Top Ten Attractions
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The Golden Gate Bridge
One of the world’s finest, with its tremendous towers, sweeping cables and great span. A must-see. http://www.goldengatebridge.org
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The Golden Gate Park
More than a thousand acres of gardens, lakes, walking paths, an arboretum and botanical gardens. Rest awhile in the Japanese Tea Garden. http://www.nps.gov/goga/
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Fisherman’s Wharf
A long, coastal road of seafood restaurants, street vendors and souvenir stores is combined with a major fishing pier. Pier 39 is the ‘in’ place. http://www.fishermanswharf.org/ http://www.pier39.com
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Alcatraz
The infamous prison on an island, a ten-minute ferry ride from Fisherman’s Wharf. http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/
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Cable Cars
Try the California Street line, which runs from the Financial District through Chinatown and over Nob Hill. http://www.sfcablecar.com
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Chinatown
A dragon-draped archway at the intersection of Bush and Grant streets announces the entrance. Streets teem with fish and vegetable stalls, restaurants, herbal shops and temples. http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com
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Alamo Square
Where Victorian homes are juxtaposed against the towering backdrop of downtown’s skyscrapers. With Lombard Street – the world’s most crooked.
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North Beach
San Francisco’s Italian neighbourhood – with delis and coffee houses aplenty.
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Exploratium
A fun and quirky museum of science, art and human perception. 650 hands-on exhibits. http://www.exploratium.edu
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AT & T Park
Home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. http://www.sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/m...
Eating and Drinking
Ditch the diet, load the wallet and summon the taste buds. You’re in San Francisco, ambassador of Californian and diverse ethnic cuisines, where eating out is a passion and restaurants attract a level of client fanaticism normally reserved for the world of high fashion. The possibilities of where to eat and when are dazzling – even the theoretically simple task of ordering a sandwich turns into a multiple-choice interrogation. If you want to do the thing the San Franciscan way, breakfast should be taken in a diner with an all-American fry-up of eggs, bacon, and hash browns or in a Mediterranean-style café with croissants and coffee. Sunday means brunch, with the double-sized San Francisco Chronicle. And Frisco’s grander hotels have acquired a taste for afternoon tea, served the English way with Earl Grey, scones and bone china. This city really does offer the world on a plate. Few tourists leave without a meal in its two busiest dining venues, Chinatown and Italian North Beach, but the possibilities are endless – Russian, Japanese, Cambodian, Korean, Moroccan, Indian, Mexican, Greek … and there’s a relentless supply of take-aways and 24-hour delis to fill the gaps. And don’t leave the city without trying the local speciality: Dungeness crab and sourdough bread.
Shopping
San Francisco’s shopping heart is Union Square and its neighbouring blocks. Here you’ll find department stores such as Macy’s and designer shops like Armani, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue. A big retail complex is the Embarcadero Center, which is linked by above-street walkways incorporating the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Another is the San Francisco Shopping Center – over a hundred outlets on nine floors and worth a visit just for a ride on its unique spiral escalators. Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown have everything a tourist needs (and plenty he doesn’t), but the most rewarding shopping might result from casual finds made while visiting neighbourhoods such as North Beach, Union Street, Hayes Valley and the Haight-Ashbury. These areas all have small shops with individual style. Most shops are open at least Monday to Saturday 10-6, with extended hours some evenings and Sunday opening depending on their location and merchandise. Good San Franciscan buys include books, particularly as so many quality authors have written about the city, CDs, casual wear and decorative goods for the home. Many visitors like the idea of buying a pair of Levis in the city that gave them to the world. Jackson Square is the centre of San Francisco’s antiques trade with more than 25 shops grouped together, while City Lights on Columbus Avenue is a famous independent bookstore and publisher and has been a literary meeting place since 1953. There are two farmers’ markets: one in United Nations Plaza on Wednesday and Sunday and the other by the Ferry Building, the Embarcadero, Saturday and Tuesday.
Night Life
From the Gold Rush days of saloons, whorehouses and gambling dens to the high-tech concert halls and hip dance clubs of today, San Francisco has always been a good-time city. For electronic music clubs, hip-hop and chill art lounges, try San Francisco's SoMa district. For bar-hopping with hipsters and rockers, Mission District rules. More elegant bars can be found in the Marina district. Gay-friendly bars and clubs exist all over San Francisco and are not necessarily quarantined in the Castro. North Beach is open until the wee hours with neon strip joints and cool hideaway bars. For featured venues, see www.sanfrancisco.com/nightlife
