San Francisco city. San Francisco: a journey to the freest city in the world. Hotels in San Francisco
The city of San Francisco has long been considered one of the most beautiful places in the United States. Thanks to its geographical location, natural features and rich history, the city is famous as contrasting, diverse and very colorful. A legendary symbol of the American West, a product of the Gold Rush period, San Francisco attracts tourists from all over the world. Americans themselves often call the city “the pearl of the West Coast.”
San Francisco is located on a small peninsula between the bay of the same name and the Pacific Ocean, connected to each other by the Golden Gate Strait. The numerous hills on which the city is located, oceanic winds and frequent fogs have in some way become its “calling card”. By the way, there are about 50 hills of varying heights in the city, and the Twin Peaks hills are the most popular among tourists - they offer a magnificent view of the bay and the city.
Ever since the California Gold Rush, the city has secured its status as the financial and industrial center of the region. Today, many research centers and industries related to high technology, genetic engineering and medical electronics are located here, so the city continues to play an important role in the economic life of the country. In addition, due to its favorable location, San Francisco serves about 30% of the trade of the entire west coast of the country.
History of San Francisco
Initially, the territory of modern San Francisco was inhabited by Indians; European colonists came here in 1769. Seven years later, the Spaniards founded the mission of St. Francis of Assisi here, around which a small settlement was formed.
After Mexico declared independence from Spain, the territory of modern California became Mexican, and the new city was named Herba Buena, which means “good grass” in Spanish. However, Mexico soon loses the war with America, and in 1848 the territory of California becomes a possession of the United States. The city is officially renamed San Francisco, and active expansion of the surrounding areas for construction begins.
The California Gold Rush, which began in 1848, may have played a key role in San Francisco's history. In just a year, the city's population increased from 1,000 to 25,000 people. The city's infrastructure was not ready for such an influx of people, and problems with health, crime and housing began.
Another turning point in the history of San Francisco was the powerful earthquake of 1906, which, combined with the outbreak of fires, almost completely destroyed the city. After this, an era of rapid reconstruction and development began, and gradually San Francisco acquired its modern appearance.
City population
The population of San Francisco is about 815 thousand people, while the city ranks second in the country in population density after. More than 40% of residents have higher education, which makes competition in the labor market very significant. The average income level here is quite high, and due to high prices for housing and food, the cost of living in San Francisco is quite high.
The city is known throughout the world for its tolerance towards people with non-traditional sexual orientation. According to statistics, about 15% of the population of San Francisco belongs to the gay community - this is the highest figure in the world.
Transport
Public transport in San Francisco is very popular among residents - up to 35% of the population use its services daily. The city's public transportation network is considered to be the best on the West Coast, including above-ground and underground light rail, buses, trolleys, a commuter rail network, as well as a ferry service and the famous historic cable car.
San Francisco's light metro (light rail) or buses are often crowded, but this is perhaps the best way to travel around the city for tourists. In any case, it is not recommended to rent a car - endless traffic jams, narrow streets and expensive parking are unlikely to bring much pleasure.
Main attractions
The main attraction of San Francisco, its calling card, is the Golden Gate Bridge - one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. The length of the bridge is just under 2 kilometers, the height above the water level is 67 meters.
Also very popular is Golden Gate Park, a beautiful oasis of greenery in the middle of a big city, stretching five kilometers in length and ending at Ocean Beach. This beach, by the way, runs along another park, symbolically nicknamed “Lands End”. This place is the most extreme point of the continental land in the direction of rotation of our planet; the New Year comes here last.
On one of the islands near San Francisco there is the famous Alcatraz prison, familiar to many from the movie “The Rock”. In the past, this was one of the harshest prisons for especially dangerous criminals; only a few managed to escape from here. Today the prison is not used for its intended purpose and has been turned into a museum; you can get here from San Francisco by ferry from Pier 33.
On the west coast of the United States, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, is located the most liberal city in America - San Francisco, California.
A tourist center, a financial hub, the hippie capital of the world, the creator of computer and biomedical technologies, a beautiful city - unite in one metropolis, creating a unique atmosphere of everyday life, relaxation and communication.
It has the highest standard of living, the coldest fogs and the largest number of homosexuals. All this makes the city unique, unforgettable, arousing the interest of any tourist, deservedly receiving the name “Pearl of the West Coast.”
general information
The city of San Francisco dates back 239 years. The date of its foundation is considered to be 1776, when the Spaniards founded a fort named after the Catholic Saint Francis on the coast. The small village that formed nearby was called Yerba Buzna (or Good Grass). Since then, the city has undergone several fundamental changes and turned into a large populated center.
The first event that caused the city's population to grow 70 times was the California Gold Rush. Within three years of the gold rush, the population of 500 exploded to 35,000.
Then the city was destroyed by a strong earthquake (in 1906) and rebuilt. 60 years later, San Francisco has become the center of the hippie movement and the territory of sexual freedom.
Today's San Francisco is a city of almost a million people with a high population density. 880 thousand inhabitants are settled on 120 square kilometers of land. It is the second most densely populated city in America (after).
Population
San Francisco is one of the most diverse. Among the city's population live 50% Europeans, 34% Chinese, 6% African Americans, and only 0.5% Indians. The remaining 10% are Hispanic.
Among the city's resident population there is the largest percentage of homosexuals in America (15% is the maximum for the continent). And the smallest number of children in the overall population (less than in neighboring cities, by 14%).
Almost half of the residents of the Northern Fleet have higher education. That's tightening the job market, driving up prices and making the city one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States.
The city of San Francisco is the tourist center of California. The number of visitors per year exceeds 17 million tourists. Income from the tourism sector exceeds income from any other type of activity (genetic engineering, computer technology, banking trading). Therefore, the city has established and functioning public transport, a system of hotels, restaurants and entertainment.
City districts
Modern San Francisco was built up after the destruction of 1906 (when a strong earthquake occurred). Therefore, the city streets have a clear architectural plan. Only the historical center (or Old Town) with winding but very picturesque streets is distinguished by an illogical development system.
The city on the peninsula has 40 districts. Among them, the most popular among tourists are Fisherman’s Wharf, Embankment, Central Square, and ethnic quarters.
Fishermans Wharf invites you to the Marine Historical Park, to Pier 39 with souvenir shops and seals living on it, to the Aquarium, as well as to the seaport building with a tower and an ancient clock at the top. The building houses a shopping center and a marine terminal.
The next tourist mecca is Central Union Square. There are many shops and hotels here.
An area of round-the-clock festivities and entertainment welcomes tourists on the Embankment.
Financial buildings (the Financial District or "FiDi") are located in downtown San Francisco. Here are banking skyscrapers and headquarters.
Ethnic neighborhoods are areas where exclusively immigrants live and work. The Italian area of North Beach is today a place of nightlife with clubs and bars. Nearby is a picturesque tower on top of Telegraph Hill (Telegraph Hill area).
Chinatown or Chinatown is a place where the Chinese settled. The Chinese New Year Parade is held here every year. By the way, the population of Chinatown is growing every year.
Other Asians live in Sunset. Richmond is called the new Chinatown and is teeming with Russian emigrants.
