San Francisco : Why go there?
San Francisco : The good reasons to go
See the Golden Gate Bridge
The famous San Francisco Bridge is mythical: it's on every postcard!
Admire the skyscrapers of Downtown
Union Square and the Financial District are home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers, so look up!
Discover an authentic Chinatown
It's one of the largest diaspora neighborhoods outside China: a real change of scenery!
Enjoy nature in the city
Golden Gate and Presidio parks, Ocean Beach: nature is everywhere.
Beautiful Victorian houses
The whole town is built of Victorian houses, like the "Painted Ladies".
Discover the city of revolutions
Hippies, beatniks, LGBTs, the Web: San Francisco is the cradle of many cultural trends.
Incredible national parks
Visit Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Sequoia & Kings Canyon.
A myriad of neighborhoods
Pacific Heights, North Beach, Marina, Nob Hill... The city is divided into lively neighborhoods.
Emblematic Missions & Castro
Mission concentrates the South American communities, its neighbor Castro the LGBT population.
Culture everywhere
Museums and art galleries are everywhere: great intellectual nourishment!
San Francisco : Good to know to visit
Timetable
The vast majority of attractions and museums are open every day of the week, generally from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., all year round, with the exception of certain public holidays such as December 25, January 1 and Thanksgiving. When museums that normally charge admission offer free entry, expect crowds.
To be booked
Few tourist attractions in the region require advance reservations. Reservations are highly recommended for an excursion to Alcatraz, or a boat trip under the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of the SFMoma's popular temporary international exhibitions must be booked in advance.
Budget & Tips
It's going to be difficult for us to give you good tips on how to pay less - everything in San Francisco is overpriced! That's why it's a good idea to buy a pass to visit San Francisco's must-sees at unbeatable rates. The City Pass (www.citypass.com/san-francisco), for example, will save you money if you plan to visit 4 of the city's must-see points of interest.
Main events
San Franciscans like to party, a lot and often. Anything is an excuse for a parade, festival or fair. They're particularly fond of masquerade costume, and take any opportunity to bring out feathers, hats and clown noses. The list of festivals is long, but July 4th, Gay Pride, Chinese New Year and St. Patrick's Day are well worth a visit. Even our own Bastille Day on July 14 gives rise to festivities. Particularly in the downtown French Quarter, between the Café de la Presse and the Hôtel de France, where flags and blue/white/red balloons are waving...
Guided tours
To see as much as possible in the shortest time, hop on a red double-decker bus from the Big Bus Tour (www.bigbustours.com) and you'll get around the city without getting tired and with the commentary of the guides. For the sporty, there are guided bike tours or running tours; for the foodies, there are food tours (Local Tastes). And if you are more comfortable in French, let yourself be guided by French-speaking expatriates (Voyage en français). They offer thematic guided tours, often off the beaten track, to discover San Francisco in a different way. You can even discover the wine route from the comfort of a sidecar (www.ridesbyme.com).
Smokers
Smoking is prohibited in public buildings, offices, clubs, concert halls, bars, restaurants and even on terraces. In fact, the minimum distance for lighting a cigarette from the entrance to a building is 4.5 meters (15 feet).
Find unique holiday offers with our partners
San Francisco : Discover
The state of California has only really come to the world's attention since 1848 and the famous Gold Rush, but its history goes back thousands of years. In this chapter, we set out to discover it, from its settlement over 20,000 years ago via Beringia to the present day. Naturally, we devote a large part of this presentation to the Summer of Love of 1967, which served as a matrix for pacifism, the fight against racism, ecology, feminism, sexual freedom and even the free Internet. This is also the chapter where we detail the festivities not to be missed throughout the year, to help you plan your stay, and where we tell you all about the history, architecture, literature, arts, music, cinema and gastronomy of this North American state which, if it were independent, would be the sixth most powerful country on the planet, ahead of France.
