San Francisco Things to Do Tips by Bwana_Brown

We spent an enjoyable day just driving and walking around the various parts of San Francisco - there are so many interesting and different parts of the city to see that it is amazing! After we had finished our lunch, we ambled through Levi's Plaza and had this view of the Coit Tower in the background. The whole city is a very relaxing place to enjoy!

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Phone: (415) 362- 0808
Address: Along The Embarcadero.
Directions: Between Fisherman's Wharf and the Bay Bridge
Website: http://www.coittower.org/

On the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge is its namesake National Recreational Area. This is a very interesting landscape of mostly treeless hills overlooking the waves of the Pacific Ocean. The area was formerly a WW2 military base used as part of the coastal defense system for San Francisco Harbour. As a result, there are a number of old military buildings down by Rodeo Beach and a network of paved roads and trails weaving through the hills to some of the gun emplacement locations. Due to the unstable nature of the soil in this area, most of the hillside road system is blocked to traffic - leaving it as a very convenient walking route! While we were elevated on the trail, I decided to concentrate on the inshore ocean to see if there were any whales about (since I had seen them in a similar situation while in Nova Scotia, Canada). Sure enough, after a few minutes of eye-balling for disturbances on the water surface, I spotted a spout as a whale surfaced for air (I was glad that I had my bird-watching binoculars with me for a close-up look!). It was not long before we were able to observe the pod making its way slowly north along the shore, coming up for air every few minutes, not far from the surfing activity on Rodeo Beach! It was an unexpected bonus on our hike!

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Address: Not far from Point Bonita Lighthouse
Directions: Coast on north side of Golden Gate Bridge

It was very relaxing to wander around the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean, not far from the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The wild flowers were putting on a great display and kites and hawks were soaring overhead! A great spot to just stroll around at leisure and take in the whole scene from a great vantage point!

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Directions: Near Ft. Kronkhite, on the trails leading up off Rodeo Beach.

San Francisco is famed for its hilly terrain - and it really does make this a fantastic place to visit. The views are constantly changing! You should try to get to Lombard Street in the Russian Hill district for a great view of the city combined with a look at one of the world's strangest streets. One block of this street winds down a 45 degree slope through a series of S-bends decorated with various shruberies. We went down it in our car and I had to go back up again (by a different street) to get a photo! This shot shows a car beginning its descent with the Coit Tower visible in the distance.

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Address: Lombard Street. Descent begins at Hyde Street.
Directions: Russian Hill district

You have to go visit and drive across the Golden Gate Bridge - it really does look spectacular and has a great setting! On our way back south into San Francisco at about 4 PM, the normal $5 toll was waived for us because, as I found out later, there were four of us in the car and we qualified for the car-pool exemption during that afternoon period! View of the bridge from the Battery Spencer area on its northern side. This is an area of fortifications built in 1895 to protect the harbour. The bridge itself opened for traffic in 1937 after a 4-year construction project.

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Phone: (415) 921-5858
Address: Northwestern Tip of San Francisco Peninsula
Directions: The bridge is Highway 101's link from San Francisco to the counties North.
Website: http://www.goldengatebridge.org

The view from the Twin Peaks provides a very nice panorama of the city! It is definitely worth the effort to drive up the winding road to the vantage point. Unfortuneately for us, that particular morning was a little bit hazy, so our photos did not come out as clearly as they would have on the other days that we were in SF.

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Directions: Close to the Castro and Haight areas of the city.

After finishing our day outing in the area of the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped off in the north-side community of Sausalito to admire its quaint streets, hillside housing and fine views of the city. This photo of the park on its main street was taken as we were walking down to lunch at the Water Street Grille.

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Directions: Along Water St. in Sausalito.