The largest number of museums is concentrated in South of Market (SoMa).
Nob Hill is a prestigious and expensive place for wealthy citizens to live. The most expensive hotels are located here.
Another upscale neighborhood is called Russian Hill, although most Russian emigrants live in Richmond.
In addition, there is the punk and hippie district of Haight-Ashbury and the gay district of the Castro.
Climate and weather
San Francisco's climate is different from the rest of California. You can't sunbathe here like in Los Angeles or bask in the sun like in Florida. The city is located south of Sochi, at the latitude of Central Asia and Ashgabat. However, summer temperatures rarely exceed 25?C. This is due to the cold Pacific current and frequent fogs.
Baker Beach
The coast in the vicinity of the city is inconvenient for sea swimming; there is cool water (in summer - no higher than +15? C) and strong surf. Surfing is complicated by underwater currents.
The coastline along San Francisco is lined with beaches. However, you can sunbathe and soak up the sun not every day. Even in sunny weather, a cold ocean wind can blow.
A characteristic feature of the climate is that there are no large temperature fluctuations. In September, during the day the air warms up to +25?C, and at night it cools down to +16?C. In January, the temperature during the day is +13?C, and at night +8?C.
The average temperature of the summer months is colder than July in Moscow. But at the same time, there are no frosts in San Francisco, and winter represents the rainy season, not the cold season. Snow is such a rare phenomenon that its occurrence has been recorded several times over the course of decades.
The foggiest weather in San Francisco is in August-September (the temperature difference between air and water reaches its maximum). November marks the beginning of the rainy season. At this time, visiting the city is not so interesting. Therefore, most visitors appear here at the end of March or beginning of April, when winter precipitation ends. One of the best periods to visit the city is April and May. Dry, warm and little fog.
How to get to San Francisco
There is no direct flight Moscow - San Francisco, you can get to Los Angeles (ticket price - 45,000 rubles, travel time - 16-18 hours) or New York.
The second option for air travel is to make a transfer in London (the cost of the entire flight is 64,000 rubles, duration is about 20 hours), Helsinki (40,000 rubles and 20 hours) or Istanbul (35,000 rubles, 21 hours).
Find cheap flight tickets Moscow-San Francisco:
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San Francisco International Airport is located 22 kilometers from the city. Its short name is SFO(according to the code on the ticket). To get from SFO to San Francisco, you can take a taxi, minibus, or BART subway car.
You can also use a minibus or a group taxi (shuttle). The cost of such a move is from $12 to $25 per person.
The city's attractions
Time flies by in San Francisco. I want to do everything, see everything, go everywhere. You can start exploring the city right at the entrance to the peninsula through a unique suspension bridge.
Connected the city with the opposite shore of the bay. In any weather it presents a stunning spectacle. Its length is 2.8 km. The length of each span is 1.3 km. The height above the water is almost 70 m.
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
In addition to the bridge, San Francisco offers picturesque hills, charming parks and unusual museums.
Hills
The number of hills on which the city is located exceeds 50 (the height of each of them is more than 30 meters). Hills, fog and a suspension bridge represent the hallmark of San Francisco. The height of the most impressive hill reaches 280 m, this is Davidson Hill. There is a large cross 30 m high on it.
Among the hills, the twins are the most visited Twin Peaks. They are located in the center of residential areas and allow you to admire the panorama of the entire city.
Grand Cross on Davidson Hill in San Francisco 
Twin Peaks in San Francisco
Parks
The next group of city attractions are parks and green areas. Golden Gate Park stretches 5 km from the coast deep into the peninsula, here there are only artificial plantings.
There is Land's End Park, Lincoln Park and the parkland of the former Presidio military installation. The oldest park in the city is called Buena Vista; it was founded on one of the hills in 1867.
Islands
The most famous and notable island is a former prison. This Alcatraz- a maximum security prison for dangerous criminals. Today Alcatraz is open to the public as a museum.
Alcatraz - former prison island
The second notable island is named after Angels. This is a former migration camp area where military houses, ancient trees, wild animals and natural beauty have been preserved.
Museums
The number of museums in San Francisco exceeds 30. Among them: the Museum of Cable Cars, Contemporary Art, Science (Exloratorium), Ophthalmology, Mechanics, Tattoos and UFOs.
San Francisco Cable Car Museum 
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 
The Exploratorium is an interactive science museum in San Francisco, California, USA. 
San Francisco Tattoo Museum
As well as a number of national museums: Mexican, Asian, African, Jewish. And also - the Russian Cultural Center.
You can easily explore the city of San Francisco on foot, sometimes using public transport. Car parking here is expensive, road traffic is unusual, with traffic jams and difficult maneuvers. Therefore, if you want to see the sights and not traffic jams, use buses or the old cable tram.
Where to stay in the city
The most inexpensive hotels in San Francisco are located near the international airport. In addition, they provide free bus services to the airport.
However, most hotels are located in the city. Living in them makes it possible to travel on foot or by public transport, with minimal travel costs. The largest concentration of hotels is in the center (Downtown and Union Square). The main shopping spots are also concentrated here.
Crab restaurants greet visitors in the coastal areas (Marina and Fisherman's Wharf). There are also many hotels of different levels of comfort and prices.
Fewer hotels on Russian Hill. Specific hotels in San Francisco are in the Castro district (district of sexual minorities).
In addition to hotels, there is a widely operating hostel system. This is a budget accommodation where comfort is offered for less money. Here you can rent a separate room or a separate bed.
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How to call to San Francisco?
San Francisco Area Code +1 415 , where the first digit "1"— USA country code. When calling from a mobile phone, the combination is dialed +1415 , after which the subscriber's number is dialed (7 digits). To call from a landline, dial the intercity access code (8), then the international call code (0 or 10), and only then the combination 1 415 and a seven-digit phone number.
To successfully make a call from Moscow, you need to correctly determine the time in America. The clock in San Francisco differs from the clock in Moscow by more than half a day. To find out what time it is in San Francisco now, you need to subtract 15 hours from Moscow time.
San Francisco is a city of eccentrics and experimenters, gays and businessmen. He can delight, he can attract with freedom or irritate with tolerance, but he will never leave a person indifferent. The pearl of the coast, the misty hills of California, the most romantic city in America.
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If you think San Francisco is all about the Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars, you're right, it is. However, in addition to these well-known symbols, the city has a rich history, beautiful architecture, but the main thing that its residents are proud of is the unofficial title of the freest city in the world, which San Francisco proudly wears. At different times, in some amazing way it became a center of attraction for adventurers and out-of-the-box thinkers - it is no coincidence that the hippie movement was born here. 
The Golden Gate Bridge is the "hallmark" of San Francisco Understanding why this city is the “freest” is not so difficult if you remember the history of San Francisco. Indians lived on its territory for tens of thousands of years, but in 1776 the Spaniards arrived here. At that time the settlement was called Yerba Buena. In 1848, the city began to rapidly develop and grow - mainly due to the Gold Rush epidemic that covered these places; It was then that it received its modern name. In just a year, the population of San Francisco increased from 1,000 to 25,000 people; people came here from all over the world in search of work, but especially many people from China. China Town still occupies a significant part of the city; a fifth of San Francisco's population is Chinese.
