DK Travel : San Francisco

San Franciscans will, rather candidly, admit that they are the most fortunate people on earth, the occasional earthquake notwithstanding; and most visitors, after a few days of taking in the sights and sounds of this magnificent city, will agree. Ask anyone who has been here and they will tell you it’s their favorite US city. The geographical setting evokes so much emotional drama, the light seems clearer, the colors more vivid, the cultural diversity of the ethnic neighborhoods so captivating and inviting, that it’s a place almost everyone can fall in love with at first sight.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

This 1978 remake of the 1950s classic stars Donald Sutherland as the last survivor of a chilling alien takeover.
Isa

The tiny dining room of this Marina discovery is also the kitchen. The concept is nouvelle French tapas, so portions are petite but exquisite.
It’s Tops Coffee Shop

A classic diner – their flapjacks are famously good.
Jack Kerouac

Arriving from New York in 1947, it was Kerouac (1922–69) who coined the term “Beat.” He and his companions – Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and others – initiated the new politics of dissent and free love, all of which led, within a decade, to the Hippie Movement (see “Summer of Love”). His classic novel On the Road (1957) galvanized a generation.
Jack London

Adventurer and author of frontier tales such as White Fang , The Sea Wolf , and The Call of the Wild , Jack London (1876– 1916) grew up in Oakland. There a museum of his memorabilia is housed in a reconstruction of the log cabin he lived in while prospecting for gold in the Yukon Territory. His fiction is based on his experiences in the untamed West and the social inequality he saw in boom town San Francisco.
Jackson Court

Located in Pacific Heights, this is a magnificent 1900 brownstone mansion. The wood-paneled parlor is an inviting place, and the stone fireplace provides a warm glow for afternoon tea.
Jackson Square

The area that witnessed the worst misbehavior of the Barbary Coast days contains some of the city’s oldest, loveliest buildings. One of the very few areas that were spared in the 1906 conflagration.
Jackson Square

Renovated in the 1950s, this neighborhood right next to the Transamerica Pyramid contains some of San Francisco’s oldest buildings. In the 19th century the area was notorious for its squalor, and was nicknamed the “Barbary Coast,” but brothels and drinking establishments have given way today to upscale offices and the city’s most lavish antiques shops. The blocks around Jackson Street and Hotaling Place feature many original brick, cast-iron, and granite façades.
Janis Joplin

This troubled singer from Texas became the queen of the San Francisco sound, until her death by heroin overdose.
Japan Center

An enormous indoor mall comprising 3 buildings (connected by a plaza on one side, and a shop-filled over-the-street bridge on the other). This is a great place to spend an afternoon souvenir shopping.

If your kids like Pokemon and Hello Kitty (among MANY other Japanese cartoon characters), you'll have to pry them out of here with a crowbar.

I especially love Ichiban Kan Different Things, a store patterned after Japan's 100 Yen shops. You can pick up kitchen utensils, beauty products, dry goods, stationary, and bento boxes, for unbelievably low prices. I would still be there if my eye-rolling spouse hadn't dragged me out.

There are lots of tempting places to eat too, and not only Japanese. On the Bridge has pasta and hamburgers, Belly Good Cafe and Crepes has cafe fare, and there are plenty of coffee shops too.

Getting here is easy on the bus (lines 2, 3, and 4 drop you off right in front of the mall). If you get stuck with rainy weather while you're in SF, this is the place to go.

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Hotel price categories

For a standard, double room per night (with breakfast if included), taxes and extra charges.
- under $100
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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
- under $20
- $20-$40
- $40-$55
- $55-$80
- over $80