San Francisco Attractions: Navigating the City by the Bay

Lifestyle Fashion

For whatever reason you visit, San Francisco attractions that entertain, educate and enlighten will compete for your attention.

Entering San Francisco from the north, we can cross the Golden Gate Bridge. It is an iconic landmark that has come to represent the City by the Bay. Spanning the Golden Gate Sound since 1937, the bridge connects Marin County to the north with the Presidio district of San Francisco.

The Presidio

Following Highway 1 south, exiting the Golden Gate Bridge, we crossed woPresidio district built. Once a US military garrison., the Presidio is now part of the national park system as it is Alcatroot island.

Highway 1 It continues south into Golden Gate Park, but we have a couple of truly picturesque San Francisco attractions to visit before entering the park. Just turn right to go west on Geary Boulevard and a few blocks through the Richmond district reveals a wide curve of the highway heading south along the west coast.

Cliff house

The world famous Cliff Hor i know The restaurant sits on the bend with a great backdrop of the Pacific Ocean and the group of Seal Rocks. The vague outline of the Sutro Bath Ruins is nearby.

Sutro Baths

Once the Sutro Spa It was a gigantic Victorian greenhouse-like structure which covered swimming pools, a museum of curiosities and a restaurant until it was burned to the ground. All of this is on the edge of the Lincoln Park district to the north, home to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Golden gate park

Golden gate park

Continuing south, the Great Highway runs parallel to the coast. This entire area is protected as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Enjoy a couple of miles of this beautiful coastline and then turn left onto John F. Kennedy Blvd to enter Golden gate park. As the Dutch windmill and the Beach Chalet restaurant feel the stresses of everyday life dissolve as we navigate the grassy fields and groves. The urban life of the cosmopolitan city is lost in the enchanted surroundings.

It’s amazing how many of San Francisco’s famous attractions are found amongst these green glades and small bodies of water. You will pass the golf clubhouse and soccer fields before finding Buffalo Paddocks, where bison have grazed since the 1890s, on your left. On the other side are the Anglers Lodge and Fly Casting pools, close to the polo fields.

Further on the left is the Model Yacht Club and Spreckels Lake.

Dutch windmill in Golden Gate Park

On the right hand side are large picnic areas with barbecue grills and lawns before JFK Drive meets Highway 1, where it crosses Golden Gate Park as Park Presidio Drive.

We are a little more than halfway through the park and most of the cool things to see are still ahead of us:

  • Academy of sciences
  • Conservatory of Flowers
  • From Young Museum
  • Japanese tea garden
  • Music Contest
  • Strybing Arboretum

Stow Lake

Don’t miss the circular drive around Stow Lake with its island called Strawberry Hill and the scenic views as the road climbs up to the lake. There is something for everyone in activities:

  • Baseball fields
  • Tennis courts
  • Bowling fields
  • Horseshoe pit
  • Handball courts

And other fun places like the playground and the carousel to hang out visit San Francisco.

Flower power

In a city that was once the center of the ‘Flower Power’ movement, you could expect a garden or two.

  • AIDS Memorial Grove
  • Botanical Gardens
  • Queen Wilhelmina’s Tulip Garden
  • Rose Garden
  • Shakespeare flowers

And those are just the ones that share the long stretch of Golden Gate Park with the Japanese Tea Garden, there are plenty of other garden spots throughout San Francisco.

Dr. John F. Kennedy will take you to the many wonders of Golden Gate Park and then out of the park down Oak St. in what is known as the Panhandle.

Haight and Ashbury

A couple of blocks out of the park, we turn right onto Ashbury St. and then a long block brings us to the intersection made famous by the Hip, Haight, and Ashbury generation.

Turning left on Haight we continue onto Scott St. where our path takes us north (left) to Scott, where approximately half a dozen blocks takes us to Fulton Ave. and Alamo Park on your right.

Alamo Park Painted Ladies

It is in Alamo Park where you will find the classic postcard view of restored Victorian houses, called Painted Ladies, with the San Francisco skyline as a backdrop. This is probably the most photographed place in a very photogenic city.

A right turn on Fulton takes us to City Hall and the Civic Center. To the left is the Veterans Building and to the right is the Opera House and Symphony Hall. A quick left takes us past the …

  • Civic Center Square
  • Civic auditorium
  • library
  • Asian Art Museum

And then we are at Market Street and the Civic Center Muni station.

East towards the bay on Folsom St. will take us quickly to the Embarcadero.

The Embarcadero

This one-way street skirts the San Francisco Bay shoreline to the east and the heart of the City to the west.

A few long blocks and we will pass between the Ferry Building and Justin Herman Plaza. Elegant palm trees tower over the crowds of shoppers and tourists here, at the end of two great avenues in San Francisco. Market and California streets converge one block from this point.

Coit Tower

Passing the odd-numbered piers (the piers are numbered from Ferry Bldg., Odd to the north and even south) we arrive at Levi’s Plaza, crossing the Embarcadero from Pier 29. This is the world headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co. and houses its visitor center.

Behind the plaza, atop Telegraph Hill, is one of the San Francisco attractions that has come to symbolizes the city of the bay in photographs since its construction in 1933. The views from Coit Tower offer truly magnificent panoramic views. With the historic murals painted inside and the flock of wild parrots that have made Telegraph Hill their home, you can get colorful visual treats all year long.

Fisherman’s Wharf

Leaving Coit Tower and the North Beach district behind, we began to turn west as we entered the center of San Francisco tourism … Fisherman’s Wharf. This district is something of a cross between an ongoing street festival and a tourist trap.

Do not miss it! Fresh Dungeness Crab, from the ship that morning (Fish Alley, the commercial docks, are just a few blocks away), scooped out of a steaming curbside cauldron and served with a delicious cocktail sauce … unforgettable.

  • Pier 39
  • Aquarium of the Bay
  • Ripley’s museum, believe it or not
  • San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
  • The wax museum

And different docks and piers where you can find Bay Cruises. They line up at the Embarcadero to help you. visit San Francisco attractions located offshore. The Embarcadero transforms into Jefferson St. (Fish Alley), so we must turn left on Hyde St. and right on Beach Street to reach one of the most famous places in the city.

Ghirardelli Square

Located across the street from the Water Park is the historic chocolate factory, Ghirardelli Square. Now there is an open and spacious shopping area with restaurants, ice cream parlor and a display of old chocolate making equipment from the factory heyday.

Walk one block east to find the Powell-Hyde St. Cable Car U-turn for a fun way to explore the colorful heart of San Francisco. Or turn left on Polk and then right on Bay Street to cross the edge of Fort Mason.

Fort Mason

Heading west as we continue our tour of San Francisco, circumnavigating the city by the bay. Just one block from Ghirardelli Square is Fort Mason. Tea ex military real estate on the San Francisco Peninsula it has become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the headquarters is located at Fort Mason Center.

A right turn on Laguna will bring us back to Beach St. This is the last stretch when we cross the Marina district and return to our starting point, the Presidio. Here we will find one of the most memorable and photogenic attractions in San Francisco.

Palace of Fine Arts

Originally, the Palacio de Bellas Artes was conceived as a temporary structure for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915, which celebrates the opening of the Panama Canal.

Reminiscent of a Greek temple, its classic lines are reflected in a beautiful little lake. Swans glide through the water as visitors and locals enjoy the serene atmosphere of the surrounding park.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *