Holidays to San Francisco

San Francisco travel guide

• When is the best time to visit San Francisco?

  The climate of San Francisco is known as a marine climate and is as changeable as the seas that surround the city on three sides. The summer fogs are notorious, rolling in morning and evening to sit below the rust red pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge, but they rarely persist. In general, the city is cool to mild throughout the year, with wet winters and pleasant summers (August to October are normally the warmest months) - although rain, blown in from the Pacific, is never far away, and can be tricky to predict. Temperatures range from the mid 20’s in summer, to single figures in winter.
  
  Take a look at our climate a chart below.
  

• San Francisco attractions

  Golden Gate Bridge

  San Francisco’s timeless symbol, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway 101, is a deep red, Art Deco landmark that you simply can’t ignore, no matter where you are in the city. You can ride, cycle or walk across it (but be aware it’s two miles long!) or head to the rock pools and sands of Baker Beach, for stunning views across its length: time your visit for twilight, and you’ll remember the view all the more, when its lights start to twinkle against the skyline. Go in the daytime and you should be aware that the north end of the beach is a nudists’ area - so you may get a view you didn’t plan on!

  Alcatraz

  Al “Scarface” Capone and co are no longer at home, but the island prison of Alcatraz still sends a shiver down the spine. The ‘inescapable prison’ rising from a tiny island in the San Francisco Bay, holds day tours with a difference. They’ll even offer to lock you in a cell, should you feel inclined. Head to Pier 33 for tour tickets and to catch the ferry. Advance booking is recommended as tours sell out fast.

  Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39

  Still clustered around a series of working (i.e. the fishing fleet unload their catch here) piers, Fisherman’s Wharf is lively by day and night, with its gift shops, pocket-sized museums, performing sea lions and seafood shacks. Part harbour, part traditional fun-fair, you can expect tourist-friendly attractions such as Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, a wax museum and the excellent San Francisco Maritime Museum all rubbing shoulders in this animated, buzzy waterfront district. Many tours depart from here too.

  Alamo Square

  Famous for its 'postcard row', Alamo Square is one of San Francisco's most photographed spots, so make sure you stop here to capture the colourful Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies. Set against a backdrop of modern skyscrapers, this view offers an interesting contrast between old and new. The grassy square makes a perfect picnic spot with plenty to see.

  Sausalito

  End a thrilling bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge at this stunning seaside town or take the more relaxed option and catch a ferry across the bay. The waterfront offers unbeatable views of the San Francisco Bay, whilst the variety of outdoor dining options provides a welcome way to refuel before heading back over the bridge. Sausalito has plenty of historical sights to take in, and with the option of boat rides and kayak trips along the shoreline, you may find yourself missing the last ferry back to San Francisco for more time to explore.

  Viewpoints

  Standing at the top of Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower is actually a monument built to honour the city’s volunteer firefighters. Its observation deck offers perhaps the best view of the city, and better still, it’s free. Twin Peaks, the two hills that tower over San Francisco at 922 feet, offer another breathtaking view of the city, as does the lofty Mount Davidson park.

  Aquarium

  The Aquarium of the Bay, Pier 39, is the city’s stunning underwater attraction. Within, you’ll come (almost) face to face with sharks, bat rays and weird and frightening-looking creatures from the Bay. The daily frenzy of shark feeding-time is a must-see!

  Tea Gardens

  More sedate thrills are the order of the day at the trim and elegant Japanese Tea Gardens where, instead of sharks, the Koi carp ponds offer a chance of peaceful contemplation, amid native Japanese and Chinese plants and shrubs.

  Exploratorium

  If you’re travelling with kids, the Exploratorium, Lyon Street, is a blast. This state-of-the-art science and technology museum offers hundreds of "please touch" exhibits that cleverly reveal the wonders of the natural world around us. Great for a San Francisco rainy day (or, for that matter, to escape the fog for a few hours!).

  Lombard Street

  Lombard Street is known as the “crookedest” street in the world. With its switchback, hairpin bends and flower-strewn verges alongside elegant Victorian mansions, this is one street with more than its fair share of kerb appeal. You don’t have to drive down it (there are usually long queues) but you can take the pedestrian stairway for great views from the top.

  Mission

  The Mission District is the epicentre of the city’s vibrant Latin American communities. Here, amid the street markets and murals, you’ll find tempting speciality shops, wonderful coffee and pastry cafes, markets and some of the oldest houses in the city. Dolores Park’s palms and sun-dappled park benches offer a pleasant spot to catch your breath.

  Sports

  The San Francisco area is a sports fan’s Mecca. The city’s baseball team, The Giants, have been thrilling crowds since the 1800’s - winning more games than any team in the history of baseball. You can catch them at their home ground, AT&T Park. The city’s football team, the San Francisco 49ers, play at Candlestick Park, until their new, state-of-the-art stadium is completed in 2014.

  Parks

  San Francisco is a city of parks. From ordered and trim, to wild and rugged, the city’s an outdoor-lovers’ paradise. The Golden Gate Park is an expansive playground incorporating museums, animal enclosures, funfairs and Crystal Palace-sized greenhouses. The California Academy of Sciences, within its borders, is an ambitious new museum celebrating man’s ingenuity, in a suitably dramatic Renzo Piano designed building.

  Lake Merced offers hiking, fishing and viewing, with neighbouring Twin Peaks - at the top of the hill - offering the best 360 degree panoramas of the city.

  Lincoln Park in Richmond, which provides majestic views of the Marin Headlands, and The Presidio, home to the gorgeous Palace of the Legion of Honor, offers coastal walks, forests and access to the fine stretch of sand at Baker Beach.

• Top 5 places to visit in San Francisco

  Adventure Cat

  Take an Adventure Cat sailing charter into the Bay, and under the bridge!

  Twin Peaks

  Enjoy the views from Twin Peaks, the park at the heart of the city

  Fisherman’s Wharf

  Experience the bustle and action down on Fisherman’s Wharf

  On a Mission!

  Hit the bars, and clubs, in the vibrant Mission District

  Alcatraz

  Experience the isolation, and incarceration, at Alcatraz Prison

• San Francisco shopping

  San Francisco’s compact core makes for a leisurely and fun shopping expedition. Centre of the retail action is the city’s Union Square. Here you’ll find the twin bookends of American department store legend: Macy’s and Saks. Both offer the latest names in fashion, shoes, cosmetics and gifts. Levi’s huge store, too, is worth a look for its (cheaper in the US) jeans and shirts.

  Fanning out from here, the pedestrianised streets and squares centred on Post and Stockton Streets offer all the big hitters, from Louis Vuitton to Armani, Diesel to Gap. High and low fashion, chic and edgy - they all mingle together in San Francisco, quite unlike anywhere else in the US.

  The cutting edge Westfield San Francisco Centre Mall and the surrounding Downtown San Francisco are where you’ll find funky fashions from Nordstrom’s and Abercrombie and Fitch and New York’s Kenneth Cole. If anything, this area has the edge, especially when it comes to younger, fresher fashions and eclectic boutiques.

  For more colour and character, head to Chestnut Street - a distinctive, independent-flavoured enclave of retro gift shops, kitchenware, lingerie and gadget stores. There’s a great selection of delis and coffee shops here too, so you can rest your feet for ten minutes or so.

  No shopping trip in San Francisco would be complete without stopping off in Chinatown. You’re sure to find a bargain here, whether you’re after electrical gifts, linens, perfumes or traditional Chinese remedies.

  Haight Street, the epicentre of the hippy culture, still feels wonderfully unpredictable, even if where underground magazine publishers once stood, now there are dazzling jewellers, boutiques and sleek Scandinavian furnishing stores.

  North Beach is the Italian district of San Francisco and, as you’d expect, this is ground zero for cool European clothes, imported shoes, cool record shops and leisurely lunch stops.

• San Francisco food and drink

  From the chop-suey specials in Chinatown, to the steakhouses of the (appropriately named) Tenderloin District, San Francisco surprises and delights the food lover at every turn.

  Chinatown’s restaurants offer a dizzying array of styles and flavours, with ‘Hong Kong’ style premises offering the most outlandish dishes, from sea cucumber to pig’s blood, and parts of chicken you’d, perhaps, ordinarily throw away. ‘California Chinese’ offer the more westernised menus of dim sum, fried rice and crispy duck.

  Mexican food is popular too, with the Mission District offering spicy Tex-Mex, burritos and enchiladas. Italian food is served at a selection of good value, family-run restaurants in North Beach and Marina.

  Fisherman’s Wharf is the place to go for fresh seafood, clam chowder, crab and lobster bisque. You’ll also get a great portion of fish and chips here, too!