In 1906, the city was almost destroyed by a strong earthquake, during which three thousand people died and another 300 thousand were left homeless. However, over time it was restored. In the 80s of the last century, there was another devastating earthquake in the city, which destroyed the highway that ran along the embankment. By the way, they didn’t restore it, but now the city has a wonderful walking area.
Today, San Francisco is one of the most vibrant cities in America, home to many cultures and nationalities. The hippie revolution that happened here in the late 60s of the last century turned it into a center of attraction for creative, unconventional and free-thinking people. Some of them are still here today - those who took part in the Summer of Love festival in 1967, speaking on the side of the sexual revolution and proclaiming personal freedom as the highest good a person can have.
Participants of the Summer of Love festival in San Francisco
San Francisco, late 60s In the 1980s, San Francisco once again became an epicenter of dissent, this time thanks to homosexuals who first felt free here. Today, almost 15 percent of the city's residents are representatives of sexual minorities - this is more than in any other city in the world. By the way, it was here, in the gay quarter of Castro, that the symbol of the LGBT community once appeared - the rainbow flag. Harvey Milk, the first American politician to openly declare his sexuality, also lived here. However, adherents of traditional love feel no less free here.
To get to know San Francisco, a couple of days is not enough - this place is worth spending at least a week here.
Marina Savelyeva (HELLO.RU) “grabbed” the symbol of the city - the cable tram Most travelers first rush to see the main attraction captured on every postcard - the Golden Gate Bridge. However, the bridge is far from the most interesting thing in this city. What is truly surprising here are the people. Elderly hippies, street musicians, gays and married couples with children do not interfere with each other at all, living side by side.
Dolores Park in San Francisco In addition to walking, during which it is best to get to know the townspeople, renting housing from local residents will also help you get closer to the city. Instead of checking into hotels located in the tourist center of the city, it is much better to opt for one of the options available in abundance on the Airbnb website and spend a week in a regular residential area.
Haight-Ashbury area.
This is one of the most interesting areas of the city. Firstly, one of the few neighborhoods that were not destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Accordingly, Haight-Ashbury retains ancient buildings dating back to the 19th century. Secondly, this particular area is considered the birthplace of hippies. In the 50s of the 20th century, one could buy the cheapest housing in the city here, which provoked an influx of representatives of countercultures. As a result, in 1967, the center of this “movement” was formed here - thousands of people from all over the world celebrated the “Summer of Love”. By the 1980s, it had already become part of history, and now Haight-Ashbury is considered a fairly prestigious area to live in. Artists and musicians live here, next to hippies, who can still be found here. While walking around Haight-Ashbury, don’t be afraid to turn into alleys - there you can see a lot of bright graffiti that is painted on the walls of houses. Most of them are original slogans with the help of which “flower children,” just like 50 years ago, call for love and freedom. By the way, graffiti is not only in this area, there is a lot of it throughout the city.
Graffiti depicting Carlos Santana, who lived in San Francisco
Graffiti in San Francisco takes up entire streets
An area where for every square meter there is a symbol of the LGBT community. Rainbow flags can be seen in every window, all souvenirs in stores have the same symbols. Even the crosswalk in Castro is colorful! And this is not just like that. Castro is a gay neighborhood.
LGBT symbols are everywhere in the Castro area
Entire generations of people free from prejudice have grown up in San Francisco.
However, you shouldn’t expect to be surrounded by scantily clad men on the streets, standing up for their right to love each other. Residents of this area have not been proving anything to anyone for a long time - they just live. If it weren’t for the multi-colored flags (which mostly appeared here in support of the recently passed law in the United States allowing representatives of sexual minorities to enter into legal marriage), you would hardly immediately understand how this area differs from others. Perhaps after a couple of hours, sitting in a cafe or standing in line at the checkout in a store, you would involuntarily catch yourself thinking that there are mostly men around. 
Chinatown
As already mentioned, a fifth of San Francisco's population is Chinese. They are mostly descendants of immigrants who arrived here in the 19th century in search of work. However, if you decide to get around the city by taxi, every other driver will be Chinese and will most likely speak terrible English. During the earthquake, China Town was destroyed and then completely rebuilt. Today the district occupies a fairly large area in the city.
Lombard Street
The steepest street in the city in every sense, one section of which has an inclination angle of 27 degrees. The speed of vehicles here is limited to 8 km/h, but no one tries to go faster: mostly tourists come to Lombard Street who want to take a closer look at the street and therefore are in no hurry to pass quickly.
Vintage shops
For lovers of vintage and flea markets, San Francisco is a real paradise. In the numerous shops located throughout the city, you can find anything from designer jewelry for $2-3 to a spectacular leather chair from the 50s for $80.
Decades of fashion - one of the largest stores with vintage items
Showcase of the Decades of fashion store: here you can buy both real antique clothing items and modern ones, made in an antique style.
A dress with history can be bought for $30
And a real vintage bathing suit - for $15
Silicon Valley
In the southwest of San Francisco lies Silicon Valley (or Silicon Valley, as we call it) - the largest technology center in the world. It is home to technical universities and the head offices of Adobe, Apple, eBay, Google, Facebook, Oracle, Yahoo!, LinkedIn and many other companies. The staff includes some of the best scientists in the world, many of whom reside in San Francisco. If you have the opportunity to visit any of these offices, go - you won't regret it. The internal structure of organizations is unusual and interesting. Airbnb was also founded in San Francisco in 2008 and is headquartered here.
After walking the streets and observing the life of local residents, you can go on “spot” excursions - visit the famous Pier 39, where dozens of sea lions rest, and have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. The best view of the city opens from Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. At a height of 210 meters, you can take excellent panoramic pictures of the city; entry to the tower is free, but you will have to pay to go to the observation deck.
The famous Pier 39 is a favorite place for sea lions
Another place that it would be criminal not to visit when arriving in San Francisco is the famous Alcatraz prison. It is located on the island of the same name, which can be seen from the pier. Now the prison has been disbanded, within the walls of the gloomy buildings there is a museum that reminds visitors that at the beginning of the 20th century there was one of the strictest prisons in the world, where especially dangerous criminals served their sentences. The narrow windows of the cells were positioned in such a way that the prisoners could see the city and free life in it, realizing even more clearly that it was now inaccessible to them. It is believed that not a single prisoner managed to escape from Alcatraz, although attempts were made. Even those who managed to leave its walls could not reach the shore alive due to the cold waters and strong currents in the bay.
View of the island and Alcatraz prison from Coit Tower
It's also worth taking a look at the Painted Ladies, six colorful houses in the Alamo Square area. These and several thousand more houses were built in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. The earthquake destroyed most of the buildings, but these six houses remained intact. The fashion for bright, colorful houses at the end of the 19th century was widespread, local newspapers even wrote that if someone's house does not have a lemon or, for example, bright blue tint, then its owner simply has no taste. Following these houses, also called the "Six Sisters", "Painted Ladies" began to be called the colorful houses of the Victorian era throughout America.
