San Francisco everyone's favorite city is located at the tip of a peninsula
between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast a compact city of steep
rolling hills surrounded on three sides by water
San Francisco is renowned for its summer fogs Victorian architecture cable cars
and beautiful vistas just remember don't call it Frisco and do bring warm
clothing the famous quote that coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San
Francisco isn't from Mark Twain but it is a pretty accurate statement of San
Francisco's weather and overview of the top tourist attractions in San Francisco
established in 1840s San Francisco's Chinatown is reputed to be the oldest
and one of the largest er and most famous of all China towns outside of
Asia many of the Chinese who settled here with merchants or immigrant workers
working on either the transcontinental railroad or as mine workers during the
gold rush the tourist section of Chinatown is mainly a long Grand Avenue
from Busch to Broadway
the only structure remaining from the 1915 World's Fair the Palace of Fine
Arts features a classical Roman rotunda with curved : H situated and an idyllic
park setting with the classical european-style
Lagoon it's a great place to unwind have a picnic and watch the Swans float
elegantly by it also has a theater offering a variety of shows musical and
cultural events
located in the heart of the financial district the Transamerica Pyramid is San
Francisco's other famous icon besides the Golden Gate according to its
architect William Ella Pereira a pyramid is the ideal shape for skyscrapers
offering the advantage of letting more air and light in the streets below
finished in 1972 the Transamerica Pyramid has a height of 853 feet and is
still the tallest building in the San Francisco skyline the alamo square is is
a residential neighborhood and parked up is best known for the famous Painted
Ladies role of the Victorian houses on its east side along Steiner Street it is
often the subject of many a San Francisco post type there are also many
other pretty Victorians encircling the lovely part the park concludes a
playground on a tennis court and is frequented by numbers tourists and dog
owners on a clear day the transamerica pyramid building and the tops of the
Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge can be seen from the processor
once an area of sand dunes Golden Gate Park is a large urban park with
windmills bison museums lakes and a carousel among its many interactions at
1017 acres it is about 20% larger than New York's Central Park so unless you
have a buy you'll want to plan which area you want to visit a popular tourist
attraction is the Japanese tea garden with beautiful plants and bridges and
Japanese style structures including a teahouse
located between height and Leavenworth streets Lombard Street is famously known
as the crookedest street in the world although it is neither the crookedest
Street in San Francisco Vermont Street is nor thus toughest the one block
portion of Lombard Street that contains eight hairpin turns was created to
reduce the hills natural steep slope the speed limit in this section is a mere
five miles per hour
often referred to as the rock the small island of Alcatraz served as a
lighthouse a military fortification and as a prison it was home to some of the
most notorious criminals of the time including Al Capone and Machine Gun
Kelly surrounded by the freezing water of San Francisco Bay Alcatraz was
believed to be inescapable the most famous attempt was carried out by Frank
Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin using an inflatable raft made
from several stolen raincoats today the island is a popular San Francisco
tourist attraction in a historic site it is operated by the National Park Service
and is open to tours
the world-famous cable cars run on three lines of the steep streets of San
Francisco between Market Street and Fisherman's Wharf these cars are a fun
ride especially if you get to stand on the running board if a bit impractical
for everyday use though residents do in fact use them on a regular basis the
cable car is such an attraction that especially on weekends it takes longer
to wait in line to ride up Powell Street than it does to walk a short but sloping
distance
the Golden Gate bridges a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate the
strait between San Francisco and Marin County to the north the bridge took four
years to build and was completed in 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest
suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed and has become an
internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and California the famous red
orange color of the bridge was specifically chosen to make the bridge
more easily visible through the thick fog that frequently shrouds the bridge
one of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco and even
the US Fisherman's Wharf runs all the way from Pier 39 through to municipal
Pier at the end of Atlantic park for over a century
its historic waterfront was the hub of San Francisco's fishing fleet and is
still famous for having some of the best seafood restaurants in the city other
tourist attractions at the wharf include museums souvenir stores historical
buildings scenic vistas over the bay and the famous sea lions of pier 39
you