San Francisco is quite small, yet its hilly terrain and patchwork demographic profile gives it more distinctly defined neighborhoods than a city five times its size. As a result, the sights, sounds and flavors of this community—and even its climate—can change within a single block.
Castro Street & Noe Valley
The center of San Francisco's gay community and a landmark for gay culture everywhere, the Castro is full of bars, dance clubs, restaurants, and one-of-a-kind shops, located in the commercial area around 18th and Castro Street. There's arguably more street life in the Castro than anywhere else in the city, especially on weekends. The gleaming neon sign of the
Chinatown
The greatest single concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia—a population of roughly 80,000—live in the approximately 24 square blocks of
Civic Center & Hayes Valley
Stately Beaux Arts buildings like the
Cow Hollow & Union Street
The grand, imposing homes of Cow Hollow (so named for its original bovine residents) are nestled against the Presidio where Pacific Heights dives to the Marina. Spectacular views are the norm. Straight, single yuppies pack the
Downtown & Union Square
Union Square is the heart of San Francisco's bustling and stylish downtown shopping district. Posh department stores such as
Financial District & The Embarcadero
"The Wall Street of the West": Bank of America, Charles Schwab, and the Transamerica Corporation (in its landmark, 48-floor
Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square & Aquatic Park
This area was once the thriving center of San Francisco's fishing industry. Many fishing boats still dock at the Wharf, but Fisherman's Wharf today is more of an extended tourist trap.
Golden Gate Park
With 1000 acres of gardens, meadows, lakes, golf, archery, and internationally recognized art and science museums,
Lower Haight
At once, the area around Haight and Fillmore feels more bohemian and less unsavory than the Haight Ashbury to the west. The streets are usually packed with college-age inhabitants who tote guitars and well-worn paperbacks. Ethnic restaurants like
Nob Hill & Russian Hill
On impossibly steep
North Beach & Telegraph Hill
Originally settled by Italians, North Beach became a magnet for Beat Generation writers and poets in the 1950s.
Fillmore Street & Japantown
Fillmore Street, Pacific Heights' commercial spur, features noteworthy restaurants, epicurean food, and antique shops, all attended by a lively trade from young professionals. Fillmore and Geary has become a popular nightlife destination, thanks to John Lee Hooker's
Pacific Heights & Presidio Heights
Stately homes and high-rent apartment buildings line the ridge high above Cow Hollow in old-money Pacific Heights. Genteel, renovated Victorians ring the peaceful
SoMa
Once an unglamorous stretch of warehouses with a seedy undercurrent, an exciting modern San Francisco has emerged in the area South of Market Street—SoMa. Conventions, art, and entertainment possibilities abound in the
South Beach/China Basin
One of the city's most popular residential areas for young professionals, South Beach arose from a virtual wasteland at the southern end of the Embarcadero and the western edge of SoMa. Apartment complexes and boat marinas squeeze together between the foot of the
Haight-Ashbury & the Panhandle
This small, but densely concentrated cradle of the hippie movement has tried to retain much of its flower-power, peace and love appeal. While real Summer-of-Love generation hippies may be hard to find, young people, dreadlocked, skinheaded, or skateboard-crazy have continued to come to the Haight to break boundaries. The colorful bars and restaurants of upper Haight Street, however, are always packed with professional twenty-somethings. The annual Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is quite a scene. Architecture buffs will want to take a look at the regal Victorians on the Panhandle—the grassy, tree-lined strip extends east from
The Marina District
Tanned, fit and energetic twenty-somethings run and rollerblade along the Marina Green, a vast expanse of grass fronting the Bay between two yacht harbors. Mountain bikers crowd cafes, restaurants, and brunch hangouts along busy Chestnut Street after Sunday morning rides to Mount Tamalpais. The graceful
The Mission District
The nexus of Hispanic culture, and a mecca for edgy bohemians, the Mission now houses increasing numbers of young professionals and their sport utility vehicles. Mexican and Central American businesses line teeming Mission Street. Visit popular
The Presidio
14,000 acres of forests and beaches, 75 miles of bicycle-friendly roads, a golf course, and scenic grandeur without end make this the jewel of the
The Richmond District
Fog-bound and quiet residential streets stretch to the
The Sunset
A quiet and intensely foggy residential district, the principal attractions to the Outer Sunset are the
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Top Hotels for San Francisco from Yahoo! Travellers
Top Things to Do for San Francisco from Yahoo! Travellers
Top Restaurants for San Francisco from Yahoo! Travellers
Popular Trip Plans for San Francisco
Recommendations for San Francisco
San Francisco's hotels run the gamut from head-of-state luxury to modest motels. The City's premier hotels are almost all in the downtown area including Nob Hill, Union Square, and the Financial District/Embarcadero. Motels along the main corridors in and out of town, and pleasant bed-and-breakfasts in attractive, residential neighborhoods also exist. As a tourist destination with limited space, San Francisco hotels can charge premium prices, and do, especially downtown and on Nob Hill.
