When you're looking at The Golden Gate Bridge from the Bay Bridge, it seems so insignificant, but when walking across it, you seem so insignificant. It's absolutely AMAZING!

The Golden Gate Bridge is truly a magnificent wonder of engineering and architecture. It's sure to be the most photographed bridge of all time, spanning the San Francisco Bay in glorious triumph.

I cannot really recall when I first became aware of San Francisco or the desire to visit this beautiful city, but I guess I must have seen pictures of the international orange Golden Gate Bridge sometime when I was small. Movies such as The Birds and Dirty Harry I only saw in my mid-twenties, while living in Japan (it is possible to see these movies at least three times per year, being broadcasted at all hours on Japan’s various networks). Finally seeing the bridge really made my day, and after many trips, I still enjoy both seeing and crossing the bridge as much as I did the first time.

Fact File:

Opened:
1937

Construction Cost:
$35 million ($1.2 billion in today’s money!)

Length:
1.7 miles

Suspension span:
4,200 feet

Towers:
746 feet

Toll:
$5 per car, southbound only

The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco and Marin Head County to the north. It can be seen from many vantage points inside the city, but I prefer the views close up from the Marin Heads, looking back towards the city. Here a road with the most amazing views of the bridge, city, and Pacific Ocean hugs the hillside. Several vista points are available. I prefer the stops closest to the bridge, where it seems almost within touching distance. Driving further along the road, the panorama becomes wider, with the bridge increasingly playing a smaller part in the larger overall picture (the photos below were taken from the third and second viewing points. The first was slightly crowded, and we were in a hurry elsewhere).

To get to this road, turn right at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge when driving from San Francisco. Ignore the crowded vista point immediately next to the road and turn left at the first opportunity. Cross underneath the highway and then turn left again and veer to the right (or return straight back onto the bridge!). From here, enjoy the curvy road and several viewing points. If in a hurry, turn back before the road becomes one-way only. The one-way section starts with a dramatic, very steeply sloped road that gives the impression that you are going to plunge into the Pacific Ocean – a feeling enhanced when you are not yet accustomed to the rather soft feel of the rental car’s brake pedal. However, after this dramatic moment, the views are not particularly good, and the return to the main road is via uninspiring but dead-slow back roads through this nature conservation area. However, if planning to get out of the car and walk, do continue and enjoy the views on the walk to Point Bonita Lighthouse

Opened in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is quite possibly San Francisco's most famous landmark. The massive 1.7-mile structure crosses the mouth of San Francisco Bay, connecting the city to Marin County to the north. The bridge not only provides a vital link in the area's highway system, but it also is a major tourist destination - each year thousands of people make the trip to visit the bridge and admire it's enormous art deco-styled structure.

Despite several previous trips to San Francisco, I had not actually been to the Golden Gate Bridge until my Labor Day 2003 trip. I'm surprised it took my fourth trip to the city for me to finally visit the bridge, as large suspension bridges have always fascinated me. Despite multiple trips to the Tacoma Narrows, Fred Hartman, and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges, I had somehow never managed to make it to the Golden Gate. So, my first trip was somewhat of a pilgrimage, but it will definitely not be my last.

Getting to the bridge without a rental car takes a little time, but is not that difficult, as the Muni nos. 28 and 29 bus routes go directly to the southern end of the bridge and the visitor's center. The bridge is also reachable via Golden Gate Transit buses, which cross the bridge into Marin County.

The bridge can be driven across if you have a car, but you may also walk across the bridge on the east sidewalk. Bicyclists may also cross the bridge on the sidewalks, using the east sidewalk at night and during the day, and the west sidewalk during evening rush hours. Information on biking across the bridge is available on the Golden Gate Bridge website.

My travel companion and I chose to walk about halfway across the bridge. I actually wanted to continue the rest of the way to the northern end of the bridge and back, but his feet were sore from walking, and it was rather cold on the day we visited. Walking out onto the bridge is quite an experience, especially for those of us with a fear of heights. The bridge is approximately 220 feet above the water, and is so massive that it makes the ships passing below look like toys. Fortunately the sidewalk is wide, and, if you choose to walk close to the roadway, the vertigo I experienced looking over the guardrail to the bay below was nonexistent.

When visiting the bridge, be sure to take a jacket, even if the weather downtown is warm. On the day we visited, downtown San Francisco was sunny and mild, but the area around the bridge was shrouded in fog, with a stiff wind and air temperature of about 55° F. These weather conditions are not atypical, and tourists who were there in t-shirts and shorts were truly suffering.

For more information on the bridge's history and planning your visit to this San Francisco icon, see the Golden Gate Bridge website.

Most people only walk halfway across the bridge, but if you push yourself, you can see it's really not very difficult. It's free to cross and you can get there by bus. Once you get to the top of Vista Point, it is such a breathtaking view, it's all worth it. Walking back the bridge is easier than walking across it the first time. Although you feel like it takes forever and it is impossible, you feel a huge sense of boastful accomplishment. On the top of Vista Point (which only takes 15 or so minutes to walk), there is Battery Spencer. You don't have to cross it, but I found it to be creepy and spooky. It is an old watch point for the Bay and a temporary prison for those being transferred to Alcatraz. Vista Point is hardly worth avoiding for it, though, because the view from the top is my favorite. I would not, however, suggest taking your children all the way across the bridge, as it might be torturous to endure the complaining...

Golden Gate:
http://www.goldengate.org/

Vista Point:
http://www.lovetoeatandtravel.com/Site/Sfbay/SF/Fun/ggbridge.htm

Battery Spencer:
http://www.militarymuseum.org/BtySpencer.html
http://virtualguidebooks.com/NorthCalif/MarinNorthBay/ConzelmanRoad/BatterySpencerTop.html