And finally, about the Golden Gate. This red bridge, almost 2.5 kilometers long, is a symbol of San Francisco. Despite the beauty of the object, it has a rather dark reputation. People called the Golden Gate the “suicide bridge”, because over the almost 80 years of its existence, more than 1,000 people said goodbye to their lives with its help. The thick fog that envelops the bridge most of the time looks impressive and mysterious on postcards, but in real life it can make it difficult to see the bridge. So when planning a trip to Golden Gate, be sure to check the weather forecast.
Marina Savelyeva (HELLO.RU)
A few more tips:
1. For the USA, San Francisco has a well-developed public transport system, but local residents prefer to travel by car. So when planning a trip, be prepared to spend $30 to $50 a day on a 20-minute round trip. Or you can travel by bus, it will cost you 5-7 dollars per day, but a taxi is, of course, more convenient and faster.
2. Getting around the city will be easier if you use Uber taxi services. In American Uber, everything is exactly the same as in Russian, and you don’t even have to reinstall the application on your phone - it will simply adapt to the country on the spot. However, there is one caveat: in America, Uber includes a Pool function, by selecting which you can take a travel companion along the way and split the bill in half with him.
3. Writer Jack London was born in San Francisco, actors Robin Williams and Savely Kramarov lived here, and the houses of Carlos Santana and Steven Spielberg are still located here to this day. Find out where they lived in advance so you can see the city through their eyes.
The city and county of San Francisco lie in the central part of the Pacific coast of California, at the northern tip of the peninsula of the same name, which borders the bay of the same name from the sea. This is perhaps the most beautiful and certainly the most liberal city in the USA, which has its own personality and its own style, not least determined by the picturesque local landscapes and frequent fogs that cover half the city.
Despite its far from small size (the total area of the city is about 600 sq. km), San Francisco is quite compact, hilly and bears little resemblance to the huge, chaotic Los Angeles. Considerable “merit” for this goes to the devastating earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906 (the fires caused by tremors raged for three days), after which the city was rebuilt almost anew according to a clear architectural plan. Many of the city's structures, which still define its face, were built within the framework of this development, from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s.
Sights of San Francisco
The historic center of Frisco, as Americans often call it, lies in the hilly northeastern part of the peninsula and differs from the “big city” precisely in its almost complete lack of layout - many of its streets are so winding and illogically laid out, have such a large difference in elevation that they themselves themselves are quite good attractions (a typical example of this is Lombard Street on Russian Hill). Currently, the Old City is located within the business center with its skyscrapers and offices and is framed along the entire perimeter by ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown, North Beach And Telegraph Hill(Italian neighborhoods) Russian Hill, Mission District(African Americans and people from Latin America live here), Richmond(often called “New Chinatown”, but many Russian emigrants also live here), Sunset(immigrants from Asian countries) and other colorful areas.
The tourist center of the city is Union Square- an ever-noisy center of shops and hotels, flower sellers and homeless people. The famous cable cars run down the western side of the square to Aquatic Park, Washington Street, Chinatown And Financial District, or up - to Mark or to the Hopkins Hotel. Picturesque SoMa area(South Market Street) links the tall office complexes of downtown and the quaint neighborhoods along Embarcadero with an area of galleries and museums always crowded with tourists around Yerba Buena Gardens or nightclubs Eleventh Street. In the territory Fisherman-Warf(the foot of Russian Hill) with its rather kitschy shopping district is located The Wax Museum, and the pier itself is the gateway to such famous monuments of the city as the island Alcatraz prison, Maritime Museum And Historic Pier.
The city's attractions include the famous Golden Gate Bridge(“Golden Gate”, 1937, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world - each of its spans is 1280 m long) and the nearby park of the same name (1017 acres) with botanical Stribing-Arbotherium gardens, a charming Japanese garden, Young Museum of Fine Arts and the tallest man-made waterfall in the western states; and also under construction New Bay Bridge, which will be the most advanced structure of its kind in the world, which is not surprising considering that its 160-meter supports will be located in the most seismically dangerous place in the city, exactly in the middle between the San Andreas and Hayward tectonic faults, and the 560-meter span will be supported on just one support.
Museums of San Francisco
Also widely known Alcatraz prison island(used in this role from 1933 to 1963), Montgomery Street villa district, Market Street business center, Mount Tamalpas(770 m) with a magnificent panorama of the city and the bay opening from its tops, the building Var-Memory Opera House(1932), Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) on South Market, Cable Car Museum(covers the history of another local landmark - the famous San Francisco streetcars, or cable cars, whose history goes back 130 years), Russian cultural center(1939) in the Richmond area, Mexican Museum, Asian Art Museum in the San Francisco library complex, Science Museum Exploratorium, zoo in Bueno Vista Park near Lake Merced, Angel Island(a former filtration camp during the Second World War, and today a popular place for walking tours and picnics), the complex American Conservatory and theater (ACT), International Women's Museum, African Museum and many other unusual collections, as well as the vibrant Castro District and the famous High Ashbury, or Haight, area, considered the birthplace of the hippie movement.
Beach holiday in San Francisco
The ocean shores around San Francisco cannot be considered an ideal place for a sea holiday - there is quite strong surf, complex currents and fairly cool water, the temperature of which in the summer months does not exceed 15°C. Swimming at many city beaches is not recommended; on some, it is officially prohibited, as evidenced by prohibitory signs. The beaches of San Francisco are foggy even during the summer months.
Within the Golden Gate Park you can find many good places for swimming and active pastime, and on the territory of Baker Beach (east of Golden Gate) you can quite safely swim and relax all summer.
When going to sunbathe and swim on the San Francisco coast, it is better to take a windproof jacket or sweatshirt with you; The winds here can be cool even in the summer months.
Water sports enthusiasts should be aware of strong undercurrents. Surfing along the San Francisco coast is an option for experienced athletes, but not for beginners.
Most of the city's beaches do not allow drinking alcoholic beverages; The local police enforce the rule.
Beaches
Luxurious beach Ocean Beach, stretching 3.5 miles along San Francisco's west coast, is used more for running and beach sports. Swimming on the beach is not recommended due to the large waves, ideal for experienced surfers. Ocean Beach has showers, cafes, volleyball courts and play areas. Drinking alcoholic beverages on the coast is prohibited. Lighting fires is allowed, but the group must not exceed 25 people. The most secluded section of the coast is in the south. There is no parking along the beach.
Rodeo– The best beach for kids in San Francisco is just under a mile long. Swimming is prohibited here due to pollution of the lagoon. The pebble beach is equipped with showers, picnic tables with places for making fires; Alcohol is prohibited on the coast. There are no cafes, restaurants or food stores nearby; You should take everything you need with you. Due to its location and open space, Rodeo is popular with kite flyers. In the northern part of the beach you can find small multi-colored pebbles; orange ones are most common.
From the beach Baker, popular among fishing enthusiasts, offers beautiful views of the Golden Gate. The coastline is equipped with showers, picnic tables and toilets. There is free parking, but on weekends you should arrive before ten to grab a free space. To the north is the nudist beach North Baker.
