San Francisco Features

San Francisco Features

• San Francisco Today
  

  The quintessential boomtown, San Francisco has been alternately riding high and crashing since the gold rush. Those bearish during the heady days... Read more

• Top Attractions in San Francisco
  

  San Francisco's signature International Orange entryway is the city's majestic background, and about 10 million people a year head to the bridge... Read more

• Local for a Day
  

  Want to get a slice of local life by just hanging out, skipping the sightseeing? These experiences will let you pretend you're a San Franciscan... Read more

• San Francisco with Kids
  

  Cable Cars. This one's a no-brainer. But don't miss the Cable Car Terminus at Powell and Market streets, where conductors push the iconic cars... Read more

• Top Walking Tours
  

  All About Chinatown. A delightful "behind-the-scenes" look at the neighborhood. Owner Linda Lee and her guides stop in Ross Alley and at a Buddhist... Read more

• A Waterfront Walk: the Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf
  

  One of the great pleasures of San Francisco is a stroll along the bay, with its briny scent, the cry of the gulls, and boats bobbing on the waves... Read more

• Free and Almost Free
  

  Despite—or perhaps because of—the astronomical cost of living here, San Francisco offers loads of free diversions. Here are our picks... Read more

• Offbeat SF
  

  Looking for an unusual San Francisco experience that'll give you bragging rights? Try one of these quirky choices—even a local would be... Read more

• Hippie History
  

  The eternal lure for twentysomethings, cheap rent, first helped spawn an indelible part of SF's history and public image. In the early 1960s... Read more

• Touring the Mission's Murals
  

  Since the 1970s, groups of artists have worked to transform the city's walls into canvases, art accessible to everyone. Muralists here fall into... Read more

• Dining in Union Square, Financial District, and Chinatown
  

  Fashion, business, and history collide in this broad swath of the city, where you can eat for pennies or spend your rent in a single sitting... Read more

• Dining in SoMa, Civic Center, and Hayes Valley
  

  These areas prove that terrific restaurants can spring up in gritty surroundings—and often they'll help spur a general neighborhood improvement... Read more

• Dining in North Beach, Nob Hill, and Russian Hill
  

  One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, North Beach continues to speak Italian, albeit in fewer households than it did when Joe DiMaggio was... Read more

• Dining in The Waterfront
  

  Locals and visitors alike flock here for gorgeous bay views, a world-class waterfront esplanade, and a Ferry Building that is much better known... Read more

• Dining in The Mission, the Castro, and Noe Valley
  

  You'll never go hungry here, in some of San Francisco's most jam-packed restaurant neighborhoods. From dirt-cheap taquerias to hip tapas joints... Read more

• Dining in Pacific Heights, the Marina, and Japantown
  

  One of the city's best public transit rides is on the 22-Fillmore trolley bus, from the edge of Japantown at Geary Boulevard and Fillmore Street... Read more

• Dining in Haight, Richmond, and Sunset
  

  The Haight-Ashbury was home base for the country's famed 1960s counterculture, and its café scene still reflects that colorful past. For... Read more

• Shopping in Union Square
  

  The tall elegance of the high-rises here radiates a style and grace that vibrates through the busy streets. This is a place for strolling and... Read more

• Shopping in The Haight
  

  Remembered most for being the epicenter of the '60s Flower Power movement, today's Haight has changed significantly. Incense, music, and musicians... Read more

• Shopping in The Mission
  

  Giant vibrant murals of fields, flowers, and faces decorate building after building here. There is music in the streets, and the sweet smell... Read more

• Top 3 Espresso Spots in North Beach
  

  Caffè Trieste. The Giotta family celebrates the art of a good espresso as well as a good tune at Caffè Trieste. Every Saturday... Read more

• The Parrots of Telegraph Hill
  

  While on Telegraph Hill, you might be startled by a chorus of piercing squawks and a rushing sound of wings. No, you're not about to have a Hitchcock... Read more

• Alcatraz as Native Land
  

  In the 1960s Native Americans attempted to reclaim Alcatraz, citing an 1868 treaty that granted Native Americans any surplus federal land. Their... Read more

• Creating Golden Gate Park
  

  In the 1860s, San Francisco was booming. The California gold rush and the transcontinental railroad had swelled the city's population, and San... Read more

• San Francisco on Film
  

  With its spectacular cityscape, atmospheric fog, and a camera-ready iconic bridge, it's little wonder that San Francisco has been the setting... Read more

• Chinatown Tongs
  

  If you take it from Hollywood, Chinese tongs (secretive fraternal associations) rank right up there with the Italian Mafia and the Japanese yakuza... Read more

• The Presidio with Kids
  

  If you're in town with children (and you have a car), the sprawling, bayside Presidio offers enough kid-friendly diversions for one very full... Read more

• The Evolution of Gay San Francisco
  

  San Francisco's gay community has been a part of the city since its earliest days. As a port city and a major hub during the 19th-century gold... Read more

• AT&T Park: Where Giants Tread
  

  The size of AT&T Park hits you immediately—the field, McCovey Cove, and the Lefty O'Doul drawbridge all look like miniature models... Read more

• Lodging Alternatives
  

  If you want an alternative to a hotel—one that gives a more authentically San Francisco experience (or at least a slightly more spacious... Read more

• Eating with Kids
  

  Kids can be fussy eaters, but parents can be, too, so picking places that will satisfy both is important. Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent... Read more

• Room for the Kids
  

  With some luck and a little planning, the family trip to San Francisco will be something you and your kids will always remember... in a good... Read more

• Best Hotel Bars
  

  Big 4 Bar. Dark-wood paneling and green leather banquettes lend a masculine feel to the bar at the Huntington Hotel, where the over-30 crowd... Read more

• A Concierge's Top Tips
  

  Concierges can be the Great Finessers of your trip: finding hard-to-get reservations or tickets, helping with business matters, and generally... Read more

• Gay and Lesbian Nightlife in San Francisco
  

  In the days before the gay liberation movement, bars were more than mere watering holes—they also served as community centers where members... Read more