The Haight, the Castro, Hayes Valley and Noe Valley

These neighborhoods wear their personalities large and proud, and are perfect for strolling around. Like a slide show of San Francisco's history, you can move from the Haight's residue of 1960s counterculture, to the Castro's connection to '70s and '80s gay life, to '90s gentrification in Noe Valley and Hayes Valley.

Although historic events thrust the Haight and the Castro onto the international stage, both are anything but stagnant—they're still dynamic areas well worth exploring.