San Francisco, CA

What to do in San Francisco, CA

City Tours

Get oriented and get an overview of the famous sights in a quick and coherent manner, with knowledgeable guides clueing you in to facts you might not otherwise learn. In one morning you can swing by the Opera House, Japanese Tea Garden, view the city from atop the cliffs, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and still more!.

Alcatraz

The Rock, just a mile and a half from Fisherman's Wharf, is a craggy little islet that was originally home to thousands of pelicans (named "Isla de los Alcatrazes" - Island of the Pelicans - by the Spaniards). It became the site of the first lighthouse on the Pacific Coast, had a brief stint in the 19th century as a military fortress, and was finally converted into America's most dreaded federal prison, housing such notorious convicts as Al Capone. Take a self-guided tour, slide-show, and audio cassette tours narrated by former guards and inmates.

Chinatown

This Chinese community is one of the largest outside Asia. Exotic shops, restaurants, and venerable Chinese institutions crowd the streets. Cantonese and Mandarin are the main languages spoken around the pagodas, decorative balconies, and dragon-entwined street lamps. Visit herb shops, a fortune cookie factory, and Chinese markets.

Day Trip to Wine Country

Just a short drive and a world away from the metropolitan Bay Area are the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, where the most ordinary of fruits is transformed into world-class gold and ruby wine. Frontier history combines with charming and gentle old towns of ponds and walkways, rose gardens, and spacious lawns to exude a peaceful, dignified feeling where even tourists seem like "just ordinary folks." Many wineries dot the valleys and welcome visitors for tastings and tours that explain how the grapes go from seed to goblet.

Day Trip to Monterey Bay and Carmel

This region was the muse of such creative geniuses as Robert Louis Stevenson, Upton Sinclair, Ansel Adams, and John Steinbeck. These towns used to be reclusive byways, and though they are now tourist centers, they have managed to retain their charm. Silky-white beaches, boutique-lined streets, and Spanish missions vie for your attention in these Pacific small-town gems.

Day Trip to Sausalito

Serenity and jaunty fun have beckoned boaters to these wholesome shores for centuries. From early whalers, to fishermen, ferries, to sailboats, yachts, and houseboats, boating has always been Sausalito's enduring and endearing distinction. Its past and present are filled to the brim with colorful characters and ribald legend.

Muir Woods

A walk in the woods of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area gives you a chance to connect with ancient times by merely standing beneath some of the oldest trees in America - the awesome redwoods. There are many trails mild enough for the greenest hiker, while others challenge the more intrepid climbers. Few people leave without feeling refreshed to their very souls.

Cable Cars

This is one of the few places in the world where you can ride about on a national historic landmark. Refurbished and equipped with new tracks, cables, turntables, and cable propulsion machinery, they run pretty much as they did in 1873 when the first car glided down Clay Street.

Fisherman's Wharf

Munching on the many just-fished fresh treats sold at hundreds of stalls is one of the most popular things to do in San Francisco. It's great fun to get caught up in a gaggle of food stand vendors offering fresh and tasty crab and clam chowder served in sourdough bowls. There are also many sit-down eateries, bars, souvenir shops, tour ferries, and fishing charters filling every nook and cranny of the Wharf.

Jack Kerouac Street

The ultimate stop on the Beat pilgrimage, home to Vesuvio's, where Jack and his pals were known to have a few rounds. Next door is the City Lights bookstore, still run by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.