Union Square
The Westin St. Francis is not quite the premier hotel it used to be, but it's still the best known and the most central. The nearby JW Marriott Hotel ratchets up the cachet a notch or two. Campton Place offers understated elegance. At the Lion Gate of Chinatown, the postmodern Triton (decorated floor-by-floor by the city's top designers) is stylish and not unreasonably priced. Further down towards the Tenderloin, the Hilton hosts innumerable conventions, and the Nikko is a popular choice with businessmen. Guests at these hotels should travel outside the neighborhood but not in it. On Market Street, the Garden Court Restaurant of the capacious Palace Hotel is an old San Francisco tradition.
Financial District & The Embarcadero
The typewriter-shaped Hyatt Regency, with its huge atrium lobby, is conveniently located for tourists and businessmen both where the Embarcadero meets Market Street. Hotel Griffon is stylish, featuring quality restaurants and a very cool location on the Bay at the Embarcadero. In the heart of the Financial District, the luxurious Mandarin Oriental offers impeccable service and facilities with an unostentatious Asian theme. The antiques in the lobby and meeting rooms are worth a mint.
Nob Hill
The pinnacle (literally and figuratively) of luxury. It's all impeccable service and cushy comfort atop Nob Hill's Olympian Heights. You will feel like a king in the Fairmont, the Mark Hopkins, the Huntington, the Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel, or the Ritz Carlton. Room rates? Don't ask!
SoMa
The W San Francisco brings style and glamour to the neighborhood. Otherwise, for the most part, inexpensive student and international accommodations are the name of the game on the streets to the south and west of the Moscone Center.
North Beach & Fisherman's Wharf
Bed and breakfasts are the way to go in crowded, urban North Beach. You'll also find the standard array of chain hotels including the Ramada Limited and the Sheraton at Fisherman's Wharf, catering to the heavy tourist trade.
Cow Hollow & The Marina
Lombard Street is a good place to look for motels. San Francisco rents assure that you probably won't end up in a fleabag. More motels and motel-like hotels can be found up Van Ness Avenue. You might want to consider something with several floors as these streets have a lot of automobile traffic throughout the day. The Marina and Cow Hollow also feature some of the City's better bed and breakfasts like the slightly off-beat Art Center Bed & Breakfast (near the Fort Mason Center).
As a restaurant town, San Francisco is rivaled only by New York. As varied as San Francisco's ethnic patchwork is, so is the plethora of dining choices. One can eat Chinese in Chinatown and Italian in North Beach, but a rainbow spectrum of ethnic cuisine awaits you in central and outlying neighborhoods. Have you enjoyed the specialties of Eritrean, Afghan, and Tibetan fare? In San Francisco, you can. Shining out over this sea of ethnic delights are the downtown beacons of fine dining that have really kept San Francisco on the culinary map, such as the stylish downtown restaurants Postrio, Masa's and Fringale. Chic and elegant or funky and loud, in San Francisco you'll eat better than you ever have. Bon Appetit!
Castro Street & Noe Valley
In the Castro, casual, inexpensive and fun dining prevails along with lots of gay bars. Relaxed Nirvana is a favorite meeting place with huge windows overlooking the action on Castro Street, while Orphan Andy's serves what may be the best hamburgers in the city. The loud and lively Detour, one of the most popular bars in the Castro, is a favorite cruising spot while Harvey's offers more relaxed conversations. Noe Valley contains more than its share of the City's better, smaller, less pricey but well-reputed eateries. The Firefly and Eric's, both favorites with locals, often have lines out the door.
Chinatown
Avoid the upstairs restaurants on Grant Avenue, which cater to the tourist trade. Instead, head up the side streets and take your chances at one of the scores of great and inexpensive Cantonese rooms that feed locals. Try the sedate and elegant Imperial Tea Court for a rare and exquisite selection of the finest Asian tea, or the frenetic House of Nanking on Kearny. On the edge of North Beach and Chinatown, Brandy Ho's carries the banner of "spicy Hunan cooking," and Dol Ho is a fixture with the Chinese shoppers and businessmen during lunch.
