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This all-in-one driving tour is marked with blue-and-white seagull markers, and winds its way through the most picturesque parts of the city. It can be challenging to follow, keeping an eye out for the markers and the traffic at the same time, but you can get a map of the route from the Visitor Information Center (see Planning Your Trip).
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Postcard central, thanks to its row of perfect Victorians backed by the knock-out Downtown view. The park itself is a sloping patch of green, while the surrounding streets are lined with so many grand old houses that it has been declared a historic site. Two of them have been turned into hotels, although the areas immediately outside the square are not the most salubrious at night.
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Pacific Heights’s double block of verdant hill is a popular place to take the sun when it ventures to break through the fog. Basketball and tennis courts and a children’s playground are in the center, while to the south there are terraced lawns, onto which some of Pacific Heights’ oldest homes face.
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This one-mile (1.5-km) stretch of sandy beach, with its perfect views of the Golden Gate Bridge, is the most popular in the city. It’s great for sunbathing, dog-walking, picnicking or jogging, but signs warn off swimmers because of riptides. Sunsets here are unforgettable.
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Take the CalTrain to this seasonal racetrack.
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Blending gently with the Berkeley Hills, the Oakland Hills offer some beautiful parks, such as Redwood Regional Park. Skyline Boulevard provides access to most of this ridge area, with many picnic groves and hiking options along the winding way.
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Highway 9 is one of the most picturesque drives in the Bay Area, winding its way among the green Santa Cruz Mountains and through little towns where nothing much changes. Life has a backwoods feel here, although it’s only minutes from the hubbub of Silicon Valley.
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Although the hills’ amazing grades overwhelm all but those with legs of steel, bicycling is very big in San Francisco. Rent bikes from City Cycle.
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Sailing, rowing and kayaking are all great here, although far from a cakewalk on the Bay’s unpredictable waters and sometimes ferocious prevailing winds. Play it nice and easy by taking a boat out on Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park (see Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill).
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This hidden-away Marin beach tends to be windy and is mostly used by dog-walkers, and kayakers. It’s sandy, with a backdrop of rocky cliffs. If you walk north, you’ll find warmer nooks and crannies out of the wind, where some sun-worshipers bask in the nude, although there is a rarely enforced city ordinance against it.
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San Francisco Fringe FestivalThe San Francisco Fringe Festival hosts around 250 performances by 50 local, national and international theatre companies during a whirlwind 12-day period. The range of material is huge, from... Read more
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Folsom Street FairLeave your inhibitions at the hotel for the Folsom Street Fair. The politicians roll up for photocalls with a dominatrix; non-gays join in the leather-bondage parades and the atmosphere is friendly... Read more
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My Bloody ValentineInfuential and much-loved alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine return to the stage with an international tour. This date is at the Concourse at SF Design Center. Read more
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San Francisco LoveFestAmerica's largest dance music celebration, the San Francisco LoveFest, returns. The parade, featuring a plethora of floats and sound systems pumping out the best dance music, heads along Market... Read more











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