traveldk.com

This hilly neighborhood around Castro Street is the center of San Francisco’s high-profile gay community. The intersection of Castro and 18th streets is the self-proclaimed “Gayest Four Corners of the World,” and this openly homosexual nexus emerged in the 1970s as the place of pilgrimage for gays and lesbians from all over the country and the world. Unlike other cities, where homosexuals once hid themselves away in dark corners of anonymous bars, the establishments here have full picture windows right on the street and are busy at all hours. Castro Street is closed off every Hallowe’en for the famous gay costume party that most agree is one of the city’s best, second only perhaps to the Gay Pride Parade (see Castro Street Fair).

Castro Theater, Castro District

The teeming Hispanic world, with all the accompanying noise and confusion, constitutes the Mission, home to San Francisco’s many Latinos. They have brought their culture with them – bustling taquerias , salsa clubs, Santeria shops, lively murals, and Spanish everywhere you look and listen. It’s a loud, odoriferous place, with edgy crowds dodging each other along the main drags, Mission and Valencia streets and their connecting streets from Market to Cesar Chavez (Army). Its folklórico festivals are not to be missed, especially the Carnaval.

The original Spanish Misión San Francisco de Asís, from which the city takes its name, is a marvel of preservation and atmospheric charm. It was founded in 1776, just a few weeks before the Declaration of Independence.

At one time this usually sunny SoMa hill was set to become the next big thing. But somehow its isolation kept that from ever happening, cut off from the rest of the city, as it is, by freeways on three sides and its own precipitous inclines. Consequently, it has remained the quiet, pleasant neighborhood it always has been, with spectacular views. To be sure, a few more upmarket concerns are located here than before, and there are more restaurants and bars, but mostly it’s thoroughly residential and happy to be so. However there are a few tourist sights that beckon here – the Anchor Brewing Company is worth the tour, and the Basic Brown Bear Factory is a hit with kids.

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.