San Francisco Neighborhoods and Attractions

Notable Places

San Francisco

The dramatically beautiful city of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city of California. An internationally admired tourist location, San Francisco is famous for its steep rolling hills, chilly summer fogs, sundry mélange of the Victorian as well as modern architecture, enclosing the famous Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars and the renowned China town. Economically, this attractive city homes over 30 international financial organizations and thus the world’s top producing cities rank San Francisco on number eighteen!

History

The past of this magnanimous city dates back to the 1776 when the Spanish set up a fort at the Golden Gate. Following this was the ‘California Gold Rush’ in 1848 that thrusted the city into a period of swift growth. And so numerous entrepreneurs intended to capitalize and mobilize the wealth that germinated out of the Gold rush. And so the city witness development in almost every sector; schools, churches, theatres and parks were built along with the introduction of the Cable cars in 1873. It made San Francisco the largest city of the western coast.

But then three quarters later, hardship struck the prospering city when it encountered the earthquake and fire in 1906. Not losing hope, San Francisco rapidly pulled itself up and proudly hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition by 1914. Also, the city was the major port of embarkation for all the service members that shipped out to the Pacific Theatre. As the war ended, the union of the returned servicemen, large immigrations, liberalized attitudes and many other factors lead to the ‘Summer of Love’ and the gay rights movement. This cemented San Francisco permanently as the centre of liberal activism of the United States.

City’s structure

The unique city of San Francisco is situated on the western coast of the United States, precisely at the tip of the San Franciscan peninsula and thus includes vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay in its boundaries. The county is also recognized for its hills; there are over 50 hills only inside the city area. The Twin Peaks are the pair of hills that rest on one of the city’s highest points and form a renowned overlook site. The highest hill is the Mount Davidson.

San Andreas and Hayward Faults located nearby the city are held responsible for the tectonic activities; however none of them physically pass though the city. In fact, the major cause of the earthquakes of 1906 and 1989 was the San Andreas fault line.

Exclusive San Franciscan Climate

Mark Twain had once quoted that the chilliest winter he had ever spent was the summer of San Francisco! The strikingly spectacular city of San Francisco is characterized by the cool summer Mediterranean climate with its coasts emanating mild wet winters and dry summers.

Being surrounded by water bodies on all the three sides makes the city is highly influenced by the cool currents of the gigantic Pacific Ocean, which tend to moderate the temperature, leading to an astonishingly mild climate backed by faint variations in the seasonal temperature.

The summers are highly typified by cool winds and fog; when compared to the rest of the cities of United States, San Francisco has been recorded to experience the coldest daily maximum, minimum and mean temperatures in the months of June, July as well as August!

San Franciscan Attractions

The city is colossal when it comes to size and when talked of its attractions, one may find even months insufficient to explore this gorgeous city of the United States. To ignite the thrilling tour of San Francisco, one may begin with the Golden Gate Park and the bridge that stand as one of the city’s most renowned icons. Displaying a grand biodiversity of over 6000 plant species, the parks proudly display the California redwoods, the ethereal Japanese Tea gardens, the Asian art museum, the Californian Academy of Sciences and its aquarium, planetarium and lots more.

Other typical tourist attractions are the Alcatraz Island, Castro district and the Coit Tower. Entering through the ‘Dragon’s Gate’ at the Grant Avenue and Bush Street is the China Town which is the bustling jammed packed warren exposing one of the finest Chinese shops, restaurants and temples.

San Franciscan Music and nightlife

It is amazing to note that the nightlife is as varied and diversified as the city of San Francisco. Every single bar, club or lounge have their own special vibes and feel. If you adore the electronic music clubs, chill art lounges and hip hop, you must try out the San Franciscan SOMA. While if you are a bar hopper with rocksters and hipsters, Mission district is the perfect location.

With the gay rights being liberalized here, many gay-friendly bars and discs can be found all over the city, like Castro, SOMA, as well as the Polka district. The San Franciscan Northern Beach can be found open until late hours with neon strip joints and amazing hideaway bars! A couple of must try places include Ruby Skye, Red Devil Lounge, Hemlock Tavern, 26 Mix and even the 111 Minna street gallery!

It’s finger-licking good!

Populated with world-class wineries, cheese makers and petite farms located just a few miles from San Francisco, the city is drenched with culinary wealth. The finger-licking quality and sumptuous quantity stamp the city as an unparallel food city of the United States. You could relish its best known farm fresh ingredient clogged food, available at restaurants such as the Green, Foreign Cinema and even the Boulevard. The neighborhoods of Mission District and Noe Valley mark a trend in their culinary skills offering humble restaurants such as the Delfina, Incanto and the Range; while on the other hand the same regions flaunt their upcoming eat-outs like Coi and Ame who magnet localites and visitors with their technically precise and eclectic cuisines. The only loop hole is… choosing what to eat and what to leave for next time!

One city you would definitely not want to miss out of your Californian itineraries is the awe-inspiring city of San Francisco!

Food Lover’s Sightseeing Tour of San Francisco

San Francisco Food Tour: A Taste of Japantown

San Francisco Food Tour: Taste the Mission

San Francisco Food Tour: Ferry Building and Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Small-Group Craft Brews and Bike Tour in San Francisco

Taste of North Beach Evening Food and Wine Tour