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Named after the semaphore installed on its crest in 1850, the hill’s eastern side was dynamited to provide rocks for landfill. Steps descend its slopes, lined with gardens. At its summit stands Coit Tower.

The panoramic views from both the hill and the top of the Coit Tower are justly celebrated. The wide arc sweeping from the East Bay and the Bay Bridge to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge is breathtaking.

The frescoes were painted by local artists in 1934, to provide jobs during the Depression (see Beach Chalet). The murals are socio-political commentary yet are also appealing for their details of life in California at the time.

The flowery descent down these rustic steps provides great views of the Bay.

The Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights in 1953. It’s a great place to leaf through a few volumes of poetry or the latest free papers to find out what’s on around town.

Made famous in the 1960s for its various adult entertainments, the offerings haven’t changed much. Enrico’s, at No. 504, is a great place for dinner.

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

If you’re in the quarter on a Saturday afternoon, don’t miss the impromptu opera that takes place here. But any time is right for this artists’ and writers’ gathering place.

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.

Neo-Gothic in conception, with an Italianesque façade, this church is also called the Italian Cathedral and the Fisherman’s Church, since many Italians who originally lived in the neighborhood made their living by fishing.