murals and mosaics festoon the 24th Street/York Street Minipark, a tiny urban playground. A mosaic-covered Quetzalcoatl serpent plunges into the ground and rises, creating hills for little ones to clamber over, and mural-covered walls surround the space. | 2857 24th St., at Bryant St., Mission | 415/826–8009 | www.galeriadelaraza.org | Gallery Wed.–Sat. noon–6, Sun. noon–5.
Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center.
The muralists of this nonprofit arts organization design and create murals and lead guided walks of area murals. The Classic Mission Mural Walk ($20) starts with a 45-minute slide presentation before participants head outside to view murals on Balmy Alley and 24th Street. The Mission Trail Mural Walk ($15) includes some of the same murals and impressive ones at Cesar Chavez Elementary School. You can pick up a map of 24th Street’s murals at the center and buy art supplies, T-shirts, postcards, and other mural-related items. | 2981 24th St., Mission | 415/285–2287 | www.precitaeyes.org | Center free, tours $15–$20 | Center weekdays 10–5, Sat. 10–4, Sun. noon–4; walks: weekends at 1:30 (Classic), Sat. at 11 (Mission Trail).
Dogpatch
East of the Mission District and Potrero Hill and a short T-Third Muni light-rail ride from SoMa, the Dogpatch neighborhood has been on the rise for the last decade. Artisans, designers, and craftspeople eager to protect the area’s historical industrial legacy have all moved here in recent years, providing a solid customer base for shops, galleries, and boutique restaurants and artisanal food producers. The Museum of Craft and Design moved to Dogpatch in 2013 and instantly became the neighborhood’s cultural anchor.
Museum of Craft and Design.
Right at home in this once-industrial neighborhood now bursting with creative energy, this small, four-room space—definitely a quick view—mounts temporary art and design exhibitions. The focus might be sculpture, metalwork, furniture, or jewelry—or industrial design, architecture, or other topics. The MakeArt Lab gives kids the opportunity to create their own exhibit-inspired work, and the beautifully curated shop sells tempting textiles, housewares, jewelry, and other well-crafted items. | 2569 3rd St., near 22nd St., Dogpatch | 415/773–0303 | sfmcd.org | $8, free 1st Tues. of month | Tues.–Sat. 11–6 (Thurs. until 7), Sun. noon–5.
Pacific Heights and Japantown
Pacific Heights and Japantown are something of an odd couple: privileged, old-school San Francisco and the workaday commercial center of Japanese American life in the city, stacked virtually on top of each other. The sprawling, extravagant mansions of Pacific Heights gradually give way to the more modest Victorians and unassuming housing tracts of Japantown. The most interesting spots in Japantown huddle in the Japan Center, the neighborhood’s two-block centerpiece, and along Post Street. You can find plenty of authentic Japanese treats in the shops and restaurants.
Pacific Heights
Top Attractions
Haas-Lilienthal House.
A small display of photographs on the bottom floor of this elaborate, gray 1886 Queen Anne house makes clear that despite its lofty stature and striking, round third-story tower, the house was modest compared with some of the giants that fell victim to the 1906 earthquake and fire. The Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage operates the home, whose carefully kept rooms provide a glimpse into late-19th-century life through period furniture, authentic details (antique dishes in the kitchen built-in), and photos of the family that occupied the house until 1972. TIP You can admire hundreds of gorgeous San Francisco Victorians from the outside, but this is the only one that’s open to the public, and it’s worth a visit. Volunteers conduct one-hour house tours three days a week, and informative two-hour walking tours of Pacific Heights on Sunday afternoon (call or check website for schedule). | 2007 Franklin St., between Washington and Jackson Sts., Pacific Heights | 415/441–3004 | www.sfheritage.org | Tours $8 | 1-hr tour Wed. and Sat. noon–3, Sun. 11–4; 2-hr tour Sun. at 12:30.
Spreckels Mansion.
Shrouded behind tall juniper hedges at the corner of winding, redbrick Octavia Street, overlooking Lafayette Park, the estate was built for sugar heir Adolph Spreckels and his wife Alma. Mrs. Spreckels was so pleased with her house that she commissioned George Applegarth to design another building in a similar vein: the Legion of Honor. One of the city’s great iconoclasts, Alma Spreckels was the model for the bronze figure atop the Victory Monument in Union Square. These days an iconoclast of another sort owns the mansion: romance novelist Danielle Steel, whose dust-up with local columnists over the size of those hedges entertained aficionados of local gossip in 2014. | 2080 Washington St., at Octavia St., Pacific Heights.
Worth Noting
FAMILY | Alta Plaza Park.