One of the best restaurants in Chinatown, Tommy Toy's on Montgomery Street, is not technically in Chinatown, but it's just a short walk down Washington Street past Portsmouth Square. Tommy Toy's is elegant, where gentlemen are expected to wear jackets and ties and where the food (bearing a French accent), is absolutely superb. One of the few bars in Chinatown, dimly lit Li Po's, is a legendary literary hangout. Check out its over-the-top facade.
Civic Center & Hayes Valley
If dining before the opera, Hayes Valley, west of the Civic Center, has its share of the city's finest dining. One of the stars of the area, Jardiniere, features a dining room so remarkably styled that it's worth a peek even if you can't get a reservation. On Hayes Street, Absinthe offers innovative California-French fare in a fanciful, dark velvet surrounding. Then there's the Caffe Delle Stelle's more homey, trattoria-style ambiance with clever and unerring renditions of Italian specialties. The Hayes Street Grill is a reliable favorite. Up the street, Suppenkuche offers modern renditions of German favorites and dozens of beers on tap in an ambiance as boisterous as it is spartan. For a quick and cheap oasis, try hip and funky Momi Toby's Revolution Cafe.
Cow Hollow/Union Street
The clientele here is young, brash, beautiful and successful. Great restaurants line Union Street and side streets. For wonderful neighborhood Italian, duck into Pane E Vino on Steiner, just off Union.
Downtown & Nob Hill
Masa's, Boulevard and Wolfgang Puck's Postrio offer variations in the spectrum of French/California cuisine, all of them expensive, and all of them worth it. For lovers of seafood and creative design, Farallon, also pricey, is styled on an undersea grotto theme. Don't think of going to these places without a reservation. A large number of great sushi restaurants are to be found in the area south of Post Street. For drinks, try some of the great bars and lounges in Nob Hill hotels, especially if you can't afford to be a guest there. The Top of the Mark (at the Mark Hopkins InterContinental), Harry Denton's Starlight Room (atop the Sir Francis Drake), and the classic Tonga Room (at the Fairmont Hotel) will all let you say you've "been there, done that" without breaking the bank.
Embarcadero & Financial District
Restaurants here, whether stylish or traditional, are informed by discretion and lack of pretense as befits a business environment. On California Street, in the heart of the Financial District, is the Tadich Grill, the City's oldest restaurant. Heavy on tradition, this seafood house hasn't changed much during its extensive existence. Delightful Aqua does incredible things with seafood. The shiny Fog City Diner, near the Embarcadero Center, tips its hat to the American railroad diner, but serves excellent food. Nearby Il Fornaio, at Levi's Plaza Park, offers an exhaustive Italian menu, as well as a takeout deli and bakery. The Royal Exchange is a popular after-work destination for the young movers and shakers of Montgomery Street.
Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square & Aquatic Park
One word: seafood. Places like Alioto's and Scoma's have been here forever, serving serviceable seafood to tourists, and of course have tremendous views with their bayside seating. Ghirardelli Square offers everything from a mind-boggling array of seafood at McCormick and Kuleto, to superb and elegant Chinese at the MO Bar. For anyone with a sweet tooth, the huge sundaes at the Ghirardelli's Chocolate Shop are big fun.
Lower Haight
For young bohos around the corner of Haight and Fillmore, Nickie's is a favorite watering hole and dance hall. If you're hungry, go to the Indian Oven around the corner. Or, head to Axum for great, inexpensive Ethiopian food. This area also has more than its share of comfortably scruffy cafes, as well as bars such as the Noc Noc, Toronado, Mad Dog in the Fog, and Ad Bodhran.
North Beach
You're in the culinary heart of the city! What to eat? Italian, of course! Mangia! The only problem here is deciding just what kind of Italian. Check out unpretentious, hearty North Beach institutions like the family-style Calzone's. Off-kilter Sicilian, with gargantuan proportions and chairs on the ceiling? Well, that could only be Caffe Sport. You can also treat yourself to a more elegant and innovative approach to Italian food at hard-to-get-into Rose Pistola. But if you're just looking for a quick snack before scaling Telegraph Hill, have a panini sandwich and espresso at venerable Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store or cross Washington Square Park for fresh focaccia at Liguria Bakery.
But there's more to North Beach than Italian food, of course. Cocktail hour? If you want to get close to the beatnik soul of North Beach, Vesuvio, Saloon, the Tosca Cafe and Savoy Tivoli are where you must go.
