San Francisco - advice please

Right, I found the books I was looking for...

Walking Tour

Starts and ends in the Union Square area, taking in the highlights of downtown, North Beach (Italian area - shouldn't have called it Little Italy before, I was thinking of San Diego!) and Chinatown. The book reckons on about 2 hours total but you would need to factor in extra time along the way if you want to explore anywhere in more detail (perhaps go up Coit Tower, stop for a coffee at one of the little cafes in North Beach etc). The walk up Filbert Steps to Telegraph Hill is pretty gruelling but worth it - I just about managed about 9 months on from seriously breaking my leg so anyone who's reasonably fit should be fine, especially as it's pretty much all down hill from there!

* Start from Union Square
* On the Stockton Street side of the square look for Maiden Lane, a narrow street with exclusive boutiques and galleries
* On the left is a Frank Lloyd Wright building which was the model for New York's Guggenheim Museum
* Follow Maiden Lane to Kearney Street, turn left, walk to Post Street and turn right
* Walk past Crocker Galleria (a glass domed shopping mall modelled on the Galleria in Milan) to Montgomery Street
* This is the heart of the financial district - walking up Montgomery you will pass the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, Bank of America World HQ and the Wells Fargo Museum before reaching the Transamerica Pyramid at the corner of Mongomery and Washington
* Continue along Mongomery, which starts to climb as you move out of the financial district and gets increasingly steeper!
* Walk as far as the intersection with Vallejo Street (great views from here of the city and the bay), turn right onto Vallejo and walk down a couple of blocks to Battery Street
* Turn left and walk down Battery to Levi Plaza, home of Levis Strauss
* Cross the plaza to Filbert Street and the famous Filbert Street steps, a steep staircase which winds up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, passing some beautifully tended gardens and unusual houses on the way as well as the resident parrots!
* There are great views of the city and the bay just from around the area at the top of Telegraph Hill, or pay a few $ to go up the the top of the tower if you wish
* Continue down Filbert Street to the North Beach district (we took a bus down as my leg was KILLING me at this point, but it's easy enough to walk)
* When you reach the beautiful St Peter & St Paul Church and Washington Square park, turn left onto Stockton Street
* Walk down Stockton, the 'real' Chinatown, full of authentic food shops
* When you reach Washington Street, turn left and walk one block then turn right onto Grant Avenue - this is more the 'tourist' side of Chinatown, with many gift shops and Chinese restaurants
* Continue down Grant, passing the Chinatown Gate, to Sutter Street
* Turn right and walk a couple of blocks up Sutter (v. posh, expensive shops) to Powell Street
* Turn left on Powell and walk the last couple of blocks to end up back at Union Square

If you decide to do the walk, I would recommend printing off a fairly detailed map from Google or wherever and plotting your route before you go - we found it difficult to work out where we were up to at times just following the directions and found it much easier to just count the blocks / cross streets off on a map.

Thanks for this - we are going to California in July/August and touring around and staying in SF for a few days, so I will make notes from this thread as well!

They had mostly left at one point - nobody seems to know why - but were back (as smelly and noisy as ever ) when we were there in September 2010. I was so pleased! I remembered seeing the sealions when I visited with my parents as a teenager and was quite disappointed when I first heard they had moved away .

I'm another to say Alcatraz. It's easy to think of it as a bit touristy but it is a very eerie and atmospheric place. The added bonus is that you get a boat trip across the bay.

jackieblack wrote: »

I think most of them left at the start of last year.

I was there in march, and they are back but there don't seem to be as many as there used to be.

Some good tips about the cable car routes but may be worth remembering that the California line is closed until later in the year for refurbishment. Once that line is finished they will close the other lines one by one to do them as well. It could take up to 12 months for each line.

I also would recommend Alcatraz, especially the evening tours. There are less people on the island and they open areas of the prison that are not usually open during the day.