3 Best Sights in San Francisco, California

Windswept and desolate, Twin Peaks yields sweeping vistas of San Francisco and the neighboring counties. At a hilltop park 922 feet above sea level, you can get a real feel for the city's layout, but you'll share it with busloads of other admirers; in summer, arrive before the late-afternoon fog turns the view into pea soup. To drive here, head west from Castro Street up Market Street, which eventually becomes Portola Drive. Turn right (north) on Twin Peaks Boulevard and follow the signs to the top. Muni bus 37–Corbett heads west to Twin Peaks from Market Street. Catch this bus above the Castro Street Muni light-rail station on the island west of Castro at Market Street.

This mauve house was built in 1877 by William Axford, a Scottish immigrant and metalsmith whose Mission Iron Works made cannonballs for the Union Army during the Civil War. The house, perched several feet above the sidewalk, was built when Noe Valley was still a rural area, as evidenced by the hayloft in the gable of the adjacent carriage house. The original iron fence, made in Axford's foundry, remains.