On a small beach China, located in the prestigious Seacliff area, it is much easier to meet locals than tourists. The waves on the coast are calmer than on Ocean Beach. Due to its sheltered location, China Bay is one of the few safe places to swim in San Francisco, but be mindful of the tides; their schedule can be found on the beach. Lifeguards are on duty from April to October. There are picnic tables and barbecue areas; You must bring your own food and drinks. Entry to the beach with animals is prohibited.
Nudist beaches
The largest nudist beach in the USA North Baker located in northwest San Francisco. The coast is an art platform for freelance artists; It is always noisy here and ethnic music is playing. There are areas for beach volleyball. Picnic tables are located a short distance from the coast; Alcohol and drinks in glass containers are prohibited. There are no restaurants or shops near the coast; You should take everything you need with you. The entrance to North Baker is just past the sign warning of dangerous surf.
Beach Land's End is located in the city park of the same name and is considered one of the most picturesque nudist beaches on the west coast of the United States. It's better to come early: the beach gets crowded in the afternoon. The coast is rocky in places. There are strong winds at Land's End, so even in summer it is worth taking a warm jacket with you.
Beach Fort Funston unofficially considered nudist. However, on weekends there are quite a lot of tourists and locals who prefer to sunbathe and swim with their clothes on. There are fewer people on weekdays, and on these days Fort Funston lives up to its status. In May and October it is very windy on the coast. The beach is also popular with hang gliding enthusiasts.
Hotels in San Francisco
In total, San Francisco has more than two hundred hotels, including guest houses, mini and boutique hotels, as well as luxury hotel complexes of international hotel chains - Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and Ritz-Carlton.
Resort hotels are located primarily near the Pacific coast, either directly on the beach or across the street from it. Most hotels have a swimming pool, spa or beauty salon, restaurant and golf courses.
How to get there
You can get to San Francisco from Moscow with direct flights from Delta Air Lines. Travel time – from 17 hours. Also with Lufthansa, Aeroflot or Air France with a transfer in Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles or Paris. Travel time – from 20 hours.
One of the most beautiful and popular cities in the world among tourists is located in the state of California, USA. Despite the crowds and thanks to its location near the water, the abundance of parks and hilly terrain, you rarely see more than a few blocks at once. In San Francisco, you always feel as if you are in a small town, and not in the center of a metropolis where more than 4 million people live.
Video: San Francisco
Basic moments
Many famous films were filmed in San Francisco, some of the most recognizable being Escape from Alcatraz and The Rock. San Francisco consistently ranks among the most visited cities in the United States. Just one visit and you will remember the famous lines: “I left my heart in San Francisco.”
Quite compact and the fourth largest city in California, San Francisco occupies only 18 km², making it the most densely populated city in America after New York. Despite this, its location near the water, hills and many parks make the city seem not so small.
The main feature of the city is the frightening and charming steepness of the streets at the same time. The first time you find yourself in San Francisco, you will definitely ask the question “how can everything be built so vertically when you can’t find a horizontal section longer than 100 meters in the city?” This city is not located on the hills, no, it is located on earthen waves, some of which can easily compete in steepness with the sea’s “ninth wave”, leaving far behind the most sophisticated “Roller Coasters”. Renting a car will make you feel like a surfing hero.
You can safely forget about the gas pedal in San Francisco; the main thing is to take care of timely braking. You have to brake often. You can start laughing, since the figurative meaning of braking willy-nilly will accompany you, especially the first hours of getting to know the city and its habits as a driver.
Whether you're looking for sightseeing, dining, culture and history, exercise, or simply enjoying the views, you'll love San Francisco.
San Franciscans openly love their way of life, and at every turn you find confirmation of their assurances that this is “the city everyone loves.” The very location on the hills around the bay makes it an unusually cozy place; There is an invigorating freshness in the air, and even the sea fog covering the city gives it not an ominous, but a romantic coloring, while the haze creeping over Twin Peaks, enveloping the Golden Gate Bridge or Golden Gate Park creates a bewitching view.
Psychedelic drugs, innovative technologies, gay rights, environmental movements, freedom of speech and gastronomic experiments have all become commonplace in San Francisco a long time ago. After one hundred and sixty years of ups and downs, the favorite pastime of the locals has become the Rebel Run with very liberal views on clothing, gay pride parades and idleness on Baker Beach on hot sunny days. It’s not customary to be shy here: in a crowd of eccentrics of all stripes, no one will notice traces of a swimsuit. Goodbye, prohibitions. Hello San Francisco.
Sights of San Francisco
All the sights of San Francisco
Story
Until 1848, the tables of the inhabitants of the Mexican settlement of San Francisco included, at best, oysters and acorn bread - but only a year and a few gold nuggets later, these tables were already laden with champagne and Chinese stew. Thanks to gold discovered in the neighboring foothills of the Sierra Nevada, a coastal village with eight hundred inhabitants turned into a port city of one hundred thousand, where miners, swindlers, prostitutes and honest people tried to earn their conscience - and only luck could tell who was who. A friendly bartender might slip drugs into your glass and you'd wake up a mile offshore, on some ship that was taking you off to slavery in Argentina.
By 1850, California had been taken from Mexico and hastily annexed to the United States, and San Francisco attempted to subjugate two hundred saloons and an untold number of brothels and gambling establishments. When Australia flooded the gold markets in 1854, panic ensued and an absurd fury descended upon the Chinese community of San Francisco. From 1877 to 1945, the United States had anti-Chinese laws that limited the rights of Chinese Americans to live and work in Chinatown. The main way to pay off debts was to build railroads, dangerous because of the bandits and thieves who mined the tracks, blew them up with dynamite to clear the way to the Golden West, and built magnificent mansions in Nob Hill above Chinatown.
The city's considerable ambitions and more than 20 theaters were destroyed in 1906, after an earthquake, when a terrible fire claimed the lives of three thousand people and left one hundred thousand homeless. Much of the city turned to dust - including almost all of Nob Hill's mansions. Theater companies and opera divas performed downtown among the smoldering ruins, beginning a tradition of free public concerts in parks.
In the 1930s, ambitious public projects continued as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and government-funded muralists brought influences from leftist politics into painting, as can be seen in some 400 murals in the Mission District.
The Second World War brought global changes to the city. Women and African Americans working in the San Francisco shipyards sparked a new economic boom. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Emergency Order 9066 authorized the forced removal of the city's historic Japanese American community. What followed was a forty-year trial that ended with an unprecedented apology from the American government. San Francisco became a testing ground for civil rights and free speech when, in 1957, beat poet Lawrence Ferlingeggi fought a court ban on the publication of Allen Ginsburg's marvelous, incendiary work, Howl and Other Poems.
US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hoped that an experimental drug called LSD would turn test subject Ken Kesey into a fighting machine, a fighter without rules, but instead, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest got his friends hooked on LSD and thereby ushered in the era of the psychedelic 60s. The "Summer of Love" meant freedom in food, love and music in the Haight-Ashbury until the '70s, when enterprising gay hippies founded the Castro (Castro) gay community. In the 1980s, San Francisco witnessed the devastating toll of AIDS, but the city rallied and showed the world how to treat and prevent the disease.
