A Bridge, a Bay and Forty-Nine Hills
San Francisco is a hilly city on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, in Northern California, known for the Golden Gate Bridge, its cable cars and a character of invention and independence. The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937 and its International Orange towers, rising out of the fog, are among the most photographed structures in the world. Visitors can walk or cycle across the span for a sweeping view of the bay and the city skyline.
The cable cars have run since 1873 and still climb Nob Hill and Russian Hill, passing grand hotels and the crooked curves of Lombard Street. Alcatraz Island, now a national park site, is reached by ferry from Pier 33. Chinatown is among the oldest in North America, while the Painted Ladies of Alamo Square show off the city's colourful Victorian houses. Golden Gate Park, larger than New York's Central Park, holds gardens, museums and a bison paddock.
Sourdough, Dungeness Crab and Mission Murals
San Francisco's food scene is led by produce. The Ferry Building Marketplace brings together farmers, bakers and chefs on the waterfront, with a famed farmers market on Saturdays. Sourdough bread, a local tradition since the Gold Rush era, is served in clam chowder bowls at Fisherman's Wharf, and Dungeness crab arrives in winter. Mission-style burritos, dim sum in Chinatown and inventive tasting menus in Hayes Valley show the city's range, from casual to ambitious.
Neighbourhoods add colour. The Mission District is known for its murals and taquerías, Haight-Ashbury recalls the 1960s counterculture, and North Beach is a historic Italian quarter of cafés and bookshops, home to City Lights. A hotel group can offer guests everything from historic grand hotels to waterfront boutiques, and a ride across the bridge leads to Sausalito and Muir Woods, with its towering coast redwoods just north of the city.
Read the full San Francisco guide on Visit Travel Group, or see SanFrancisco.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.