San Francisco

Dressing for the fog

San Francisco Travel says it's summer year-round between noon and 3 p.m., and that outside those hours you should bring layers. Temperatures seldom rise above 70°F (21°C) or fall below 40°F (5°C), but even in summer, morning and evening fog turns the air chilly fast. Microclimates mean the weather shifts from one neighborhood to the next. While Karl the Fog, as locals call it, blankets one part of the city, the sun can break through over Dolores Park in the Mission District, and the neighborhood pours out onto the grass.

Cable cars: cables instead of horses

At 4 a.m. on August 2, 1873, Andrew Hallidie tested the first cable car on Clay Street. He'd come up with the idea after watching horses being whipped as they slipped on wet cobblestones, hauling a horsecar uphill. A grip under the car reaches through a slot in the street and grabs a cable moving below, and that pull carries the car up and down the hills. Of the three remaining lines, two run from Powell & Market toward Fisherman's Wharf. At the Powell & Market, Bay & Taylor and Hyde & Beach stops, you have to pay before boarding from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., so set up the MuniMobile app or a Clipper card ahead of time.

The Golden Gate Bridge and Lands End

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to people before cars. On May 27, 1937, newspapers of the day estimated that up to 200,000 people walked across. Its color, International Orange, came from consulting architect Irving F. Morrow, who took the idea from the red primer on the towers he saw while commuting to the site by ferry. Pedestrians can only use the east sidewalk, the side facing the city. It opens at 5 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. during daylight saving time (early March to early November) and at 6:30 p.m. the rest of the year. While the suicide deterrent net is being built, it closes an hour early on some weeknights. At the city's northwest corner, the Lands End trail is windy, but every bend opens onto cliffs and the Golden Gate strait. The ruins of the Sutro Baths sit along the way, and the Spanish named this headland Point Lobos after the sea lions that hauled out on the rocks offshore.

Alcatraz: an island in the bay

Alcatraz Island was a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963. After it closed, Native Americans occupied the island in 1964 and again from 1969 to 1971. The only way there is the ferry run by Alcatraz City Cruises under contract with the National Park Service. Boats leave from Pier 33, and there's no parking at the landing. Cancel at least 72 hours ahead and you'll get a refund, so book on the official site as soon as your dates are set. While you wait for your boat, stop by K-Dock at PIER 39. Sea lions started hauling out there shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake in October 1989, and in May–June 2024 more than 2,100 of them crowded in.

A different era in every neighborhood

• Chinatown — born in the 1849 Gold Rush and rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, it's the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. Enter through the Dragon Gate on Grant Avenue, walk the lantern-hung street, then look in on the produce and fish markets on Stockton Street. • North Beach — a neighborhood shaped by its Italian-American community. City Lights bookstore keeps the Beat Generation's mark, and Coit Tower, built in the 1930s, crowns Telegraph Hill. • Mission District — Mission Dolores was founded on June 29, 1776, and its old mission building is the oldest in the city. The murals of Balmy Alley are here, too. • Haight-Ashbury — more than 100,000 people converged here for the 1967 Summer of Love. The postcard-famous Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies are close by.

Food: bread, burritos and a market

Boudin Bakery has been baking tangy sourdough since 1849, and the wild-yeast mother dough it has kept since 1868 still lives at its Fisherman's Wharf bakery. Hollow out a loaf and fill it with clam chowder, and you'll warm up fast after the sea wind. In the Mission District, try a Mission-style burrito stuffed with rice, beans and meat; in Chinatown, dim sum. In front of the Ferry Building, on the waterfront since 1898, a farmers market runs year-round on Saturdays (8 a.m.–2 p.m.) and Tuesdays and Thursdays (10 a.m.–2 p.m.), bringing together seasonal food from California farms.

A 5-day itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive at San Francisco International (SFO) → BART into the city → dinner in Chinatown Day 2 — Cable car from Powell & Market → sea lions at PIER 39 → Alcatraz from Pier 33 Day 3 — Golden Gate Bridge east sidewalk → Lands End trail → dinner in North Beach Day 4 — Redwoods at Muir Woods (parking or shuttle reservation required; $15, ages 16+) → Mission District → Haight-Ashbury Day 5 — Ferry Building (market Tue, Thu, Sat) → Cable Car Museum (free; closed Mondays) → airport

What to eat

• Sourdough bread (Boudin Bakery)
• Clam chowder (in a sourdough bowl)
• Mission burrito (Mission District)
• Dim sum (Chinatown)

Handy tips

• A cable car ride costs $9 with no transfers. If you'll ride more than once a day, a Visitor Passport ($15 for one day, $35 for three) covers cable cars too and works out cheaper.
• Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns that car break-ins happen often across the Bay Area, wherever you park, and that thieves sometimes open trunks. Leave nothing in a parked rental car, trunk included.
• The Golden Gate Bridge toll applies only southbound into the city, and no cash is taken at the bridge. If you skip your rental company's toll program (most add a convenience fee), make a one-time payment on the Bay Area FasTrak site within 48 hours of crossing.