  Belden Place and the French Quarter offer fine dining with a European twist, served with Napa Valley’s finest wines: San Francisco is a wine-lovers’ heaven, with excellent local wines served, relatively cheaply, in even the simplest of diners.

  Currently, San Francisco is in the middle of a love affair with all things local. So you can expect to find the freshest, farm assured meats, locally made cheeses, artisan breads and market-fresh fruit and veg adorning the menus of trendy foodie districts, in Mission, Noe Valley, SOMA and Nob Hill.

  Walking food tours are available that will take you on a culinary journey around the city or through Chinatown.

  It's not only food that San Francisco likes to source locally, you can also find an endless choice of locally produced beers, wines and spirits. For beer lovers, add the 21st Amendment brewery to your itinerary or check out the Triple Voodoo Brewery and Tap Room for even more craft beers. If wine is more to your taste, The Winery SF, Bluxome Street Winery, Winery Collective and Press Club all offer the chance to sample local wines. And, if you're more into the hard stuff, St.George Spirits' Headquarters in Alameda is the place to be.

• San Francisco nightlife

  Catching a show in San Francisco means, maybe, world class ballet at the San Francisco Ballet, a Broadway blockbuster at The Golden Gate and Orpheum theatres downtown, or opera and classical at the grand Herbst Concert Hall in the centre of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Centre.

  San Francisco’s nightlife is as varied as San Francisco itself. From the sequins and show tunes of the gay bars in Castro, to the deep house grooves of San Francisco’s SOMA District, this city certainly knows how to get the party started, and how to keep it going ‘til the sun comes up, for that matter.

  The city’s vibrant Mission District is the place to base your pub crawl though, with a bar (seemingly) on every corner. As good a place as any to start is the Gold Dust Lounge, Powell Street. A reminder of the town’s gold-rush heritage, the lounge is one of the city’s night-time landmarks, and offers a soundtrack of live dixieland jazz with your Buds and bourbons. This is also the area to head if you fancy a little funk, soul and Hispanic beats. Try Bruno’s on Mission Street, and the fabulous cocktails at the Latin American Club, 22nd Street.

  In Downtown, you’ll find an array of Irish Bars, cool galleries-cum-drinking spaces, neon-bathed cocktail joints and flashy multi-level clubs. Try the uber-cool Impala Lounge on Broadway, with tiny dancefloors and a friendly, hipster crowd. Or the blues and Bourbon of Blue Lamp on Pine. Fluid, on Mission Street, is a popular club with a pumping sound system attracting the best DJs to the city, and Polly Esthers, Eddy Street, offers an authentic blast of 70s disco with all the trimmings.

  For sheer eclecticism and unpredictability, the Haight is the place to head. Once a stoner’s paradise, now the area is home to tiny independent bars, retro clubs, chi-chi lounges and gritty pubs. Club Deluxe, Haight at Ashbury, is a wonderfully atmospheric retro bar with mellow tunes and punchy cocktails, while Milk, Haight at Stanyan, is a friendly, in-the-know DJ bar that stays spinning the discs until the small hours.

  San Francisco loves its brew-pubs too - independent microbreweries, attracting a beer-loving crowd. Try Beach Chalet & Park Chalet at the coast in Golden Gate Park, where you can enjoy a view of the ocean with your golden pint of ale. Whether you are there on your own or as a couple you will find plenty to awaken your taste buds.

• San Francisco lifestyle & culture

  San Francisco is a year-round destination with a vibrant calendar of cultural events - notably in jazz, blues, Chinese New Year Parade, the Fiesta Filipina and Oktoberfest and, as the world’s most gay-friendly metropolis, the yearly Gay Pride shindig at the end of June.

  The city’s cluster of museums offer plenty of opportunities for sightseeing when the bay’s notorious fog makes the outdoor variety all but impossible. Try the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Third Street, between Mission and Howard) for its eclectic and engaging programme of exhibitions and events, or The Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts - a contemporary arts centre blending film, performances and exhibitions, just over the road on Mission Street.

  More traditional art lovers will adore the stunning Palace of the Legion of Honour, a grand neoclassical pile in the Presidio parkland area of town and home to regular organ recitals, touring exhibitions and a fine collection of ancient European art and sculpture.

