One of the highlights of the city is the beautifully situated Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge connects the city with the town of Sausalito. You can walk all the way to Sausalito on the pedestrian side of the bridge. From here you can take the pond back to San Francisco. It is recommended to walk on the pedestrian side across the bridge as it is a nice walk with great views. From Sausalito you have a wonderful view on Alcatraz and the skyline of San Francisco. It is quite a walk however, but it is possible to rent a bicycle. With a bit of luck the bridge is clouded in mist. This happens quite regularly and adds a wonderful effect to the sight of the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge has not only grown to be a symbol of the city, but also the state of California. The bridge has been declared to one of the seven existing world wonders.
A little south of the Golden Gate Bridge lies the Golden Gate Park. Because of the shape of the park it is often compared to the famous Central Park. Yearly 13 million tourists come to visit the park. The park is therefore listed on the 3rd place of the most visited parks in the United States. Located in this park is a botanical garden, a Japanese garden and beautiful lakes. You will also find the California Academy of Sciences here. Part of this academy is a large scientific museum. In the Golden Gate Park you will also find some Dutch roots, namely two windmills. One of the windmills was given as a present by the Dutch queen Wilhelmina.
One of the most fun neighbourhoods in San Francisco is Fisherman's Wharf. This is an old fishermen neighbourhood that has slowly grow to be a sight in itself. In this neighbourhood you can find authentic restaurants and different shops. From the Fisherman's Wharf you have a beautiful view on Alcatraz. From here the boats leave in the direction of the island. It is also the starting point of the cable car.
A symbol of the city of San Fransisco is the Cable Car. This cable car is still manually operated and is the last one of its kind in California. The cable cars used to be functional to transport goods on the steep hills of the city. This used to happen with horses before but with wet weather accidents used to happen quite often. The cable car was the ultimate solution and is nowadays mostly used by tourists. By cable car you can visit different sights from Fisherman's Wharf, one of them being Lombard Street.
On the pier of Fisherman's Wharf you will find a shopping district named Pier 39. Besides shops, the inhabitants here are famous. On the pontoons near the yacht club namely live sea lions. In September 1989 they started living on the pier and before they used to primarily live on the rocks outside of the bay. A possible cause of moving might have been the earthquake in 1989. In California you often encounter sea lions, but nowhere you will see them as up close and personal as at Pier 39.
Alcatraz is an island located before the coast of San Francisco. From 1934 to 1963 the island was mainly known as a he highest security prison in the States. Only dangerous prisoners or fugitives were taken to this prison. One of the most famous prisoners of those times was Al Capone. There are different stories going round of the prison. Like the escape of Morris and the Anglin brothers. It is definitely recommended to pay a visit to Alcatraz. You will experience the stories of the prisoners anew when you take a look in the maximum security prison. It is recommended to reserve tickets far in advance. Regularly the tickets sell out. Try to score a ticket at least 6 weeks in advance through the internet.
Union Square is a gigantic square located in the city. Around this square you will find the most important shopping area of the city. Besides shopping there are different hotels, theatres and restaurants. The square itself is used presently for the organising of events. During the winter months a giant christmas tree is put up.
Besides New York, San Fransisco knows the biggest Chinatown of North America. The entrance to the neighbourhood has a beautiful Chinese gate, which makes you totally forget that you are in America. In the streets you will find Chinese street lights, decorations and pagoda roofs. Sometimes it seems like you are in a big Chinese city because you will primarily see Chinese people walking around and running their shops. If you want to eat delicious Chinese food then you can go to one of the hundreds of restaurants in Chinatown.
Of course a big American city like San Francisco has skyscrapers. The biggest skyscraper in San Fransisco is the Transamerica Pyramid. Inside the skyscraper different companies are housed. Unfortunately it is not possible to have a look inside. The architecture of the building is quite special. The skyscraper is 260 meters high and is the biggest of the city.
One of the most famous streets of the city is Lombard Street. This street is build against a steep hill of 27 degrees. Because the hill is so steep, it is almost impossible to drive straight. For this reason the road has been laid in a zig zag manner. In total there are eight hairpin turns and the cars are waiting in line to go for the famous ride. When you want to make the ride yourself, then you should start on Hyde Street because Lombard Street is a oneway street. Officially, Lombard Street is the most crooked road in the world.
In San Francisco you will encounter different old buildings. This is getting rarer in most American cities. Most of the old buildings are built in Victorian style. The most famous houses are those on Alamo Square. This row of Victorian houses was also used in the tv-series Full House. The row of houses is called the Painted Ladies. Despite that there are different Victorian houses to be found in the city, they have mostly been lost. In 1906 there was a big earthquake in the city with a resulting fire. This fire destroyed most of the wooden Victorian houses. From Alamo Square you not only have a wonderful view on the Painted Ladies, but also on the Golden Gate Bridge, Oakland Bay Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid.
