Walking San Francisco

From Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf: Union Square has enough attractions to spend there a whole day; a walking day there is easily combined with Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf, the natural place to end the day by the bay. From the Cable car Museum to the Ferry Building: The museum – beyond holding a fascinating collection related to a unique transport method – is close to Nob Hill, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in town. Walking down, the SoMa district is reached and reveals some of San Francisco’s cultural richness. The Embarcadero area provides afterwards a suitable end to an enjoyable day. From Haight Ashbury to the Cliff House: Haight Ashbury allows to taste the sixties and is a good entry point to the Golden Gate Park. Ocean Beach is one of the most beautiful spots in town; the Cliff House is a great place to dine while watching the ocean. From the Golden Gate Bridge to Union Street: The bridge is a great prelude to a walk through the Presidio or the Golden Gate Promenade. Shopping and eating at the fancy restaurants of Union Streets will provide the necessary rest after an arduous walk.

Quick Tips:

San Francisco can be a though city to walk due to its slopes; however, planning the walks so that they begin at a high point ensures very pleasant walks downwards. The terrain in the parks is well cared and the sidewalks are clean and in good conditions, hence any type of walking shoes will do for these walks. Unfortunately, there is a definite sense of danger in the streets after dark; thus beginning the walks early and ending them before sunset is recommended. Water is a necessity while walking, but it can be ridiculously expensive in town, bringing it from downtown before venturing in less central areas is recommended. Food would be a necessity as well after an efforted walk. The San Francisco area is extraordinarily rich and varied; there are restaurants for all tastes and it seems that the whole globe is represented there. It is not just the variety; the amount is impressive as well. Except for Cambodia, where else can three Cambodian restaurants be found within walking distance from each other?

Best Way To Get Around:

To move between the different towns in the San Francisco area, the BART (www.bart.gov) train offers the best deals. Its pricing depends in the distance traveled and tickets can be conveniently bought from vending machines at the entrance. The only drawback is that each town is covered along a single axis and thus sometimes a second method of transport is needed. The MUNI (www.sfmuni.com) is a system of trains and buses serving the city of San Francisco. Tickets cost .50 and a free transfer ticket can be obtained and used within 90 minutes. The website offers a comfortable Trip Planner. AC Transit (www.actransit.org) is a system of buses covering the East Bay towns. Trips cost .75 and a .25 transfer ticket is valid for 90 minutes; trips can be planned through their website. Transbay buses cost .50 and cross the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. At San Francisco they conveniently stop at a terminal close to both Market and Mission streets. At www.sparetheair.org  it is possible to check if the current day is a Spare the Air Day; if so, all the options mentioned above are free.

This walking tour begins at the fashionable neighbourhood of Haight Ashbury and end at the Pacific Ocean, the very end of San Francisco.

The last bastion from the sixties, Haight Ashbury quarter can be reached from Market Street with bus number seven. Haight Street between Masonic (leave the bus just after the Buena Vista Park) and Stanyan hosts a plethora of restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, souvenir shops and old hippies. This is an appropriate place to have a breakfast and gather strength for a walk across the Golden Gate Park.

The huge park measures five kilometers length from the entrance at Haight Street to the Pacific Ocean, its width is just one kilometer and enough attractions are packed in this vast park to keep anyone busy for a week. Beginning in 1870, the former dunes were reclaimed and nowadays there are more than 3,500 species of plants in the park. The park is not just a gigantic, open botanic garden, and for sport fans it offers tennis courts, boats at the Stow Lake, an equitation field, a small nine holes golf course, soccer fields and endless paths for biking and jogging. San Francisco being the Asian capital of America, the park wouldn’t be complete without a wonderful Japanese Tea Garden next to the Stow Lake (the first lake while advancing westwards) and in that lake’s single island – called Strawberry Hill – a Chinese Pavillion.

The magnificent Dutch Mill marks the end of the park; it was built in 1902 and was used to pump water from underground to a reservoir on Strawberry Hill. However, in 1913 electric pumps were introduced and the mill became obsolete. It decayed slowly until a massive restoration effort ended in 1981, at its base is the colorful Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden.

