San Francisco is the leading financial and cultural center of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Crowne Plaza Hotel is near the BART rail station which can take you downtown to enjoy the sights the city has to offer.
San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California, after Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose, and the 14th most populous city in the United States with a population of just under 1 million people.
San Francisco (Spanish for "Saint Francis") was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for St. Francis of Assisi a few miles away. The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. Due to the growth of its population, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. During World War II, San Francisco was the port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater.
Today, San Francisco is ranked 35th of the top tourist destinations in the world, and was the sixth most visited one in the United States. The city is renowned for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, the former prison on Alcatraz Island, and its Chinatown district.
Here are a small samplings of some of the sights you might like to take in while in San Francisco:
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Golden Gate Bridge. In 1937, it cost $0.50 to cross this globally recognizable landmark by car. The toll has since changed, but the bridge's awe-inspiring architecture has not. Experience it for free by walking or biking its 1.7-mile length.
Alcatraz Island. Relive history on "the Rock," where you'll stand in the prison cells of notorious criminals like Al Capone. Reach the island by ferry from Pier 33 (the fee includes an audio tour) and visit daytime if you prefer a self-guided experience, or in the evening for a more formal guided tour. |
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Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf satisfy tourists in search of food, shops, entertainment, and maritime views. Savor clam chowder in a bread bowl or watch as street performers of all kinds entertain. The real stars of the show, though, are the hundreds of lively sea lions on the marina's western docks.
Cable Cars! More than a century after the cable car system's creation for transportation, the trolleys operate today as more as a tourist attraction - and they're worth the experience. Sit outside and hang on tight. |
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Chinatown's 24 blocks are San Francisco's most crowded; they're densely packed with tourist-friendly shops, markets and restaurants. Don't miss the Golden Gate Cookie Factory (on Ross Alley), where every day, two women make 20,000 fortune cookies by hand.
Coit Tower, piercing the skyline from the top of Telegraph Hill, is where to get a bird's-eye view of the city. Built in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, some say the 210-foot tower resembles a fire-hose nozzle that stands in tribute to firefighters. The lobby's vibrant murals depict scenes from the 1930s, and an elevator goes all the way up. If you're feeling hearty, take the nearly 400 steep steps up and down - and look for the green parrots chirping along the way. |
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The Haight-Ashbury intersection, like Woodstock, was a pulsing point of the revolutionary '60s. Today, the Haight retains much of the hippie-bohemian culture of its heyday, despite slight gentrification. Psychedelic history lives on in the homes of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, take the Flower Power Tour, led by Izu, who has known the neighborhood since its historic prime.
Lombard Street between Hyde and Leavenworth streets comprises what's known as the world's "crookedest" street (though it's not). Created in 1922 with eight hairpin turns to manage the hill's steepness, it's lined with flowered walkways - and throngs of picture-snapping tourists. Photos are best from the bottom looking up. |
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The neoclassical-style California Palace of the Legion of Honor enshrines an impressive collection spanning 4,000 years of art, including works by Monet, Picasso, and Rodin, including a cast of The Thinker.
The Alamo Square is a is a residential neighborhood and park that is best known for the famous Painted Ladies row of Victorian houses on its east side along Steiner Street. It is often the subject of many a San Francisco postcard. There are also many other pretty Victorians encircling the lovely park. The park includes a playground and a tennis court, and is frequented by neighbors, tourists, and dog owners. On a clear day, the Transamerica Pyramid building and the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge can be seen from the park’s center. |
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