Getting around by streetcar San Francisco

The famous little car, climbing up and down the hills, is one of San Francisco's greatest pleasures and one of its best-known icons. Three cable car lines serve Downtown's most interesting neighborhoods. The California runs along the street of the same name, from the Embarcadero to Van Ness, passing through the Financial District and the top of Nob Hill. The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason lines both depart from Powell Station. This is where you'll find all the other transport you need: streetcars, buses and, underground, the subway and BART.

There are many streetcars, all inherited from friendly cities. For example, the old orange streetcars are the old Milan streetcars, the cream green streetcars are the St. Louis trams, the lemon yellow and orange streetcars are the Los Angeles trams, and the cream and maroon streetcars are the Philadelphia trams. It was during the 1915 World's Fair, otherwise known as the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, that streetcars first appeared in the city. They were such a hit that San Francisco wanted to keep them by adapting them to the city's rails.