Next to the mill is the Ocean Beach – one of the most beautiful spots in San Francisco. The coast is kept unspoiled; there are not any restaurants or shops obstructing the view of the ocean from the wide promenade running along it. The beach is too beautiful to leave; it is wide and has a fine, dark sand wet with salty, cold ocean water. Instead of leaving, it is recommended to walk along it to the north, toward the cliffs. There, on 1090 Point Lobos Avenue, is the Cliff House – which according to the owners is where San Francisco begins. The last statement depends on the direction you are looking from, but what is undeniably true is that it is the only restaurant in town facing the Pacific Ocean and that it was open in 1863. The food there is rather common and pricey (expect to pay above thirty dollars) but the views compensate for that. There is no better place to end such a splendid walk.

To return to downtown, walk back to the Golden Gate Park and turn left into Fulton Street, from where bus number five safely travels to Market Street.

Union Square – San Francisco’s heart – has enough attractions to spend there a whole day. Its name dates back to the Civil War and the statue at its center commemorates the war against Spain in 1898. Delimited by Post, Stockton, Geary and Powell streets, the square is surrounded by big shopping centers: Sacks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s share the plaza with Nike Town and Levi’s. Armani, Versace, Gucci, Hermes and other famous names are at walking distance. Borders have a major branch there and at the very center of the plaza is the sunny Emporio Rulli offering excellent Italian snacks and coffee. The Circle Gallery building at 140 Maiden Lane is a famous building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Advancing up and north through Stockton, Chinatown is reached after crossing California Street. The neighborhood main street is Grant – one block east of Stockton – but the last offers a more traditional view of it. Chinatown main attractions are the traditional structures – including graceful pagodas – and the plethora of shops selling everything from jade to dim sum through Chinese-seals. Eastern Bakery, at 720 Grant, claims to be the oldest Chinese bakery in the area, dating back to 1924 and provides an environment close to the one found in Beijing’s tea houses. Continuing north through Stockton, the colorful North Beach neighborhood is reached after crossing Union Street. Despite its name, the traditional Italian Quarter has no shores. Washington Square – next to Union Street –is its center and features a beautiful Catholic Church. The Vesuvio coffee shop on Columbus Avenue – on the western side of the park – is an excellent place to restore energies with an Italian cappuccino.

Further north, Stockton Street almost reaches Fisherman’s Wharf – the biggest tourists’ center in town. At Stockton’s end, turn right and then take the first left into Embarcadero; the wharf is just ahead with an incredible number of souvenir shops, restaurants and travel agencies. Pier 39 is the first pier on the row and a good place to eat a well earned seafood meal. From here it is possible to take ferries to Alcatraz, Sausalito, Tiburon, as well as bay tours. On Pier 45 the Pampanito submarine awaits visitors; nearby the Anchorage Shopping Center – on Jefferson Street – and the Cannery – next to it – are lively centers in the way to Ghirardelli Square, the old site of a chocolate factory. Beyond the rich shopping opportunities, the plaza is gorgeous, offers great views of the bay and the opportunity to taste the original chocolate that gave it its name. This walk along Stockton Street offers an easy walk as well as an opportunity to enjoy some of the main San Francisco attractions at your own pace.

The best way to reach the Golden Gate Bridge is from the Trans Bay Terminal (on 1st Street – near Market Street) with bus 70 or 80 ($2.85 every 30 minutes) or traveling with Muni 30 from Union Square until Chestnut and Laguna and from there Muni 28 until the bridge base. A short ramp gave access to the bridge and even from the very beginning, awesome views of the bay creates a symphony of cameras’ clicks. Walking across the bridge is free and easy: it is flat and the winds cool down the crossing crowds. The first massive column is just five minutes away from the entrance and the second one is a fifteen minutes walk from the first. The traffic is heavy, pedestrians, cyclists, teams of workers painting the bridge and narrow maintenance vehicles fiercely compete for the limited place, but the views compensate for everything.