In the mid-1990s, geeks and cyberpunks gathered in San Francisco. They created the Internet, giving rise to the dot-com boom - until the bubble burst in 2000. However, San Francisco loves risks and continues to launch new ideas. And while recession reigns elsewhere, the city is developing social media, mobile applications and biotechnology
What to see and try
San Francisco's forty-three hills and over eighty museums will keep your feet and your imagination busy with (literally) breathtaking scenery. The 11.2 x 11.2 km city is built on a conservative plan, but its main street, Market Street, heretically diagonal. All downtown attractions are located near Market Street, but be very careful and prudent, especially around the South of Market areas (SoMa) and Tenderloin (between 5th St and 9th St). The main historical attractions are located in the Mission district, and the most interesting of the newest ones are in Golden Gate Park.
San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest Chinese community outside of China, begins at the entrance to the ornate colored gates at Bush and Stockton streets. There are a great variety of tea shops and groceries, shops selling the most incredible trinkets, pharmacies, restaurants, bakeries, flower stalls and markets where they sell animals, a veritable sea of people splashing around and a cacophony of exotic sounds and aromas raging.
Not far from Chinatown is North Beach, which is called “Little Italy”. Poets Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac loved to come here and perform at the City Light bookstore. There is Washington Square Park with a wonderful church, street fairs, and many restaurants with authentic Italian cuisine and coffee shops where you can refresh yourself before continuing your walk.
From nearby Fisherman's Wharf, where sea lions can be seen, ferry rides to Alcatraz, the world's most secure prison where the world's hardest criminals were once imprisoned, and a visit to historic Angel Island, home to a national park. From here you can also go to two fashionable coastal resorts - Sausalito and Tiburon.
On the slope of Russian Hill is located one of the most crooked streets in the world - Lombard Street. The slope of this small and winding street is 27%, so traffic is one-way and limited to eight kilometers per hour.
The Embarcadero, a tree-lined, palm-lined boulevard near the new ferry building, is home to organic fairs, some of the most incredible restaurants, bars and shops, all somewhat reminiscent of European train stations. Stop here and spend the morning sampling the best local cheeses, fruits and breads before heading to Golden Gate Park. Often shrouded in fog, the park is famous for its beautiful botanical garden, ponds and lakes. Golden Gate Park is home to a museum and one of the best botanical gardens in the world, and is a great place for a picnic. A herd of bison also lives here.
On the edge of the park is Haight-Ashbury, another colorful area where hippies of the 1960s and 1970s made free love. Teenagers and organic café regulars still hang out here, so a walk around the Haight feels like traveling back in time.
Another well-known district is the Castro, home to much of the city's gay population, and is also known for its abundance of cafes and many small art galleries.
In front of the Letterman Digital Arts Center is Marina Green, a location famous for its golf courses, running trails and beautiful beach, which offers the most spectacular views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge.
Be sure to visit Alcatraz Island and the prison that is said to be impossible to escape from. Be sure to take a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge, just go there on a sunny day.
The Museum of Modern Art is housed in a stunning building in the South of Market, while the Palace of Fine Arts is in Pacific Heights and also houses a popular science museum. The Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park is interesting for its European paintings. Other museums include the Museum of the African Diaspora, the History of San Francisco, Crafts and Folk Art, Mexican, Chinese, and Jewish Culture.
Take a ride on the cable cars—starting at Fisherman's Landing or Union Square and ascending to the wealthy mansions of Nob Hill.
Other attractions include the luxury Fairmont, Huntington and Mark Hopkins hotels, fine boutique shopping in the Marina/Cow Hollow area, and Fillmore Street, which goes up, up, up - past the mansions of the rich and famous. city residents.
The best way to see the city from afar is to take the scenic Mile 49 Highway, passing through parks and beaches to discover many historical and scenic attractions. You should also definitely take a ride on one of the famous trams, so don't forget to bring your camera!
Hills of San Francisco
San Francisco is famous for its 40 hills. Getting to know Nob Hill (by cable car from Powell Street or California Street)(by bus) and Russian Hill (on a cable car) will give you a complete picture of the past and present luxury of wealthy citizens.
The majestic Victorian buildings of the Nob Hill residential area, where the nabobs, that is, the nouveau riche, lived, were destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, sparing only the luxurious brown sandstone mansion of James Flood, which now houses the prestigious Pacific Union Club. You won't get there, but you can (with a sedate look) check out two notable hotels: Fairmount and Mark-Hopkins. The latter houses a bar with a 360-degree view; ordering an overly expensive drink is worth the view, especially at sunset, and the bartenders will not let you down with a cocktail.
The climb to Telegraph Hill is justified by the breathtaking view from the observation deck of Coit Tower. The tower, built in 1934 in honor of the firefighters of the local fire station with money bequeathed by the local widow Lillie Hitchcock Coit, was supposed to resemble a fire hose in its appearance.
Russian Hill is not as luxurious as the other two, but its gardens and neat houses look very nice. The name comes from the Russian colony that settled here. The humpback streets of San Francisco reach their highest point on Lombard Street, between Leavenworth and Hyde streets. Once you've navigated the dizzying ups and downs of the winding street with its seven hairpin bends, you won't mind that it's the world's crookedest street.
A convenient means of transportation through the hills of San Francisco is the famous cable car. This is the most pleasant form of transport in the city, since from here you can admire the local views slowly unfolding before you. Night trips are especially romantic. The routes are shortened at this time, and the night environment is especially enchanting. Cars run until 22.00.
The funicular first started operating in 1873, and one of the carriages of that time is now in the Cable Car Museum (Cable-Car Museum; Washington and Mason streets), which is also the control room of the operating cable car. The hand-built carriages are constantly being refurbished and repaired, so don't be surprised if a line doesn't work. It is forbidden to enter the ice cream car due to the shaking of the road, so as not to dirty the passengers.
Festivals and events
Chinese New Year Parade
Chase a 200-foot dragon and see costumed dancers and kung fu kids in February. Details at www.chineseparade.com
San Francisco International Film Festival
Every April, stars and directors begin their premieres at the country's oldest film festival. Details at www.sffs.org
Rebel Run
Take part in the race (in a suit or naked) from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach on the third Sunday in May as runners in pink make their way. Registration for the race will cost $44-48. More details at www.baytobreakers.com
Carnival
Are they Brazilians or fake tan and oil? Shake things up at the Mission the last weekend in May. More details www.carnavalsf.com
Gay Pride in San Francisco
One day for pride is not enough: June begins with the International LGBT Film Festival (International LGBT Film Festival; www.frameline.org) and ends in style with the Dyke March (Dyke March; www.dykemarch.org) on “Pink Saturday” of the last weekend and a crazy gay pride parade for thousands of people (www.sfpride.org).
Do not miss
- Coit Tower.
- Cable trams.
- Drive to Auckland across the bay.
Should know
- Don't call the city "Frisco", the locals don't like it.
- San Francisco is considered the gay capital of the world.
Hotel deals
Excursions from San Francisco
Bay area
North of San Francisco, at the southern end of Marin County, are two cute port towns, Sausalito and Tiburon, accessible either by car via the Golden Gate Bridge or by ferry. The quietest of them is Tiburon, although it also has a vibrant Mediterranean atmosphere. Nearby, you can see the famous giant sequoias that stand like a wall in Muir Woods National Park. Some trees are a thousand years old and reach 75 meters in height.
