Exploring San Francisco
Posted by Gav Grayston.First Published Jul 2018; updated Jun 2023.
There are lots of things to see in San Francisco, from China Town to Fishermans Wharf. Here are some of the sights we took in.
San Francisco is quite an easy city to walk around if you don't mind hills that is.
One of the decorated buildings in San Francisco
There are a few places not recommended for tourists (like near our hotel, for example), but if you stick to near the Bay and up 5 blocks or so, you should be ok.
Though, even down at Fisherman's Warf, a guy was walking around stark naked!
These sunbathing sea lions call San Francisco their home.
There are of course trams that run, though we found they weren't that regular and very crowded. The historic streetcars are expensive with long queues to ride them.
One of the historic cable car. This one is suprisingly empty. They are usually very full.
Despite being our first time in San Francisco, we had ridden some of the trams before, as some used to run up and down the promenade at Blackpool!
Some of these trams used to operate in Blackpool
We got a good value multi-trip pass with the Big Bus Tour, where you can hop on and off around the city, see the sights, including going over the Golden Gate Bridge and get a commentary about what you are seeing.
Oh, and the double-decker buses are also old busses from the UK.
Corssing the iconic Golden Gate Bridge
Down at Fisherman's Warf, there are attractions and plenty of places to eat.
We went to the Rocket Boat and the Liberty Ship, which brought supplies to the UK during World War 2.
This Liberty Ship delivered supplies to the UK during World War 2
The rocket boat was great fun. It went under and around the Bay Bridge.
One thing the city is known for is earthquakes, and we experienced one of those too! We were woken at night by a loud rumble and everything in the room swaying. It was most weird and worrying also.
It turned out to be the strongest quake the city had in seven years and was the topic of conversation of the locals that day. Unfortunately, some people had died across the Bay.
Evening view of San Francisco from the Bay Bridge
After three days in the city, we were glad to leave. We collected another hire car from the airport and headed to the Pacific Coast Highway.