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| The Westin St Francis on Union Square |
For what ever reason you visit, San Francisco attractions that entertain, educate and enlighten will compete for your attention.
Entering San Francisco from the north we actually get to cross Golden Gate Bridge. It's an iconic landmark that has come to represent the City by the Bay. Spanning the Golden Gate Straits since 1937, the bridge connects Marin County to the north with the Presidio district of San Francisco.
The Presidio
Following Highway 1 south off the Golden Gate Bridge takes us through the wooded Presidio district. Once a U.S. military garrison, the Presidio is now part of the National Park system as is Alcatraz Island.
Highway 1 continues south into Golden Gate Park but we have a couple of truly scenic San Francisco attractions to visit before entering the park. Just hang a right to go west on Geary Boulevard and a few blocks through the Richmond district discloses a sweeping curve of the road to the south along the west coast.
Cliff House
The world famous Cliff House restaurant sits at the curve with a grand backdrop of the Pacific Ocean and the cluster of Seal Rocks. The vague outline of the Sutro Baths ruins lies nearby.
Sutro Baths
Once the Sutro Baths was a gigantic Victorian greenhouse-like structure that covered swimming pools, a curio's museum and a restaurant until burning to the ground. All of this is on the border of the Lincoln Park district to the north, home of the Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Continuing south, the Great Highway parallels the coastline. All of this area is protected as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Enjoy a couple of miles of this lovely coastline and then make a left turn on John F. Kennedy Blvd to enter Golden Gate Park. As you pass the Dutch Windmill and Beach Chalet restaurant feel the tensions of everyday life dissolve as we cruise past the grassy fields and wooded groves. The urban life of the cosmopolitan city is lost in the enchanted setting.
It's amazing how many of the famous San Francisco attractions are found among these green glades and small bodies of water. You will leave the Golf Clubhouse and Soccer fields behind before finding the Buffalo Paddocks, where bison have grazed since the 1890's, on your left. On the other side are the Anglers Lodge and Fly Casting pools, near the Polo fields.
Further along on the left is the Model Yacht Club and Spreckels Lake.
Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park
On the right hand side there are large picnic areas with barbeque pits and grassy lawns before JFK drive meets Highway 1 where it crosses Golden Gate Park as the Park Presidio Drive.
We are a little more than halfway through the park and most of the interesting things to see are still ahead of us:
Academy of Sciences
Conservatory of Flowers
De Young Museum
Japanese Tea Garden
Music Concourse
Strybing Arboretum
Stow Lake
Don't miss the loop drive around Stow Lake with its island called Strawberry Hill and the scenic vistas as the road climbs to the lake. There is something to suit all tastes in activities:
Baseball fields
Tennis courts
Bowling greens
Horseshoe pits
Handball courts
And other fun spots like the children's playground and carousel to while-away the time when you visit San Francisco.
Flower Power
In a city that was once the center of the
'Flower Power' movement you might expect a garden or two.
AIDS Memorial Grove
Botanical Gardens
Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden
Rose Garden
Shakespeare's Flowers
And those are just the ones that share the long stretch of Golden Gate Park with the Japanese Tea Garden, there are many other garden spots throughout San Francisco.
John F. Kennedy Dr. will take you to the many wonders of Golden Gate Park and then out of the park by way of Oak St. in what is known as the Panhandle.
A couple of blocks out of the park we take a right on Ashbury St. and then one long block brings us to the intersection made famous by the Hip generation, Haight and Ashbury.
Making a left onto Haight we continue to Scott St. where our path takes us north (left) onto Scott where about a half-dozen blocks brings us to Fulton Ave. and Alamo Park on your right.
Painted Ladies from Alamo Park
It's at Alamo Park that you will find the classic postcard view of the restored Victorian houses, called the Painted Ladies, with the San Francisco skyline as a backdrop. This is likely the most photographed spot in a very photogenic city.
A right turn on Fulton delivers us to the City Hall and the Civic Center. On the left is the Veterans Building and to the right is the Opera House and Symphony Hall. A quick left takes us past the...
Civic Center Plaza
Civic Auditorium
Library
Asian Art Museum
And then we are at Market Street and the Civic Center Muni station.
East toward the bay on Folsom St. will quickly bring us to the Embarcadero.
The Embarcadero
This one way thoroughfare skirts the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay to the east and the heart of The City to the west.
A few long blocks and we will pass between the Ferry Building and the Justin Herman Plaza. Graceful palm trees tower over the throngs of shoppers and tourists here at the end of two grand San Francisco avenues. Both Market and California streets converge a block from this point.
Coit Tower
Passing along the odd numbered piers (piers are numbered from the Ferry Bldg., odd to the north and even to the south) we come to the Levi's Plaza, across The Embarcadero from Pier 29. This is the world headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co. and houses their visitors center.
Behind the plaza, perched atop Telegraph Hill, stands one of the San Francisco attractions that has come to symbolize the City by the Bay in photographs since it was built in 1933. The views from Coit Tower offer truly magnificent panoramic vistas. With the historic murals painted on the inside and the flock of wild parrots that have made Telegraph Hill their home you can get colorful visual treats year-round.
Fisherman's Wharf
Leaving Coit Tower and the North Beach district behind we begin to curve to the west as we enter the center of San Francisco tourism... Fisherman's Wharf. This district is something of a cross between an ongoing street festival and a tourist trap.
Don't miss it! Fresh Dungeness Crab, off the boat that morning (Fish Alley, the commercial docks, are just a few blocks away), pulled from a steaming cauldron set up right by the sidewalk and served with a delicious cocktail sauce... unforgettable.
Pier 39
Aquarium of the Bay
Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum
San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park
The Wax Museum
And different piers and docks where you can find Bay Cruises. They line The Embarcadero to help you visit San Francisco attractions located offshore. The Embarcadero morphs into Jefferson St. (Fish Alley) so we need to turn left onto Hyde St. and a right on Beach Street to reach one of the most famous landmarks in The City.
Ghirardelli Square
Located across the street from Aquatic Park is the historic chocolate factory, Ghirardelli Square. Now there is an open, spacious shopping area with restaurants, ice cream parlor and a display of the old chocolate making equipment from the factory's hey-day.
Walk a block to the east to find the Powell-Hyde St. cable car turnaround for a fun way to explore the colorful heart of San Francisco. Or turn left on Polk and then right on Bay Street to traverse the edge of Fort Mason.
Fort Mason
Heading west as we continue our San Francisco tour, circumnavigating the City by the Bay. Only a block from Ghirardelli Square is Fort Mason. The former military real estate on the San Francisco Peninsula has become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the headquarters can be found at Fort Mason Center.
A right turn on Laguna will reunite us with Beach St. This is the last stretch as we cross the Marina district as we return to our starting point, the Presidio. Here we will find one of the most memorable and photogenic of all San Francisco attractions.
Palace of Fine Arts
Originally the Palace of Fine Arts was intended as a temporary structure for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition, celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal.
Reminiscent of a Grecian Temple, its classic lines are reflected in a beautiful little lake. Swans glide across the water while visitors and locals enjoy the serene atmosphere of the surrounding park.