Vinogradarsky region
Wine lovers will love driving through the vineyards of Napa Valley and along the Sonoma Valley, hidden behind the Mayacmas Mountains. Napa, located less than 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, lies between the Mayacmas and Howell mountains, stretching from Napa in the south to Calistoga in the north. The main road through the valley is Highway 29. The Silverado Hiking Trail, which runs parallel to the highway, is a slower, quieter, more scenic route. The wineries offer tours and wine tastings in the cellars, as well as picnics among the vineyards. The largest wineries are Sterling, Mondavi, Martini, Beaulieu and Beringer in the Napa Valley, as well as Sovereign and Sebastiani in the Sonoma Valley.
Homesick French wine lovers might want to visit the Domaine Chandon vineyard, owned by the renowned Moët et Chandon winery. Small, family-run wineries offer exceptional wine tastings in their showrooms in a relaxed atmosphere. Napa Valley Information Bureau (Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau; 1310 Town Center Napa; men.: 707-226-74-59; www.napavalley.com) will provide you with maps and necessary information. The best restaurants in this area are usually closed on Tuesdays.
From San Francisco, head south on Highway 101, ending at Castroville on Pacific Coast Highway 1. (Pacific Highway, Route 1), and you will find yourself in Monterey - the ancient Spanish and Mexican capital of Upper California. The local bay was discovered back in 1542, but began to be populated only in 1770, when the Franciscan monk Junípero Serra founded a mission here under the protection of the garrison of the fortress of Governor Gaspar de Portola. Monterey was a windswept region where disease was rampant, so Portola advised handing it over as divine punishment to the Russians, who also laid claim to Monterey. But the Franciscan Serra was not afraid of adversity, taking up the conquest of the wild places of Monterey. His statue stands guard on Corporal Ewing's route.
In the city, you can take a guided tour of the historical buildings of the old city, following specially installed signs, including the period of Mexican rule in the 19th century. and the beginning of American rule. Here there are two-story houses with a balcony, combining features of both adobe Spanish buildings and wood-clad American colonial-style buildings: this mixture is called the “Monterey style”. At the Monterey Chamber of Commerce (380 Alvarado Street; tel: 831-648-53-60; www.mpcc.com) you can get a map showing the main buildings.
Visit the Larkin House Museum (Jefferson and Calle Principal streets), place of residence of the first (and the last one) US consul in Mexico's Alta California in the 1840s. Thomas Oliver Larkin, and the Robert Louis Stevenson House Museum (530 Houston Street), the hotel where the writer lived while working on Treasure Island. On Church Street you will find the site of the mud-brick church of Friar Serra; in the building built in its place in 1795, the Royal Fortress Chapel, otherwise known as the Cathedral of San Carlo Borromeo, is now located. To the left of the altar is a statue of the Virgin Mary from the 18th century. from Spanish Mexico.
Closer to the water on Customs Square stands the Pacific House with a nice shady courtyard planted with flowers and fenced off with arcades, as well as the customs house itself (1827) - the first federal building on the Pacific Coast.
The First Theater in California has a more pronounced American look. (First Theatre; Scott and Pacific streets)- a cabin built from pine in 1847 by Jack Swan as a saloon with furnished rooms of dubious purpose above. Visitors were attracted (and attract) Victorian melodramas, but there are no rooming houses anymore.
Fisherman's Wharf, like the landmark of the same name in San Francisco, is the same collection of shops and restaurants on a pier, only the boats bob closer. The fish here is always fresh, but it won't change the shabby appearance of Cannery Row. From 1921 to 1946, it was the premier sardine production site in the entire Western Hemisphere, but by 1951 there were no sardines in these waters. Today, the wooden cannery buildings made famous by John Steinbeck house restaurants, fashion stores and art galleries.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a great success. (tel.: 831-648-48-00; www.mbayaq.org), containing the inhabitants of the bay. In the 4.5 million liter aquarium of the Outer Bay exhibition hall (Outer Bay) spectators are surrounded inside and out by barracudas, Californian triple-tooth sharks, anchovies and graceful jellyfish. During feeding, divers put on a diving suit and, once underwater, tell visitors something through a microphone.
A little further on is a toll scenic road that winds its way through the Monterey Peninsula. (27.5 km) where it is prohibited to ride a motorcycle. However, you can go straight south to Carmel - a wonderful resort town that was once an artists' colony. This is a place created for relaxation and shopping.
Just outside the city is the entrance to Cape Lobos State Wildlife Refuge, a collection of intricate weathered rocks, tiny beaches and dramatic cliffs. To the southeast of the city lies the restored mission-fortress of Carmel in the form of the church of San Carlo Borromeo de Carmelo, where the Rev. Father Serra is buried. The coastal road from Carmel to Big Sur is only 30 miles long, but takes an hour of careful driving to complete, with each hairpin turn revealing another scenic view.
The Town of Big Sur and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park offer excellent opportunities for outdoor recreation, camping, hiking and fishing on the Big Sur River. This place, where writer Henry Miller was born, allows for privacy.
The road winding along the rugged coastline will take you 105 km to San Simeon, where newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, immortalized by Orson Welles in his cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane, built his dream home, called Hearst Castle. (Hearst Castle; guided tours, advance reservations recommended; tel.: 800-444-44-45; www.hearstcastle.org). Hearst himself called the 50 hectares of land with a castle, guest palaces, terraces, gardens, Roman baths, his own menagerie and tennis courts an “estate.” Construction began in 1919 and was still not completed when the tycoon died in 1951.
The estate, with an area of 110 thousand hectares, is located among hilly terrain at an altitude of 500 m above sea level. After leaving your car in the parking lot, you board a tour bus that takes you past the zebras, maned rams and goats grazing on the slopes - all that remains of Hearst's menagerie.
Architect Julia Morgan of San Francisco built the "manor" according to Hirst's instructions as a "convenient showcase" for his art collection. The scope of the collection itself becomes clear even at the sight of a 30-meter swimming pool with a Greek colonnade and a cast of the Florentine statue of David by Donatello on two baroque Venetian fountains of the 17th century. Above the huge main entrance stands an authentic 13th-century statue. Madonna and Child.
Information
Emergency and medical services
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine; tel: 415-282-9603; www.actcm.edu; 450 Connecticut St; 8:30-21:00 Mon-Thu, 9:00-17:30 Fri & Sat) Acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic (Haight Ashbury Free Clinic; tel: 415-746-1950; www.hafci.org; 558 Clayton St) free doctor visits by appointment; drug and alcohol addiction support and mental health services.
Pharmaca (tel: 415-661-1216; www.pharmaca.com; 925 Cole St; 8am-8pm Mon-Fri, 9am Sat-Sun) Pharmacy and naturopathic medicines.
Police, fire and ambulance (tel.: 911) San Francisco General Hospital (San Francisco General Hospital; ER 415-206-8111, 415-206-8000; www.sfdph.org; 1001 Potrero Ave) Open 24 hours. Trauma and Violence Rehabilitation Center (Trauma Recovery & Rape Treatment Center; tel: 415-437-3000; http://traumarecoverycenter.org) 24/7 hotline. Walgreens (tel: 415-861-3136; www.walgreens.com; 498 Castro St; 24 hours) Pharmacy with branches throughout the city (see website).
