San Francisco Places To Visit

Car Rental In San_Franciscoupscale boutiques, tourist trinket shops, art galleries, and
Fisherman's Wharfsalons in the Western United States, which continue to
What is Fisherman's Warf?make Union Square a major tourist draw, a vital,
One of the busiest and well known tourist attractions incosmopolitan place in downtown San Francisco, and
North America, it is best known for being the locationone of the world's premier shopping districts. Grand
of Pier 39, San Francisco Maritime National Historicalhotels and small inns, as well as repertory,
Park, the Cannery Shopping Center, Ghirardelli Square,off-Broadway, and single-act theaters also contribute
a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, the Wax Museumto the area's dynamic, 24-hour character. One of the
at Fisherman's Wharf, Forbes Island and restaurantscity's three original parks, is now a public space atop a
and stands that serve fresh seafood, most notablymulti-level underground parking garage and ringed with
dungeness crab and clam chowder served in aelegant shops and hotels. The Powell cable car line
sourdough bread bowl. Some of the restaurants, likebegins about a block away, and the theatre district is
Pompeii's and Alioto's #8, go back for threenearby.
generations of the same family ownership. Nearby PierCable Cars
45 has a chapel in memory of the "Lost Fishermen" ofWhat is Cable Cars?
San Francisco and Northern California.A cable car is any of a variety of transportation
Other attractions in Fisherman's Wharf area are thesystems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or
Hyde Street Pier which is part of the Golden Gatelower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these
National Recreation Area, the USS Pampanito asystems. San Francisco has some of the most well
decommissioned World War 2 era submarine, and theknow cable cars in the US. Cable car rides are one of
Balclutha, a 19th century whaling shipthe cornerstones of visiting San Fancisco.
Fisherman's Wharf plays host to many San FranciscoChinatown expresses
events, including a world-class fireworks display forWhat is Chinatown Expresses?
Fourth of July, and some of the best views of theWhat early 20th Century Western architects thought
Fleet Week air shows.Chinese buildings should look like. There's much here
One of the city's most popular figures is a harmlessthat's created just for the tourist, but with our hints, you
but controversial resident of Fisherman's Wharf calledcan get a glimpse of the "real" Chinatown in its alleys
the World Famous Bushman, a local street performerand shops.
who sits behind some branches and startles peopleLombard, the "Crookedest" Street
who walk by. He has gained notoriety during the 28What is Lombard, the "Crookedest" Street?
years he has been doing this.Lombard Street begins at Presidio Boulevard inside
In 1985, the wharf was used as a filming location in theThe Presidio and runs east through the Cow Hollow
James Bond film A View to a Kill, where Bond (playedneighborhood. For 12 blocks between Broderick Street
for the last time by Roger Moore) met with CIA agentand Van Ness Avenue, it is a principal arterial road that
Chuck Lee (David Yip) in his quest to eliminate theis co-signed as U.S. Route 101. Lombard Street then
villain of the film Max Zorin.continues through the Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill
Covering about half a dozen blocks along theneighborhoods, breaks off at a point becoming
waterfront, constitute much of the stereotypical SanTelegraph Hill Boulevard. That leads to Pioneer Park
Francisco image and together are perhaps the mostand Coit Tower. Lombard Street starts again at
popular things to do in San Francisco. StreetWinthrop Street and finally terminates at The
performers entertain and souvenir shops andEmbarcadero as a collector road.
