San Francisco officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of theSan Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.5 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland.[10] The only consolidated city-county in California,[11] it encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km2) on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, giving it a density of about 17,179 people per square mile (6,632 people per km2). It is the most densely settled large city (population greater than 200,000) in the state of California and the second-most densely populated large city in the United States after New York City.[13] San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 805,235 as of the 2010 Census. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area has a population of 4,335,391.
In 1776, colonists from Spain established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi on the site.[15] The California Gold Rush of 1849 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, increasing the population in one year from 1,000 to 25,000,[16] and thus transforming it into the largest city on the West Coast at the time. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire,[17] 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.[18] After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, massive immigration, liberalizing attitudes, and other factors (Vietnam) led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States.
Today, San Francisco is one of the top tourist destinations in the world,[19] ranking 35th out of the 100 most visited cities worldwide,[20] and is renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and its famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge,cable cars, and Chinatown. The city is also a principal banking and finance center, and the home to more than 30 international financial institutions,[21] helping to make San Francisco rank eighteenth in the world's top producing cities, eighth in the United States, and ninth place in the top twenty global financial centers.
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is the great icon of San Francisco. It was opened in May 1937 after over four years of construction work. Since then it has only ever been closed on three occasions due to exceedingly high winds.
Marvel at the 1.7 miles of this stunning feat of architecture. Take in the panoramic views of the bridge from the bus from either side of the bay and delight in your open-top vantage point above all other traffic as you cross in both directions. You might also like to hop off and cross the bridge on foot or by bicycle, feeling the ocean breeze in your hair as you look down on the bay 220ft below you.
Chinatown
The oldest Chinese immigrant neighborhood in the United States, San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. Its origins lie in the migration of Cantonese laborers who settled in the area after the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The community grew further with the arrival of Chinese sailors who wished to jump on the lucrative bandwagon of the Gold Rush years.
Chinatown provides an exciting barrage of sights, sounds and tastes. Enjoy the colorful chaos from the top of the bus – the lanterns, banners, shops, restaurants and elaborate gateways of this fascinating neighborhood; or hop off for a while to explore the alleys; sample the cuisine; or if you’re feeling lucky just head to the fortune cookie factory!
Golden Gate Park
It is no coincidence that Golden Gate Park is the third most visited park in the United States. It’s even bigger than Central Park in New York. The Park is full of magnificent horticultural landscaping, specific attractions and structures of interest, including the Kezar and Golden Gate Stadiums; the Japanese Tea Garden – the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States; the Conservatory of Flowers and the De Young museum – a fine art museum opened almost a century ago in 1921.
The California Academy of Sciences is one of the largest museums of natural history in the world. It was completely rebuilt in 2008 to the design of world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, and houses the vastSteinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium and the Kimball Natural History Museum.
Look out for all of these things as the bus takes you right through the heart of Golden Gate Park. And down forget to scan the park for its famous bison, which have roamed in Bison Paddock since 1891!
Haight Ashbury
Students, beatniks and hippies started moving into this area in the 1950s, establishing it as something of a rebel enclave. Haight Ashbury really came to prominence in the 1960s when the band The Grateful Dead were photographed on the corner of these two eponymous streets and a legend was born.
To this day, Haight Ashbury remains a bastion of bohemian culture, although perhaps a little more commercialized than in years gone by. Scratch the surface though and you’ll discover some leftist bookshops, intellectual cafes and even the odd original hippie.
Civic Center
There is almost too much to marvel at in this concentrated area of grand neo-classical civic buildings. The original Civic Center was built at the start of the twentieth century as a home to the City Hall and the Hall of Records, however, the massive earthquake of 1906 destroyed them both.
The architect Daniel Burnham designed this section of San Francisco as just one element of a much wider design for the rebuilding of the city – to be part of the “City Beautiful” movement. In the event, the Civic Center was the only element of his grand vision to be realized.
Burnham’s legacy is nonetheless impressive, with San Francisco City Hall, the Public Library, the War Memorial Opera House, War Memorial Veteran’s Building and the old and new State Buildings being just some of the imposing edifices that contribute to the grandeur of this magnificent area.
Union Square
So called because it was a gathering place for supporters of the unionist movement on the eve of the Civil War, Union Square is now the hub of one of the world’s most vibrant shopping districts.
Take of a tour around the square, flanked as it is by Macys, Saks and the impressive Westin St Francis Hotel; or explore the surrounding blocks - home to countless department stores, boutiques, salons and outfitters.
Stroll into the Theater District to see what shows are playing, or down to Hallidie Plaza – the city’s great crossroads. If you’re in need of a break, however, just take a seat in Union Square itself, which offers some measure of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle of the area.
The Painted Ladies
The so-called Painted Ladies of Alamo Square are not in fact ladies at all, but Victorian Houses that form part of one of the unmissable picture-postcard vistas of San Francisco.
Wander uphill a little way from the Painted Ladies and enjoy an unrivalled vantage point from which to photograph or simply take in the breathtaking views of the city.
North Beach & Little Italy
In between Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown lies North Beach – no longer an actual beach as the name implies since the coastal expansion above Francisco Street pushed the beaches further northwards.
It was the Gold Rush in the middle of the nineteenth century that sparked a major wave of Italian immigration to San Francisco, and the majority of the new arrivals, most of them fishermen from Liguria in northern Italy, settled in the North Beach area. Over subsequent years, the community established the Italian restaurants, bakeries and delicatessens that formed the character of the neighborhood as a genuineLittle Italy.
A hundred years on, writers like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac made North Beach the epicenter of the Beat generation; which was just the start of the city’s cultural rebellion. They were followed by subsequent generations of hippies, gay people and ravers that all contributed to the establishment of San Francisco as the great countercultural hub of the United States
Fisherman's Wharf
Although historically a hub of the local fishing trade, Fisherman’s Wharf is now largely devoted to the entertainment of San Francisco’s many visitors, with whom it has retained huge and consistent popularity.
Get here early in the day to fully enjoy the sights and sounds of the wharf before everyone else arrives. See the five wharf piers, and look out for the colony of sea lions that have based themselves between piers 39 and 41.
Find yourself some crab or chowder to snack on as you wander amongst the many street performers; then maybe head to Fish Alley to see the boats and boat sheds of the fishermen that still ply their trade in this historic area.
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