Explore San Francisco, California

San Francisco is known for its hilly terrain, Victorian architecture, and beautiful scenery. It is located on a small seven-by-seven mile square of land at the tip of a peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast. It is the center of a metropolitan area and is one of the cities that make up the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a mild climate, with wet, mild winters and dry, foggy summers. Even on a sunny day the bay can be chilly.

The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most recognizable landmark in San Francisco and one of the most famous bridges in the United States. It is also one of the major road routes into and out of the city. The Presidio, located in the Golden Gate district, is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and contains the Fort Point National Historic Site. Fort Point protected the San Francisco harbor from Confederate and foreign attack during and after the American Civil War. Also, visit the Japanese tea garden, the California Academy of Sciences and the De Young Museum at Golden Gate Park.

Take a ride on the famous cable cars and run up and down the hills of San Francisco between Market Street and the Fisherman's Wharf. Fisherman's Wharf is a great place to see street entertainers, eat seafood, watch sea lions, visit a museum, or take a cruise to the infamous Alcatraz Prison or Angel Island to see the spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline. At the Hyde Street Pier you can go on board several historical ships, including the 1886 Balclutha clipper ship, a walking-beam ferry, a steam tug, and a coastal schooner. At Pier 45 just to the east, the World War II submarine USS Pampanito and the World War II Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien can be visited. Nearby on Pier 39 is the Aquarium of the Bay. Most tours leave from docks between Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Also sunset, dinner, or whale watching tours. You should buy tickets a day or two in advance in the summer. There are kiosks along the waterfront walk. Also, take a ferry from San Francisco across the bay to Tiburon, Sausalito, or Alameda and get some great views.

Go to a concert, musical, ballet, or theater performance. Half-price tickets are available for most San Francisco theater performances at the booth located in the middle of Union Square.

More attractions include the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park in the northwest corner of the Richmond district, the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill which offers exhibits on the famous moving landmarks of San Francisco. Also, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Moscone Center, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Zeum, the Cartoon Art Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Museum of Craft and Folk Art are all located in SoMa, south of Union Square. The Contemporary Jewish Museum, which was designed by Daniel Liebeskind, is the latest major addition to San Francisco's museum scene.

One way to cover seeing many attractions of the city is the CityPass or the Go San Francisco Card. The CityPass allows admission into the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museum (both must be visited on the same day), the Aquarium of the Bay, a Blue and Gold Fleet bay cruise, and the Asian Art Museum OR the Exploratorium. The Go San Francisco Card allows you to take some tours for free (Wine Country tour, San Francisco Sightseeing, City Tour), Bay Cruises, museums, aquariums, The Conservatory of Flowers, and many other activities.

San Francisco includes restaurants of every type of cuisine. The Richmond district has many excellent sushi chefs and San Francisco also has the largest Chinatown in North America, with many exceptional restaurants serving Chinese delicacies. Fisherman's Wharf serves fresh seafood, North Beach is the place to go for Italian food, and the Mission for Mexican restaurants (and Latin American cuisine of all sorts).

The majority of the accommodations are in the northeastern portion of the city, near the popular areas of Downtown, Chinatown, and Fisherman's Wharf. If you stay close to the San Francisco International Airport, there are plenty of standard airport accommodations in the cities surrounding the airport such as Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno and South San Francisco. From there, you can drive or take the BART or Caltrain into San Francisco. If you're looking for a room with a view, then the Mandarin Oriental might be the place to stay. From the bathtub you have first-class views of the Transamerica Pyramid, Golden Gate Bridge and the glimmering bay beyond.