restaurants tempt spending. These places are popularLombard Street is best known for the one-way
and many people feel they haven't visited Sansection on Russian Hill between Hyde and
Francisco unless they've seen them, but keep in mindLeavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight
that this tourist haven bears little resemblance to thesharp turns that have earned the street the distinction
rest of the City of San Francisco.of being "the crookedest street in the world". The
Where is Fisherman's Wharf?switchbacks design, first suggested by property owner
It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront areaCarl Henry[citation needed] and instituted in 1922, was
of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Nessborn out of necessity in order to reduce the hill's natural
Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street. The F27% grade,[citation needed] which was too steep for
Market streetcar runs through the area, themost vehicles to climb. It is also a serious hazard to
Powell-Hyde cable car lines runs to Aquatic Park, atpedestrians, who are accustomed to a more
the edge of Fisherman's Wharf, and the Powell-Masonreasonable sixteen-degree incline. The crooked section
cable car line runs a few blocks away.of the street, which is about 1/4 mile long, is reserved
The Golden Gate Bridgefor one-way traffic traveling east and is paved with
What is the Golden Gate Bridge?red bricks. The speed limit in this section is a mere 5
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridgemph. Is neither the crookedest street in San Francisco
spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the Sannor the steepest, but it's surely the best-known. The
Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both"crooked" section is the block below Hyde Street. No
U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, it connectscar to drive down? Take the cable car to Hyde and
the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of theLombard and walk.
San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. The GoldenCoit Tower
Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge span inWhat is Coit Tower?
the world when it was completed during the year 1937,Coit Tower was built in Pioneer Park atop Telegraph
and has become an internationally recognized symbolHill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to
of San Francisco and California. Since its completion,beautify the City of San Francisco; Lillie bequeathed
the span length has been surpassed by eight otherone-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco "to
bridges. It still has the second longest suspension bridgebe expended in an appropriate manner for the
main span in the United States, after thepurpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. In 1999, ithave always loved".Offers panoramic bay and city
was ranked fifth on the List of America's Favoriteviews from the top of Telegraph Hill and a bit of 1930s
Architecture by the American Institute ofSan Francisco captured in its murals.
Architects.Not only is it one of the city's mostSausalito
enjoyable things to do, but it's also one of theWhat is Sausalito?
most-photographed sights in the world. A walk on it isSausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, located in
a must.Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is
Alcatrazlocated 8 miles south-southeast of San Rafael, at an
What is Alcatraz?elevation of 13 feet. The population was 7,330 as of
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Franciscothe year 2000 census. The community is situated near
Bay, 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco, California.the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior
Often referred to as The Rock, the small islandto the building of that bridge served as a terminus for
early-on served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, arail, car and ferry traffic. Developed rapidly as a
military prison, and a Federal Bureau of Prisons federalshipbuilding center in World War II, the city's industrial
prison until 1963. Later, in 1972, Alcatraz became acharacter gave way in postwar years to a reputation
national recreation area and received landmarkingas an artistic enclave, as a picturesque residential
designations in 1976 and 1986.community, and as a tourist destination. It is adjacent to,
Today, the island is a historic site operated by theand largely bounded by, the protected spaces of the
National Park Service as part of the Golden GateGolden Gate National Recreation Area. Just across
National Recreation Area and is open to tours. VisitorsSan Francisco Bay, has some of the best views OF
can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier 33, nearSan Francisco in the area. Take a ferry over, browse
Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In 2008 thea few art galleries and have lunch or dinner at
nation's first hybrid propulsion ferry started serving theSpinnaker, one of the area's best restaurants for a
island. Alcatraz has been featured in many movies, TVmeal with view.
shows, cartoons, books, comics, and games. TheCliff House
former prison, wasn't always a place people wantedWhat is Cliff House?
to go, but today it's one of the city's most popularThe Cliff House is a restaurant perched on the
sights. Reserve your tickets in advance to avoidheadlands on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach on
disappointment.the western side of San Francisco, California. It
Union Squareoverlooks the site of the former Sutro Baths and a
What is Union Square?room-sized camera obscura and is now part of the
Union Square is a 2.6 acres plaza bordered by Geary,Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by
Powell, Post and Stockton Street in San Francisco,the National Park Service. On Ocean Beach has been
California. It also refers to the central shopping, hotel,a San Francisco standard since 1863, when the first
and theater district that surrounds the plaza for severalCliff House was built. Today's version is the third
blocks. Today, this one-block plaza and nearby area isbuilding and fourth restaurant to stand on this spot.
one of the largest collections of department stores,