Golden Gate Park’s longtime superintendent, John McLaren, designed Alta Plaza in 1910, modeling its terracing on that of the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. From the top you can see Marin to the north, downtown to the east, Twin Peaks to the south, and Golden Gate Park to the west. TIP Kids love the many play structures at the large, enclosed playground at the top; everywhere else is dog territory. | Bordered by Clay, Steiner, Jackson, and Scott Sts., Pacific Heights.
Franklin Street Buildings.
The three blocks south of the Haas-Lilienthal House contain a few curiosities of interest to architecture buffs. What at first looks like a stone facade on the Golden Gate Church (1901 Franklin St.) is actually redwood painted white. A handsome Georgian-style residence built in the early 1900s for a coffee merchant sits at 1735 Franklin. On the northeast corner of Franklin and California streets is a Christian Science church; built in the Tuscan revival style, it’s noteworthy for its terra-cotta detailing. The Coleman House (1701 Franklin St.) is an impressive twin-turret Queen Anne mansion that was built for a gold-rush mining and lumber baron. Don’t miss the large, brilliant-purple stained-glass window on the house’s north side. | Franklin St. between Washington and California Sts., Pacific Heights.
Japantown
Japan Center.
Cool and curious trinkets, noodle houses and sushi joints, a destination bookstore, and a peek at Japanese culture high and low await at this 5-acre complex designed in 1968 by noted American architect Minoru Yamasaki. The Japan Center includes the shop- and restaurant-filled Kintetsu and Kinokuniya buildings; the excellent Kabuki Springs & Spa; the Hotel Kabuki; and the Sundance Kabuki, Robert Redford’s fancy, reserved-seating cinema/restaurant complex.
The Kinokuniya Bookstore, in the Kinokuniya Building, has an extensive selection of Japanese-language books, manga (graphic novels), books on design, and English-language translations and books on Japanese topics. Just outside, follow the Japanese teenagers to Pika Pika, where you and your friends can step into a photo booth and then use special effects and stickers to decorate your creation. On the bridge connecting the center’s two buildings, check out Shige Antiques for yukata (lightweight cotton kimonos) for kids and lovely silk kimonos, and Asakichi and its tiny incense shop for tinkling wind chimes and display-worthy teakettles. Continue into the Kintetsu Building for a selection of Japanese restaurants.
Between the Miyako Mall and Kintetsu Building are the five-tier, 100-foot-tall Peace Pagoda and the Peace Plaza, where seasonal festivals are held. The pagoda, which draws on the 1,200-year-old tradition of miniature round pagodas dedicated to eternal peace, was designed in the late 1960s by Yoshiro Taniguchi to convey the “friendship and goodwill” of the Japanese people to the people of the United States. The plaza itself is a shadeless, unwelcoming space with little seating. Continue into the Miyako Mall to Ichiban Kan, a Japanese dollar store where you can pick up fun Japanese kitchenware, tote bags decorated with hedgehogs, and erasers shaped like food. | Bordered by Geary Blvd. and Fillmore, Post, and Laguna Sts., Japantown.
Fodor’s Choice | Kabuki Springs & Spa.
This serene spa is one Japantown destination that draws locals from all over town, from hipster to grandma, Japanese-American or not. Balinese urns decorate the communal bath area of this house of tranquillity.
The massage menu has also expanded well beyond traditional shiatsu technique. The experience is no less relaxing, however, and the treatment regimen includes facials, salt scrubs, and mud and seaweed wraps. You can take your massage in a private room with a bath or in a curtained-off area.
The communal baths ($25) contain hot and cold tubs, a large Japanese-style bath, a sauna, a steam room, and showers. Bang the gong for quiet if your fellow bathers are speaking too loudly. The clothing-optional baths are open for men only on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; women bathe on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Bathing suits are required on Tuesday, when the baths are coed.
Men and women can reserve private rooms daily. An 80-minute massage-and-private-bath package costs $125 weekdays, $140 weekends; a package that includes a 50-minute massage and the use of the communal baths costs $105 weekdays, $114 weekends. | 1750 Geary Blvd., Japantown | 415/922–6000 | www.kabukisprings.com | Daily 10–10.
New People.
The kids’ counterpart to the Japan Center, this fresh shopping center combines a cinema, a tea parlor, and shops with a successful synergy. The downstairs cinema shows classic and cutting-edge Asian (largely Japanese) films and is home to the San Francisco Film Society. Upstairs you can peruse Japanese pop-culture items and anime-inspired fashion, like handmade, split-toe shoes at Sou Sou and Lolita fashion at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. | 1746 Post St., Japantown | www.newpeopleworld.com | Mon.–Sat. noon–7, Sun. noon–6.