San Francisco, the East Bay, Marin County, and Alcatraz appear behind a graduated mist, which increases with the distance. Back from the bridge, there are two options of interest: the Presidio and the Golden Gate Promenade. The Presidio is big enough to justify at least a whole day, but if the temptation is too big, there is a free bus – called PresidiGo – with forty stops covering the main sights in it. The second option – the promenade – keeps the bay in constant sight but with a total length of 6.4km it may be a bit too much to walk after crossing the bridge (another six kilometers round-walk); however, Muni 29 travels parallel to the promenade on Mason Street and enables a quick escape at all times. The promenade runs between the bay and Crissy Field – a former runway that has been transformed into a park.

The Warming Hut is an excellent place for a light snack and a natural exit point from the promenade after walking a quarter of it. Roughly half-way along the promenade appears the Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center which is worth a stop. After it, the walk is a bit monotonous but watch out as you approach the town for tourists on the extraordinary Segway Tours vehicles – an electric skate with two wheels sharing one axle. After such an arduous walk, a shopping or eating stop has been rightfully earned; luckily enough, some of the prime locations in town for it are nearby. Chestnut Street is a few blocks to the right along any of the north-to-south streets and Union Street runs parallel to it, for blocks further south. If already too tired for such a walk, Muni 22 from Marina Green (Marina corner Filmore) reaches both streets. Though late to wake up, both streets offer elegant stores and restaurants perfect for relaxing and enjoying a quiet afternoon and evening.

This walking tour begins near downtown’s center and reaches the Embarcadero Center at the very east end of San Francisco.

Anyone of the two cable car lines crossing Powell Street leads to the Cable Car Museum on the Washington and Mason corner. The museum allows a close look at the mechanism and history of this unique and anachronistic feature of San Francisco. The entrance is free and the museum opens every day from 10am to 5pm.

Climbing up through Mason Street until California Street, Nob Hill is reached. This is the neighbour where people that got rich constructing the transcontinental railway and on the Nevada silver mines chose to build their humble homes. The most prestigious hotels in town – the Fairmont, the Mark Hopkins, the Stanford and the Huntington – are all here. Huntington Square – near the Fairmont – hosts two attractions: the exclusive Pacific Union Club at the Flood Mansion and across the square from it, the Episcopalian Grace Cathedral, which resembles the Notre Dame in Paris and was constructed in 1928.

Walking down through Mason Street to Market Street – the main avenue dividing the city – is an easy affair that leads after crossing the last to the SoMa, the South of Market district. Its main attractions are nearby; advancing eastwards until the 4th Street and then turning right and walking until Mission Street, a big cultural center is reached. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ($12.50, closed on We), the Yerba Buena Gardens and Center for the Arts ($6, closed Mo), the Moscone Convention Center, the Metreon Center with its many restaurants, shops and cinemas and other institutions share this ultramodern area. South of the Center for the Arts is a statue of Martin Luther King Jr.

Back to Market Street, the city’s – and West Coast as well – Financial District can be appreciated while walking eastwards to the Ferry Building. The last is the big structure at the street’s end and it hosts nowadays a big Farmers’ Market. Despite its name it has several trendy restaurants from where it is possible to enjoy a well-earned lunch while watching the bay.

This area was known as the Barbary Coast and dates back to the Gold Rush, when gold was discovered in the state during the 1840s. The influx of fortune seekers created the foundations to what became a big area of warehouses, offices and saloons. In front of the Ferry Building is the huge Embarcadero Center – between the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Park Hyatt Hotel.

Occupying eight blocks, it includes everything from galleries and more than seventy shops to cinemas and is the perfect place to relax after a long and pleasant walk through the city. Its five towers were built between 1968 and 1983 and are one of the main commercial centers in San Francisco. It includes fashion shops for all tastes, shoes, luggage and leather goods, jewelry, optics, and houseware shops. Health stores, booksellers, art exhibitions and gourmet food shops complete the list. Worth a visit after a day walking around is the Godiva Chocolatier (at 2 EC – Street) that offers maybe the best chocolates in the world. Entertainment is available mainly in the form of the Embarcadero Center Cinema (at 1 EC, on the corner of Battery and Clay Streets) and may provide the perfect end for a busy day.