Internet
There are free Wi-Fi hotspots scattered throughout San Francisco - find your nearest one using www.openwifispots.com. Free signal in Union Square, most cafes and hotel lobbies.
Apple Store (www.apple.com/retail/sanfran cisco; 1 Stockton St; 9.00-21.00 Mon-Sat, 10.00-20.00 Sun) Free Wi-Fi and internet terminals.
San Francisco Main Library (http://sfpl.org; 100 Larkin St; 10.00-18.00 Mon and Sat, 9.00-20.00 Tue-Thu, 12.00-17.00 Fri and Sun) Free Internet access for 15 minutes; Wi-Fi is available in some places.
mass media
- KALW 91.7 FM (www.kalw.org) National Public Radio affiliate (National Public Radio, NPR).
- KPFA 94.1 FM (www.kpfa.org) Alternative news and music.
- KPOO 89.5 FM (www.kpoo.com) Public Radio; jazz, rhythm and blues, blues and reggae.
- KQED 88.5 FM (www.kqed.org) Branch of the National Public Radio and State Television Broadcasting (Public Broadcasting, PBS), podcasts and video streaming.
- San Francisco Bay Guardian (www.sfbg.com) The free alternative weekly covers politics, theater, music, art and film.
- San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com) Main daily newspaper; news, entertainment and events posters.
Money
Bank of America (www.bankamerica.com; 1 Market Plaza; 9.00-18.00 Mon-Fri)
Post office in Rincon Center (Rincon Center post office; www.usps.com; 180 Stewart St; 8.00-18.00 Mon-Fri, 9.00-14.00 Sat) Postal services plus historical frescoes.
Tourist information
San Francisco Visitor Information Center (tel.: 415-391-2000; www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com; lower level, Hallidie Plaza; 9:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, until 15:00 Sat-Sun)
Web sites
- Craigslist (http://sfbay.craigslist.org) San Francisco Resource; work, dates, free stuff, Buddhist babysitters and whatever.
- Yelp (www.yelp.com) Review site for shops, bars, services and restaurants. Join the local verbal battles.
Transport
Information about transportation routes in the Bay Area (Bay Area) and flight schedules can be found by calling 511 or visiting the website www.511.org.
Transportation from San Francisco International Airport
BART (www.bart.gov; one-way ticket $8.10). Fast, direct connections to downtown San Francisco.
SamTrans (www.samtrans.com; one-way ticket $5). The KX Express will take you to the bus station (Temporary Transbay Terminal) in about 30 minutes.
SuperShuttle (tel: 800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com; one-way ticket $17). Door-to-door vans depart from the baggage claim terminal. Most areas of San Francisco are 45 minutes' drive away.
Taxi. The cost of a trip to downtown is $35-50.
Transport from Auckland International Airport
The cheapest way to travel from Oakland Airport to San Francisco is by BART. AirBART buses ($3) every 10-20 min. depart to Coliseum Station, where you can catch the BART train to downtown San Francisco ($3.80, 25 min.). The cost of a taxi ride from Oakland Airport to Oakland averages $25 and to San Francisco about $50-60. The cost of a trip to downtown in a multi-person SuperShuttle van is $25-30 (tel: 800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com). Airport Express Buses (tel: 800-327-2024; www.airportexpressinc.com) follow the schedule every 2 hours. (from 6.00 to 0.00) from Oakland Airport to Sonoma County ($32) and Marin ($24) .
Vessels
Blue & Gold Ferries (www.blueandgoldfleet.com) depart Alameda - Oakland from Pier 41 (Pier 41) and ferry terminal (Ferry Building). Golden Gate Ferry (www.goldengate.org) go to Sausalito and Larkspur (Larkspur) in Marin County (Marin County), departing from the ferry terminal (Ferry Building).
Cars
Try not to drive in San Francisco: parking is harder than finding true love, and the meters are merciless. Downtown parking is located at the Embarcadero Center on Fifth Street. (5th St), Mission Street (Mission St), Union Square (Union Sq), Sutter Street (Sutter St) and Stockton Street (Stockton St). National car rental agencies have offices at the airport and downtown.
Public transport
To the municipal transport network MUNI (Municipal Transit Agency; www.sfmuni.com) includes buses, trams and funicular lines. Two cable car lines begin at Powell Street (Powell St) and Market Street (Market St), the third is on California Street (California St) and Market Street (Market St). A detailed MUNI Street & Transit Map can be downloaded for free from the website or purchased for $3 at a kiosk (Powell MUNI kiosk). The standard fare for a bus or tram ride is $2, for a funicular ride $6. MUNI Passport (for 1/3/7 days $14/21/27) gives the right to unlimited travel on all types of municipal transport, including the funicular; it is for sale at the San Francisco Tourist Information Center (San Francisco's Visitor Information Center) and at the TIX Bay Area ticket kiosk in Union Square. Seven Day City Pass (adult/child $69/39) gives the right to travel on municipal transport and to visit five attractions.
BART electric trains connect San Francisco to the east side of the Bay. They go under Market Street (Market St) and follow Mission Street (Mission St) and south to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae (Millbrae), where they intersect with the CalTrain line.
The rate is approximately $2.25 per mile; the amount on the meter at the beginning of the trip is $3.50.
- DeSoto Cab (tel: 415-970-1300)
- Green Cab (tel: 415-626-4733; www.626green.com)
- Luxor (tel: 415-282-4141) Yellow Cab (tel: 415-333-3333)
Road there and back
By plane
San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco International Airport, SFO; www.flysfo.com) located 22.4 km south of the city center, next to the highway (Highway) 101. Accessible by Bay Area Rapid Transit. (BART).
By bus
Until the new terminal is completed in 2017, San Francisco Intercity will remain Temporary Transbay Terminal (Howard St and Main St). AC Transit buses depart from here (www.actransit.org) to eastern Bay Area (East Bay), Golden Gate Transit buses (http://goldengatetransit.org) go north to Marin and Sonoma counties and SamTrans (www.samtrans.com) carries passengers south to Palo Alto (Palo Alto) and on the Pacific coast. Greyhound buses (tel: 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) depart daily to Los Angeles ($56.50.8-12 hours), Truckee (Truckee) at Lake Tahoe ($33, 5.5 hours) and in other areas.
By train
Amtrak trains (tel: 800-872-7245; www.amtrakcalifornia.com)- this is not only a low emission of pollution into the environment, but also a quiet road to San Francisco and back. Coast Starlight sails an exciting 35-hour route from Los Angeles to Seattle with a stop in Oakland. California Zephyr is coming (51 hours) from Chicago via Rokis (Rockies) to Auckland. Both trains have sleeping cars and dining cars (bars) with large windows. Amtrak also includes free shuttle buses to the ferry terminal (Ferry Building) in San Francisco and the CalTrain station.
Cal Trains (www.caltrain.com; corner of Force Street (4th St) and King Street (King St)) connect San Francisco with Silicon Valley and San Jose.
Calendar of low prices for air tickets
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