Introducing San Francisco:

San Francisco is not a geographical location; it’s a vast social experiment in the making; the place where the future gets tested, not only technologically but also socially, or how the locals put it: ‘San Francisco is a state of mind’. Located on the end of a peninsula, at the southern edge of the Golden Gate, the City of San Francisco is just 7 x 7 square miles, but its history and influence have been felt worldwide. As the main city of the San Francisco Bay Area, it has been at or near the epicenter of several important cultural and technological revolutions, a focus point for the hippy movement during the summer of love of 1967, an emerging gay Mecca during the 1970’s and important research center that gave us Silicon Valley, personal computers and internet corporations, including Apple, Hewett Packard, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, Facebook and many more. San Francisco & the Bay Area have also been a center for innovative filmmaking with the aid of technology: Lucas films (Star Wars) and Pixar (Toy Story, UP) are both based there. The San Francisco Bay Area’s incredible ethnic diversity, progressive spirit and breathtaking natural and structural wonders have made the City of San Francisco one of the most visited tourist destinations on earth. But San Francisco wasn’t always a tourists’ paradise; founded by the Spanish as a Mission dedicated to St Francis of Assisi in 1776 located on the windswept and foggy tip of a barren peninsula of sand dunes.

The Mission remained a backwater as it changed from a Spanish rule to Mexican and then as a part of the California Republic and eventually the USA. It was the gold rush of 1848 that established San Francisco firmly on the map and set off successive waves of immigration from all over the world, particularly from Asia and Europe. 1906 saw the City of San Francisco almost totally a destroyed after a strong earthquake and subsequent fires razed most of the city. San Francisco rebuilt and by 1935 it had avoided the worst of the depression with work on its dual bridges: The Iconic Golden Gate Bridge, joining the city with Marin County and the more utilitarian but extremely important Bay Bridge, linking Downtown San Francisco with Oakland. The city suffered another strong earthquake in 1989, when entire blocks in some neighborhood were razed by fires and the city’s aerial freeway system buckled and was dismantled, bringing in positive urban renewal by opening the views along the Embarcadero and turning the ferry building into an attractive tourist area. They say that only Manhattan can compete with San Francisco’s amazing culinary variety; there is always a new trendy restaurant opening or a small ethnic eatery to discover and sometimes a walk along San Francisco feels live traveling through five different continents and cultures in one hour: From Chinatown to North Beach, from the Castro to Height Asbury, from Downtown to the Sunset District and the beach, the possibilities are endless.

Getting Around:

San Francisco is served by San Francisco International Airport, located south of the city in San Mateo County; a rail line connects the airport with San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area Rapid Transit commuter rail system. Oakland airport, across the bay from San Francisco, serves mostly domestic flights and has a shuttle that connected to the closest BART (Fruitvale Station). Once in San Francisco, get a MUNI rail pass, valid in all the buses and MUNI rail trolleys inside San Francisco, the 7 day MUNI pass is also valid on the iconic San Francisco cable cars, a symbol of the city and a must for tourists.

Things To Do:

San Francisco’s mild winter weather makes it a perfect year round destination, most tourists first visit Fisherman’s Wharf, with its assortment of tourist traps among decent bars and eateries, don’t miss the colony of Sea Lions that live off pier 39. The Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps one of the most photographed bridges in the world, offers the best views of the majestic Golden Gate and the City of San Francisco, schedule a sunset visit for spectacular photos. Explore San Francisco’s varied ethnic and culturally unique neighborhoods, from the gay Mecca of Castro St, with its gay friendly stores and iconic old movie house: the Castro Theatre, focusing on classic Hollywood movies from the Golden Age of Cinema. The world famous Height Ashbury district was the epicenter of the summer of love and still offers a livery bohemian vive with good bars and ethnic eateries galore. Chinatown, resembling a classic old town in China, the Italian North Beach, Famous for gelato & pizza and the posh lounges and trendy restaurants of downtown, SOMA and Market street. Leave one day free to explore the Mission, San Francisco’s original neighborhood and now the center of Mexican and Central American food and culture, where you can visit the Mission Dolores, site of the original Mission of San Francis of Assisi. On longer stays head north to the Napa Valley for a taste the famous California wines.

Renting a car is a perfect way to discover the city. There are plenty of car rental services in San Francisco that take you to the most exquisite tourist destinations.

San Francisco Climate:

San Francisco experiences Mediterranean climate with cool and dry summers and mild, wet winters. May to October is a dry period when the weather is usually mild to warm. The months from November to April is usually cold with temperature ranging anywhere between 13–17°C during the daytime and during the nighttime. Snowfall is extremely rare in San Francisco.

Hotel Accommodation:

There are plenty of hotels in San Francisco and it offers a wide range of acclaimed accommodations – from luxury hotels to budget stay.

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