Don Bain's Walking Tour of San Francisco
This is one of many incarnations of a personal tour of San Francisco that I have led many times over the years for friends and family. It is of course never the same twice, and I adjust it to the interests and ability of the group, the time of year and the weather. I have never mapped it out before.

I have no idea what the total distance is, city blocks have little meaning in San Francisco.

Yes, it can be done in a day, or a long half day. An extended family group did it last January, between 10 am and 4 pm, all but Jackson Square and Nob Hill. We broke it in half with lunch at the Stinking Rose on Columbus Avenue.

If you can, take two days for this tour, stopping and starting again at the top of Telegraph Hill. Or continue north to Fisherman's Wharf and ride the cable car back, then do the second half the next day.

Note the dotted lines for shortcuts, take them if you are running out of energy or time. There are two steep hills - the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill, and California Street climbing Nob Hill. You can ride a cable car to the top of Nob Hill from any of four directions, but to avoid climbing the 300 steps up Telegraph Hill you have to go around, or arrange a ride.

My commentary on the tour also varies with the group. It focuses on the cultural history of the city, its many intriguing personalities, its varied architecture, and the processes that have worked to produce the city we see today.

This tour covers much of the densely built-up northeast corner of the city. But it misses many other important areas: the Civic Center, the Tenderloin, South Beach and the ballpark, Fisherman's Wharf and the north waterfront, Pacific Heights, the Presidio, Seacliff, Lincoln Park and Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park, Twin Peaks, the Western Addition and Nihonmachi, the Haight-Ashbury, the Castro, the Marina, the Mission and other primarily residential districts.

Start at either the Powell Street Station, or the Fifth and Mission parking garage. Follow the red line from one number to the next in sequence. The numbers identify major points of interest, but of course there is much to be seen in between. Given any chance at all I can talk continuously through the entire tour, or until my voice gives out or there is nobody left listening. My commentary is based on a lifetime of observation and reading - I was born in San Francisco, on the day, hour, and even minute anniversary of the great 1906 earthquake.

The base maps are from Google Maps. All I have added is the red lines and numbered places of interest. When we walk the route together I will hand out color copies of the five maps so everyone can keep oriented. If you fall behind and want to take a shortcut to catch up, look for the dashed lines on the map. The likelihood of the main group (i.e. those sticking with me) taking shortcuts increases later in the day. Luckily the route is mostly downhill after Telegraph Hill, except for a bit in Chinatown and the loop up Nob Hill.

An easy extension of this tour would be to traverse the Tenderloin along Geary Street to the Civic Center. Begin at circle number 68 on the map.

Map 1 - South of Market

Begin at the Powell Street Station (BART and Muni), exit northwest to Hallidie Plaza.

To skip this segment just walk east on Market Street, or begin at the Montgomery Street Station.

  1. Hallidie Plaza
  2. San Francisco Center
  3. The Emporium, Bloomingdales
  4. St. Patrick's Church
  5. Yerba Buena Gardens
  6. Martin Luther King Memorial
  7. Moscone Center (restrooms)
  8. SF MOMA
  9. Lotta's Fountain
  10. Palace Hotel
  11. Market and Montgomery

Map 2 - Financial District

Begin at Market and Montgomery Streets.

Shortcut: stay on Market Street from Montgomery to the Embarcadero.

  1. Market and Montgomery
  2. Crocker Galleria, Hallidie Building
  3. Mills Building
  4. Russ Building
  5. 555 California, the Banker's Heart
  6. Bank of California
  7. California Center
  8. Shell Building, Heineman Building
  9. Mechanics Monument
  10. Crown Zellerbach Building
  11. Shaklee Terraces
  12. Matson Building, PG & E Building
  13. 101 California Street
  14. Embarcadero Center
  15. Justin Herman Plaza
  16. Hyatt Regency San Francisco
  17. California Street Cable Car
  18. Federal Reserve Bank
  19. Southern Pacific Railroad Building
  20. The Embarcadero, Ferry Building Plaza

Map 3 - Embarcadero

Begin at the Ferry Building.

Shortcuts:
- cut across Justin Herman Plaza instead of going through the Hyatt Regency and the Ferry Building, or
- take the F-Line streetcar from the Ferry Building to Green Street.

  1. The Embarcadero, Ferry Building Plaza
  2. Ferry Building Marketplace (restrooms)
  3. ferry docks
  4. Pier 5
  5. Daniel Gibb & Company Warehouses, site of the Niantic
  6. Calhoun Terrace (above)
  7. Ice Houses Number One and Two
  8. Levi Strauss Plaza, Italian Swiss Colony Warehouse

Map 4 - Telegraph Hill and North Beach

Begin at Levi Strauss Plaza, between Battery and Sansome, formerly Filbert Street.

Shortcut: after Washington Square stay on Stockton Street then on Columbus Avenue.

To avoid Telegraph Hill altogether go west on Broadway from the Embarcadero to Columbus.

  1. Levi Strauss Plaza, Italian Swiss Colony Warehouse
  2. Filbert Steps
  3. Coit Tower, Telegraph Hill
  4. Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
  5. Washington Square
  6. Italian North Beach, Club Fugazi
  7. "beatnik" North Beach
  8. Condor Club
  9. City Lights Bookstore, Vesuvio
  10. Albatross Saloon, San Francisco Brewing Company

Map 5 - Jackson Square, Chinatown, and Nob Hill

Begin at the Albatross Saloon on Columbus Avenue.

Shortcut: go directly to Grant Avenue from Columbus, then stay on it all the way through Chinatown.

  1. Albatross Saloon, San Francisco Brewing Company
  2. Barbary Coast "Terrific Street", 555 Pacific Street
  3. Jackson Square Historical District
  4. Belli Building
  5. Fugazi Bank, old Transamerica Building
  6. Transamerica Pyramid
  7. Portsmouth Square
  8. Bank of Canton, Chinese Telephone Exchange
  9. cribs at 8, 10, 12 Beckett Alley
  10. Waverly Place benevolent and family associations
  11. Six Companies (Consolidated Benevolent Association)
  12. Old Saint Mary's Church, Sing Fat Building, Sing Chong Building
  13. Ritz Carlton Hotel
  14. Fairmont Hotel
  15. Pacific Union Club, Flood Mansion
  16. Mark Hopkins Hotel
  17. Chinatown Gate

Map 1 (again) - Union Square

Begin at the Chinatown Gate, Grant Avenue at Bush Street.

Shortcut: take Powell Street from Union Square to Market Street.

  1. Chinatown Gate
  2. Burritt Alley
  3. Ruth Asawa Fountain, Grand Hyatt Union Square
  4. Union Square
  5. Saint Francis Hotel
  6. Lefty O'Doul's
  7. Geary and Curran Theaters
  8. John's Grill
  9. Powell Street Cable Car Terminus