Fillmore Street & Japantown
Fillmore Street has dozens of great restaurants so it's hard to know where to begin. Meet and greet at the Elite Cafe, one of the best places in town to have Cajun blackened redfish. Enjoy cozy Thai at the Thai Stick or squeeze yourself into tiny, tasty La Mediterrane. Harry's On Fillmore serves drinks and food and features jazz on weekends. At Fillmore and Geary, pay a cover charge and drink your blues away (or blues your drink away) at the Boom Boom Room. Great noodle houses and sushi bars like Mifune and Sanppo pack Japan Center.
Potrero Hill
Edgy cafes like the Universal Cafe and restaurants like the Slow Club attract the bohemians and black-clad yuppies in this transitional loft/industrial area.
SoMa
The dynamism of this emerging area can be felt in its restaurant scene, with more "important" restaurants than almost anywhere else in the city, as well as places where the atmosphere's the only thing that counts. Fringale is considered among the very best French restaurants in the entire city, if not the entire state. Restaurant LuLu attracts a haute-yuppie clientele and offers imaginative food, an extensive list of single-malt scotches, and a very loud dining room. Brain Wash is one of the best, and perhaps only, places to have a beer, listen to a local band and wash your clothes all at the same time. The wonderfully unrefined Paradise Lounge features open-mic poetry readings.
South Beach/China Basin
Town's End and Delancey Street are among the better restaurants at the end of the Embarcadero, serving wholesome but refined California cuisine. Recently relocated from the Mission, the Slanted Door styles Vietnamese dishes with a California sensibility and consistently makes top SF restaurant lists. Momo's, ideally located across from AT&T Park, suddenly has the best address in San Francisco, and the powerful and glamorous clientele to match.
Haight-Ashbury & Cole Valley
Colorful, funky and intensely popular restaurants like Cha Cha Cha draw a young and festive crowd in the Haight Ashbury. Nearby Cole Valley is less unkempt but features quite a few good restaurants for its tiny size, most notably the wine bar EOS.
The Marina District
On and around Chestnut Street, the college sweatshirt crowd dines and socializes at quick, comfortable, stylish-but-not-edgy places like Ace Wasabi's Rock 'N' Roll Sushi. Nightlife centers around lively singles bars like Bar None, and on Sundays brunch is hugely popular with bicyclists and rollerbladers at numerous places in the area.
The Mission District
The city's hippest, most popular, inexpensive restaurants are to be found in the area around Valencia and 16th Streets, referred to as the Valencia Corridor. Ti Couz and Picaro are among the dozens of imaginative, vibrant places to dine without spending a fortune. Be forewarned of lines and waits, however. For drinks, there are scads of places to go along Valencia Street, among them, the Elbo Room offering drinks, music, and photo booths, and the Oxygen Bar, which offers not only fine sake and wine but, yes, pure oxygen. (You can inhale it in 10 or 25-minute segments.) In a parallel universe to this boho scene are the dozens of great burrito places on Mission and Valencia. Each have their adherents but El Toro Taqueria, Cancun and the legendary La Taqueria are the most popular. All serve popular Mexican beers.
The Avenues: The Richmond & Sunset Districts
In Clement Street's "Little Chinatown," you'll find Chinese food rivaling (some say surpassing) the best Chinatown has to offer. Ton Kiang Restaurant, a Martha Stewart favorite, and dim sum specialists Yet Wah are but two of the many remarkable places to eat here, with every one of them unpretentious and a good value. On the other side of Golden Gate Park, on Irving Street around 9th Avenue, are dozens of lively and inexpensive restaurants catering to medical students at nearby UCSF. Sushi, curry, won ton, pad thai, pizza, falafel, crepes, burritos, hamburgers, and Ethiopian favorites can all be found shoehorned into that one intersection. Some of the city's best Chinese restaurants can also be found on outer Irving and Taraval, as well.
San Francisco is a unique city of steep hills and beautiful architecture, bordered by the Muir Woods, the Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Seeing everything is possible; the city is rather small, but the terrain often poses a challenge. Be sure to have a schedule in mind, and take advantage of the convenient public transportation options.
Union Square
Union Square is a haven for shoppers: look in any direction and you will see upscale department stores. Nearby, visitors can hop onto a cable car on Powell Street, or walk up Stockton Street to the pagoda-style roofs of Chinatown. The St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral can be found here. Explore the many shops with their inexpensive wares and souvenirs, then grab a bite at the nearby Imperial Palace.
