SF
Guide

Curated by a local tour guide.
What I recommend on tour, collected in one place.

Neighborhoods

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The Castro

The Castro was farmland called Eureka Valley before becoming San Francisco's gay neighborhood in the late 1960s and…
Russian Hill

Russian Hill is a residential neighborhood on the hill north of Nob Hill, between Polk Street and the…
Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights developed as a wealthy residential district from the 1870s. Much of its early Victorian and Edwardian…
Financial District

The Financial District is built on the filled-in Yerba Buena Cove, with Gold Rush ships still buried beneath…

Where to Eat

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Sotto Mare

Great Italian seafood in North Beach. Known for their Cioppino.

North Beach Italian Seafood

R&G Lounge

Anthony Bourdain featured this Chinatown Cantonese restaurant on No Reservations.

Chinatown Chinese, Cantonese, Seafood

Scoma’s

Seafood goes from dock to kitchen with no middleman.

Fisherman's Wharf Seafood

La Taqueria

Voted Best Burrito in USA. James Beard America's Classics Award winner.

The Mission District Mexican

Things to Do

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Classic

Garden of Fragrance

A walled sensory garden designed in 1965 inside the SF Botanical Garden for visitors with visual impairments, with plants chosen for scent and texture and Braille labels on redwood blocks. Many of the walls are built from stones of a 12th-century Spanish monastery shipped to San Francisco by William Randolph Hearst. Included with garden admission (free for SF residents).
Classic

Exploratorium

Hands-on science museum founded in 1969 by physicist Frank Oppenheimer, relocated to Pier 15 on the Embarcadero in April 2013. About 600 exhibits at a time, drawn from over 1,000 the museum has built. After Dark Thursdays are 18+ with cocktails. The Tactile Dome needs a separate reservation.
Classic

Seward Street Slides

Two long concrete slides built into a steep hillside in 1973, designed by 14-year-old Kim Clark, who won a design competition organized by sculptor Ruth Asawa. The park opened after a decade of neighborhood resistance, including a 1966 sit-in. Grab cardboard from the pile at the bottom. Free, Tuesday through Sunday 10am to 5pm.