Travel

San Francisco’s Top Tourist Attractions

With the diversity of the San Francisco landscape, you can climb a mountain before lunch, spend the afternoon in a first-class museum, and dine at the world-famous Fisherman’s Wharf in the evening. The ability to enjoy so many different things within one city makes San Francisco one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Here are the top things you have to see when you visit San Francisco:

The Golden Gate Bridge

This bridge is one of the most recognizable destination landmarks in the world. Towering to the height of a 65-story skyscraper and spanning a remarkable 4,200 feet, this gateway bridge welcomes visitors to San Francisco.

Chinatown

This fascinating neighborhood supports an estimated population of 100,000 people, making San Francisco’s Chinatown the largest of any outside of Asia.

Alcatraz

Every visitor should see Alcatraz Island, located in the San Francisco Bay, and learn the history of this former federal prison, lighthouse, and site of the 1969 to 1972 Native American occupation.

Fisherman’s Wharf

As San Francisco’s most popular tourist attraction (and “tourist trap”), the wharf boasts a lot of activity. It’s a bustling place to spend a couple of hours on a cool boat ride, eating some warm sourdough or crab, or looking at the multitude of sea lions. However, keep your wallet close as the wharf also ranks high in scam artists and tourist rip-offs.

San Francisco Cable Cars

The city’s iconic cable car system is the world’s last one still being operated permanently. For a fee of about $5 for a one-way trip, you can take a nostalgic ride through some of the city’s most interesting streets. For the most authentic experience, stand on the running board and hold on to one of the outside poles. It’s something you’ll never forget.

Haight-Ashbury

This bohemian district (marked by the intersections of Haight and Ashbury Streets) gained fame as the epicenter for the hippie subculture of the late 1960s. Today it remains a unique and interesting part of the city populated with independent businesses and restaurants.

Conclusion

Few cities in the world boast the eclectic blend of activities, architectural diversity, and geographical variations that San Francisco offers. The city has successfully managed to blend its rich, historic past with a contemporary present – making San Francisco one of the nation’s most popular tourist destinations.

Source by Lorraine Grant

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