  Its sister museum, the De Young, in Golden Gate Park, regularly holds blockbusting exhibitions of work by Picasso, Cezanne and the like, while its permanent collection of American paintings, decorative art and textiles is stunning.

  Elsewhere, the city’s eclectic collection of smaller museums and galleries are well worth a couple of hours of your time. Try the Asian Art Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora and the stunning Daniel Libeskind-designed Jewish Contemporary Museum.

• San Francisco events - what's on when?

  The iconic city of west coast America, San Francisco, is packed with attractions, events and stunning scenery. From the most famous bridge in the world, The Golden Gate Bridge, to the shopper's heaven Union Square, there's something for everyone in this bustling city.

  
  

  January

  Alcatraz Annual Winter Swim
  This 1.25 mile swim from the prison island to Aquatic Park features 50 swimmers.

  SF Sketchfest
  Annual San Francisco comedy festival with new acts, comedic legends & various venues.

  Zinfandel Festival
  A comprehensive wine show with food from over 50 restaurants across three hotels.

  
  

  February

  SF Beer Week
  Global beers served in a variety of establishments all across the city.

  Chinese New Year Parade & Festival
  Floats, costumes and thousands of people in this huge celebration in Chinatown.

  San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival
  Festival of American folk music across several small venues across the city.

  
  

  March

  San Francisco Ocean Film Festival
  Festival of ocean-themed films from around the world that entertain and educate.

  Emerald Across The Bay 12K
  Annual run from Sausilito to SF that includes the Golden Gate Bridge and 5000 runners.

  Oakland Running Festival
  Marathon, half marathon, relay, 5K and kids' fun run across Oakland.

  
  

  April

  Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
  Annual celebration of Japanese culture in Japantown with music, parades and more.

  Earth Day San Francisco
  Earth-friendly vendors, international speakers and a kids' zone at the Civic Hall.

  Beerfest
  Dozens of brewers and hundreds of beers to try at this Fort Mason Centre event.

  
  

  May

  Opening Day On The Bay
  The official start to the sailing season with over 150 boats parading across the Bay.

  Bay To Breakers 12K Fun Run
  A 7.46 mile race for runners & walkers, much of which goes through Golden Gate Park.

  San Francisco Carnival
  This diverse festival in the Mission District features lively Latin & Caribbean culture.

  Uncorked Wine Festival
  This festival sees over 50 wineries descend on Ghirardelli Square for a day of wine tasting, food and wine pairing seminars and live music.

  
  

  June

  Union Street Festival
  A festival with an eco-urban theme, live shows, gourmet food, arts, crafts and bistros.

  North Beach Festival
  Italian arts & crafts, food, drink, music and a kids' activity area at this historic event.

  SF Pride
  The annual LGBT event with music, dancing, parades and floats around Civic Centre Plaza.

  
  

  July

  Fillmore Jazz Festival
  A free program of jazz, gospel, R&B plus arts, crafts and food on Fillmore Street.

  The San Francisco Marathon
  Around 25,000 runners compete in this tough city marathon, half marathon or 5K course.

  
  

  August

  Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim
  Annual swim event for strong swimmers from Alcatraz Island to the mainland.

  Zombie Voodoo Fest
  Gigs, films, a marathon, street dance, fashion show and more with a horror theme.

  Family Winemakers San Francisco Tasting
  300 wineries bring around 1000 Californian wines to the Fort Mason Centre.

  Outside Lands Festival
  Two days of live bands in Golden Gate Park.

  Eat Drink SF
  The ultimate festival for the ultimate foodie. Eat Drink SF sees the best of the Bay Area's chefs, brewers, mixologists and wine experts come together for a weekend of samples, cooking classes and demos. All proceeds go to local Bay Area food-related charities.

  
  

  September

  San Francisco Fair
  A sophisticated urban party with thousands of people at the Fort Mason Centre.

  Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival
  Music, activities and 40000 people enjoying sweet treats plus an ice cream eating contest.

  Chinatown Moon Festival
  A traditional celebration of the Autumn, with a street bazaar, parades, food and music.

  
  

  December

  Tots Winter Carnival
  A winter wonderland in Live Oak Park with games galore and an obstacle course.

• San Francisco travel advice

  Do you need a visa for San Francisco?

  Everyone travelling into America must have completed the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, or ESTA for short, a US Customs & Passport Control entry requirement. US Immigration may well refuse you entry at border control if you do not complete the online form