SF
Guide
Curated by a local tour guide.
What I recommend on tour, collected in one place.
Neighborhoods
All neighborhoods →Hayes Valley is named for Thomas Hayes, who developed the area in the 1850s. Its current walkable form…
The Richmond is the residential grid west of Arguello and north of Golden Gate Park, running out to…
Pacific Heights developed as a wealthy residential district from the 1870s. Much of its early Victorian and Edwardian…
Russian Hill is a residential neighborhood on the hill north of Nob Hill, between Polk Street and the…
Where to Eat
All restaurants →The Pawn Shop
Speakeasy tapas restaurant hidden behind a pawn shop facade
Jane the Bakery
Great small bakery that grows their own grain.
Foreign Cinema
Films from the 1960s and 1970s projected on the courtyard wall.
Butter & Crumble
The Tuesday 9am pastry-box preorder window is how regulars skip the line.
Things to Do
All activities →Balmy Alley
Balmy Alley has held murals since 1972; the modern tradition took off in 1985, when Ray Patlan organized 27 murals honoring Central American indigenous heritage and protesting US intervention. About 30 murals line the alley between 24th and 25th Streets at any given time. Free, open around the clock, best visited in daylight.
Garden of Fragrance
A sensory garden inside the San Francisco Botanical Garden, designed in 1965 for blind visitors. Plants are chosen for scent and texture, and the signs are in Braille. Many of the walls were built with stones from a 12th century monastery that William Randolph Hearst shipped to San Francisco. Included with garden admission (free for SF residents).
Mission Dolores Cemetery
The cemetery at Mission Dolores, the oldest in San Francisco. Hitchcock filmed Madeleine visiting Carlotta Valdes's grave here in Vertigo (1958); the prop headstone is gone, but the spot is unchanged.
Best of San Francisco
All lists →Tours I Recommend
All tours →Nob Hill on Film
A free self-guided film locations walk on Nob Hill: five stops including Madeleine's apartment in Vertigo, the Fairmont from TV's Hotel, the…
North Beach and Telegraph Hill on Film
A free self-guided film locations walk through North Beach and Telegraph Hill: nine stops from the Transamerica Pyramid to Coit Tower, including…
The Castro: Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Mile
A walk through the heart of LGBTQ San Francisco, from Harvey Milk Plaza and the Pink Triangle memorial to Milk's camera shop…
The Mission: Murals, Missions, and Taquerías
From the 1791 Mission Dolores through Dolores Park and the Women's Building to the mural alleys and the Calle 24 Latino corridor.…
Fisherman’s Wharf to the Marina: The Working Waterfront
A waterfront walk from the historic ships at Hyde Street Pier west past Ghirardelli, Fort Mason, and the Wave Organ to the…
Nob Hill: Bonanza Kings and the 1906 Fire Line
The hilltop of railroad and silver barons, from the working cable car powerhouse to Grace Cathedral. Six stops, under a mile, with…
Pacific Heights: Billionaires’ Row and Victorian Survivors
A walk along the city's wealthiest ridge, from a tourable 1886 Victorian and the Spreckels Mansion to the Mrs. Doubtfire house and…
The Fillmore: Harlem of the West and Japantown
The Black music history that the Haight's rock story overshadows, from Alamo Square up Fillmore Street to Japantown. Six stops, about a…
Golden Gate Park: A Cross-Park Walk
A three-and-a-half-mile east-to-west walk across Golden Gate Park, from the 1879 Conservatory of Flowers through the museums and gardens to the bison,…
SoMa and Yerba Buena: Industrial City to Museum Mile
How warehouses and rail yards became the city's cultural core, from SFMOMA and the Yerba Buena museums to the dot-com oval of…
The Embarcadero: Earthquake to Ferry Building
How a 1989 earthquake remade the waterfront. A flat walk from Cupid's Span and the Bay Bridge to the Ferry Building and…
North Beach Walking Tour
A free self-guided North Beach walking tour from a local SF guide. 10 stops through Beat Generation history and Italian North Beach:…
Walking the Haight: A Deep History Tour
A free self-guided Haight-Ashbury walking tour from a local SF guide. 17 stops from Buena Vista Park to Hippie Hill: the Grateful…
Chinatown Walking Tour
A free self-guided Chinatown walking tour from a local SF guide. 14 stops over 1.7 miles, from the Dragon Gate through the…
San Francisco by Luxury Van Tour
A 4-hour small-group ride through 16 SF neighborhoods in a luxury van. Buses can't reach these streets — vans can. Local snacks,…
Wine Country Small-Group Day Trip
Napa and Sonoma in one day without driving, which matters more than people expect once tastings are involved. Small group, long day,…
Yosemite and Giant Sequoias Day Trip
Fourteen hours and a lot of it is driving, so go in knowing that. You still get Yosemite Valley and the sequoias…
Vantigo VW Bus City Tour
A restored VW bus, a small group, and a driver who talks like a local instead of reading a script. The most…
Upcoming Events
All events →Laura Veirs with Karl Blau
Tōth
Event Image Link – Laura Veirs with Karl Blau | Event Date – 20 October
Hazlett
Devil Makes Three
Shakey Graves – Fondness, Etc. Tour
Sawyer Hill
Hannah Jones
Tōth at Brick & Mortar Music Hall
The Pre-Show Speakeasy with Hazlett
ARTMS
Gus Heagerty at Cobb’s Comedy Club
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