SF
Guide
Curated by a local tour guide.
What I recommend on tour, collected in one place.
Neighborhoods
All neighborhoods →The Embarcadero is the waterfront promenade along the eastern edge of San Francisco, running from Fisherman's Wharf to…
Fisherman's Wharf runs along the northern waterfront from Pier 39 west to Aquatic Park and Ghirardelli Square.
Hayes Valley is named for Thomas Hayes, who developed the area in the 1850s. Its current walkable form…
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
Swan Oyster Depot
Anthony Bourdain called this his favorite seafood spot in America on No Reservations.
Foreign Cinema
Films from the 1960s and 1970s projected on the courtyard wall.
Sotto Mare
Great Italian seafood in North Beach. Known for their Cioppino.
Things to Do
All activities →Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
A Chinatown shop hand-folding fortune cookies on motorized griddles since August 1962. Owner Franklin Yee runs the place, designated a SF Legacy Business in 2016. Free to watch the workers slip paper fortunes onto warm discs before folding; $0.50 per photo, $17 a box of cookies, $10 a bag of flat unfolded ones.
Musée Mécanique
More than 300 antique arcade machines in a private collection at Pier 45. Includes Laffing Sal (the laughing machine that stood at Playland at the Beach from 1928 to 1972). Ed Zelinsky started the collection as a child; his son Dan now runs it. Free. Machines cost $0.25–$1.00 per play. Bring quarters.
Tunnel Tops
A 14-acre park built on top of the Presidio Parkway tunnels, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the bay, and the Marin Headlands.
Best of San Francisco
All lists →Tours I Recommend
All tours →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…
Sunset Sail on San Francisco Bay
Sail under the Golden Gate Bridge aboard a 55-foot catamaran. A 90-minute sunset run past Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, and the city…
Muir Woods Half-Day Tour
A 4-hour guided trip from San Francisco to Muir Woods National Monument, with stops in Sausalito on the return. Hotel pickup included.
Upcoming Events
All events →Altin Gün at Regency Ballroom
Crashing Out Live
Super Diamond at Bimbo’s 365 Club
anaiis at Cafe Du Nord
7:00 PMCrashing Out Live
Arlo
Fatima Hajji presented by Public Works
Beats Antique at Ace of Spades
Arlo at The Independent
Fatima Hajji, S.i.m., Sandra Mane at Public Works
Asal at August Hall
Super Diamond & Starman SF at Bimbo’s 365 Club
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