DK Travel : San Francisco : Places of interest

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The Richmond District

This flat district of row houses begins at Masonic Street, sandwiched between Golden Gate Park and California Street. It ultimately extends all the way to the Pacific Ocean, being more and more prone to stay fog-bound the farther west you go. The district is very ethnically diverse and resoundingly middle class. Over the decades, it has been settled by White Russians, East European Jews, and most recently Chinese-Americans and another wave of Russians.
Tiburon

Possibly Marin County’s smartest community, it stands as a less hectic alternative to Sausalito for its views and restaurants. Here, 100-year-old houseboats (“arks”) have been pulled ashore, lined up, and refurbished, forming what is called “Ark Row,” where you’ll find shops and restaurants that enhance the charm of this waterfront village. Tiburon also offers scenic parks along the shore, facing Angel Island and the city.
Twin Peaks

These two hills were first known in Spanish as El Pecho de la Chola , or “The Bosom of the Indian Girl.” At the top, there is an area of parkland with steep and grassy slopes from which you can enjoy incomparable views of the whole of San Francisco. Twin Peaks Boulevard circles both hills near their summits, and there is plenty of parking near the viewing point. If you’re up to the climb, take the footpath to the top, above the main viewing area, to get a 360-degree panorama. The residential districts on the slopes lower down have curving streets that follow the contours of the hills, rather than the formal grid pattern that predominates in most of the city.
Union Square

After 18 months of construction, this important square, which gets its name from the pro-Union rallies held here in the early 1860s, has a $25-million new look that includes performance spaces, grassy terraces, and improved parking. It is now the center for high-end shopping. Located with the edges of the Financial District on one side and the Theater District on the other (see Stores and Shopping Centers, Top 10 Shopping Areas), it is at its most picturesque along Powell Street, where the cable cars pass right in front of the historic St Francis Hotel (see The Westin St Francis). The column in the center commemorates Admiral Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Union Street

A neighborhood shopping street loaded with tradition, Union Street is noted for its sidewalk cafés, antiques shops, bookstores, and designer boutiques, housed in converted Victorian charmers. The street is at the heart of the Cow Hollow neighborhood, whose name invokes its antecedent as a dairy pasture.
Upper Grant

Saloons, cafés, and bluesy music haunts give this northerly section of Grant Avenue a very alternative feel.
Washington Square

This pretty park is lined with Italian bakeries, restaurants and bars. Don’t be surprised to see practitioners of t’ai chi doing their thing on the lawn every morning.
Western Addition

This area, too, was once sandy waste, but after World War II the district became populated by Southern African-Americans who came west for work. For a short time, it was famous for jazz and blues clubs, as embodied, until his death in 2001, by John Lee Hooker and his Boom Boom Room. Today, it is still largely African-American in character and rather rundown, although it does comprise architecturally odd St Mary’s Cathedral (see Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption) and photogenic Alamo Square.
Yerba Buena Center

This area is fast becoming one of San Francisco’s leading cultural centers for the performing arts, as well as a growing number of museums representing the city’s ethnic diversity. Every year sees some new addition to the airy complex (see Yerba Buena Gardens’ Features).
Zeum

This elaborate complex, aimed both at entertaining kids and spurring their creativity to the max, is part of the greater Yerba Buena Center. There’s a wonderful old-fashioned carousel, a labyrinth, a studio where they can script, produce, and star in their own videos, art studios and galleries, plus lots more to keep them busy and productive all day long. Ages 5 to 18.