North Beach
The Saints Peter and Paul Church is North Beach's defining feature, and its lawn is the site of many summertime picnics and pickup football games. City Lights Bookstore, a shrine of the "Beat" culture, can be found nearby. The store features a collection of literature, poetry, and avant-garde theory and criticisms, some of it published under the City Lights label, which you won't find anywhere else. The Tosca Cafe and the Caffe Trieste are former Beat hangouts that offer tasty dining options. Take note of the sign for the Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard, and if you're in the mood for satirical sketches, stop in for a show.
Coit Tower
The climb to Coit Tower is very steep, be warned. You can stop at the Liguria Bakery for a bite before. At the top of Coit Tower, take in the spectacular panorama from Nob Hill past the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and the East Bay. Then hop on a bus and visit Fort Mason and Ghirardelli Square.
Fisherman's Wharf
A trip to Fisherman's Wharf on the Embarcadero is on every visitor's to do list. Shop at Pier 39 and be sure to try the fresh seafood at Lou's Pier 47. Ferries embark to Alcatraz Island and Angel Island State Park from the Ferry Building Marketplace. Be sure to check out the culinary shops and restaurants while you wait for your ferry.
Yerba Buena Center
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is located in the area south of Market Street. The unique, temporary exhibitions here draw huge crowds. If you are in San Francisco for a convention or other event at the Moscone Center, it's just around the corner. Above the Moscone Center, whose business end is underground, is the successful Yerba Buena Center complex and Yerba Buena Gardens. The Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center features a year round, indoor skating rink. It's a handsome and airy facility with a glass wall that faces the skyscrapers Downtown. Across Howard Street, you can see the back end of the imposing Metreon, Sony's four-story, sixteen-screen entertainment megalith.
If you're looking for an affordable way to hit all San Francisco's hotspots, try one of these tour companies.
Walking Tours
Barbary Coast Trail ( +1 415 454 2355/ http://www.barbarycoasttrail.org/ )
Alcatraz Island ( +1 415 705 5555/ http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/ )
A San Francisco Walkabout with Gary Holloway ( +1 415 357 1848/ http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/programs/holloway.html )
City Guides ( +1 415 557 4266/ http://www.sfcityguides.org/ )
Heritage Walks ( +1 415 441 3000/ http://www.sfheritage.org/events+tours.html )
San Francisco Parks Trust Golden Gate Park Tours ( +1 415 750 5105/ http://www.sfpt.org/ )
Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour ( +1 415 863 1621/ http://www.hippygourmet.com/)
S.F.African-American Historical and Cultural Society Walking Tour ( +1 415 441 0640 )
Dashiell Hammett Walking Tour ( +1 510 287 9540/ http://www.donherron.com/ )
Ultimate City Tour ( +1 415 777 2288 / +1 888 868 7788/ http://www.supersightseeing.com/ )
Boat Tours
Farallon Islands Nature Cruises ( +1 800 326 7491/ http://www.oceanicsociety.org/whale )
Blue & Gold Fleet ( +1 415 705 8200 / +1 415 705 5555/ http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/ )
San Francisco Duck Tour ( +1 415 435 3825/ http://www.bayquackers.com/ )
Bus Tours
Mr. Toad's Tours ( +1 877 467 8623/ http://www.mrtoadstours.com/ )
Yosemite with Green Tortoise ( +1 415 956 7500/ http://www.greentortoise.com/yosemite.national.park.html )
Gray Line Tours ( +1 888 428 6937/ http://www.sanfranciscosightseeing.com/ )
Starline Tours ( 1-800-959-3131/ http://www.starlinetours.com/san-francisco-tours.asp )
Bike Tours
Bike & Roll San Francisco ( +1 415 771 8735/ http://www.bicyclerental.com/)
Kayak Tours
California Canoe & Kayak ( +1 510 893 7833/ http://www.calkayak.com/ )
Segway Tours
Segway San Francisco Electric Tour ( +1 415 474 3130 / +1 877 474 3130/ http://www.electrictourcompany.com/ )
Brewery Tours
Anchor Brewing Company ( +1 415 863 8350/ http://www.anchorbrewing.com/ )
Fire Engine Tours
San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures ( +1 415 333 7077/ http://www.fireenginetours.com/ )
Culinary Tours
Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company ( +1 650 355 9657/ http://www.wokwiz.com/tours/index.html )
Ghost Tours
The Haunted Haight Walking Tour ( +1 415 863 1416/ http://www.hauntedhaight.com/)
Chinatown Ghost Tours (+1 415 793 1183/ http://www.sfchinatownghosttours.com/)
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