City Guides Walks
 

Question on the City Guides Walks
My husband and I are sadly not the most physically fit people in the world but we do love to walk. We were in Italy in September and thought we must have walked at least ten miles a day and most of it seemed to be uphill...ok so half was probably downhill. My brother who has been to SanFrancisco and is much fitter than we has expressed concern about how my husband will manage the walking because his knees aren't the best. He was commenting on how steep some of your famous hills are. So how are those City Guide Walks for us not so fit people who like to walk? Will the steepness of the hills provide a real concern? Hope you can help as some of the walks look really interesting. Thanks.

I've done the Chinatown city guide tour and there were not a lot of hills on this tour. Plus, the amount of time we spent walking was really minimal compared to the amount of time we spent standing here and there, listening to the guide, looking at this building and that. It wasn't really convinient for the guide to talk while everyone was walking because people were more spread out and he would have had to shout.

My wife is one of the volunteer guides on the two Victorian Homes walks.

I'de say almost all the walks in the Downtown & Financial district are flat. That would be:
Ferry Building - although there is a set of stairs to climb
Bawdy & Naughty
Chinatown
Cityscapes & Public Places - some stairs again
Downtown Deco
Embarcadero North & South
Gold Rush City
Historic Market St
Palace Hotel - this is all inside the hotel - one of my favorites - elevator up, stairs down one floor
Rising Steel
SOMA/Yerba Buena Center
Theatre San Francisco
North Beach - I've not been on this one - so I don't know if it goes up some of the hills that are close.
Coit Tower Murals - never been on this tour, but if there is a hill, it would be a descent.

Not downtown:
Japantown
Art Decco Marina
Castro
Civic Center
Mission Murals
Palace of Fine Arts Marina
Fire Dept Museum - all in one building.

There are some hills on my wifes two tours:
Victorian San Francisco - only about 1 short half-block of moderate up-hill
Landmark Victorians of Alamo Sq - about 2 half-blocks of moderate hills, unless you get to tour one of the finest Victorian interiors in SF first, then the tour is shortened a little & one of the half-blocks is ommitted.

Haight/Ashbury heads up-hill for the last one-quarter of the tour, but you could stop at that point.

Perhaps don't go on:
Lands End
Mission Dolores - I think. Don't really remember if there are hills. There are some very close by, but the tour may not go up them.
Nob Hill - but you could opt-out of the 1 (I think) down & back hill.
Telegraph Hill Hike


Starting in January, there are three Earthquake & Fire walks - it's the 100th anniversary of it. I don't think these have hills - the one starting downtown certainly does not.

Stu Dudley

I have the perfect solution for you.

http://www.sfelectrictour.com/

Segeway tours! We took one in Paris and it was really fun. They are pretty easy to drive and it would be so much better with all those hills.

I think for people with bad knees the problem is to walk down, not up.