SF Streets, San Francisco

SF City Guides has been offering walking tours to the public for over 30 years. Nowadays, more than 20 thousand people participate in it annually.
It is run by locals, who have to pass an exam in order to qualify and become a tour guide.

To make your pick, go to the website and choose a neighborhood you want to explore.

TIME: Usually in the morning (first tours start at 10am, last tours start at 2pm). Some tours are offered every month throughout a year, others run for a couple of months only on weekends.
DURATION: 1 to 2.5 hours.
PRICE: Free but donation is very much appreciated (guide will pass an envelope at the end of a tour).
GUIDES: Are recognized by City Guides logo badges.
RESERVATION: No need. Just show up. Although party of 8 and more people is required to contact CG few weeks in advance, organize a separate tour and pay for it.

I have done 4 tours so far:
- Pacific Heights Mansions tour. 13 people showed up and we have been looking at some pretty spectacular mansions for 2.5 hours. Our guide has been doing the tours for 8 years, so he knew a lot of interesting stuff.
- The Palace Hotel tour. 9 people showed up and we spent 1.5 hours walking through hotel, learning about its history and people who made that history.
- Coit Tower tour. 13 people showed up and we spent 1 hour looking at the murals from the 30s. Heard many stories about painters and people depicted in their murals.
- Nob Hill tour with Paul Cooney. Fantastic 1 hour 45 minutes.

Had a wonderful time on all of them!!! Highly recommended.

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Extending for about three miles along the Embarcadero is the Herb Caen Promenade. This wide promenade lines the water side of the Embarcadero and offers outstanding views of the Bay. Historic structures like the Ferry Building, the Agriculture Building, and numerous pier buildings are found along its path. The Herb Caen Promenade makes for a pleasant walk. Be sure not to miss the artwork along the way. The promenade is named after a long time local Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist whose daily columns in the Chronicle were, for decades, a San Francisco landmark in themselves .

If you want to feel the heartbeat of one of San Francisco’s most desirable neighborhoods visit 24th Street. This commercial street is the vibrant. It is loaded with shops, restaurants, coffee houses, and a few bars. The restaurants range from inexpensive to fine dining and the quality of the food tends to be very good.

The shops should satisfy a variety of interests including boutique clothing, books, and even groceries. Several banks are present should you need an ATM. You can even grab an ice cream or a doughnut if you like.

Noe Valley surrounds 24th Street and is loaded with Victorian and Queen Ann Architecture. The weather is usually warmer and less windy than downtown and the western portion of the City. It is a pleasant neighborhood to stroll through.

The portion of 24th Street that serves Noe Valley is from Church to Diamond Streets. Visiting 24th Street near Mission would entail a completely different experience.

You can easily reach 24th Street by taking the MUNI J-Line Street Car from Downtown.

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Although Lombard Street is billed as the "crookedest street in the world", Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd Streets is actually crookeder than Lombard. That is, it has more turns per distance than Lombard. This portion of Vermont Street is located in the residential Potrero Hill District and is situated up above and behind General Hospital. It is a bit out of the way for most people. Vermont Street's pavement is neglected and its adjacent landscaping is overgrown. Whereas Lombard Street, with its manicured streetscape and nice brick paving, is located in touristy Telegraph Hill. Vermont Street gets few visitors. At Lombard, however, cars sometimes line up just to traverse the famous stretch.

The turns on these twisting streets serve as switchbacks. The turns help reduce the grade. These would otherwise be extremely steep streets. Note the use of stairs for sidewalk in some stretches.

If you are in the Potrero Hill District and want to check out this winding roadway, keep in mind that it is a one-way street heading southbound. That is, from 22nd Street to 20th Street.

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One of San Francisco landmarks (197th to be exact), this mansion was built for and belonged to sugar baron Adolph Spreckels in 1913. It was designed by 2 architects - Kenneth MacDonald Jr. and George Applegarth.
People like Jack London and Earl Cummings were guests in this house.

The owners were famous too - the bronze goddess Victory standing in the heart of Union Square, was modeled after Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, known for her enormous influence in the San Francisco art community. That lady was quite a character - walking naked to her outdoor swimming pool for all the neighbors to see. She could not care less. ;-)

Made of Utah limestone, this building is really magnificent till today. Looks more like a museum than a private residence.

Its 55 rooms are currently occupied by one of the wealthiest SF residents - famous romance writer Danielle Steel who has been living there since 1990. Back then she paid something like $13 million and, rumor has it, a few years ago someone offered her $50 million for the property. She passed. :-)

Tourists swarm Lombard Street (the crookedest street which has 27% grade) on a daily basis, but little do they know that there is another street in San Francisco - Vermont, which offers similar experience (it has 14.3% grade).

Located in the ignored Potrero Hill neighborhood (McKinley Square), it has 5 full turns and 2 half turns.

Little is known about its past and how it came to be, but my guess is that with a boom of automobile industry in the 20s, residents decided to make the street more accessible for cars and multiple turns were the way to do it.

If going to Potrero neighborhood just to see the street is not enough, bare in mind that Hill also has better than average views of the City and Bay.

TO GET THERE: buses 27, 10 (from the downtown) + some walking. Or just go to Trip Planner and find the best rout for you.

The most expensive part of the most expensive neighborhood in one of the nation's most expensive cities is the last few blocks of Broadway Street. It is called Billionaires Row. Many luxury homes occupy this part of Broadway Street.

The most expensive are 9 houses that belong to:

1) Fred Pavlow, Add-a-Garage, 2776 Broadway.
2) Trevor Traina, stepson of Danielle Steele, 2780 Broadway.
3) Norman Stone, heir to insurance tycoon W. Clement Stone, 2790 Broadway.
4) Peter Haus, Levi Strauss heir, 2800 Broadway. In 1996, Haas' Levi holdings were valued in a news report at $2.2 billion.
5) James Klingbeil, of Am. Apt. Communites, 2808 Broadway.
6) Peter Sperling, U. of Phoenix heir, 2845 Broadway. In 2003 he had about $1.5 billion.
7) Larry Ellison, Oracle founder, 2850 Broadway. In 2003 Forbes set his worth at $18 billion.
8) Gordon Getty, Getty Oil heir, 2870-2880 Broadway. In 2003 Forbes Magazine estimated his fortune at $2.1 billion.
9) George Jewett, Weyerhaeuser heir, 2990 Broadway.

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The stretch along Eleventh and Folsom at the South of Market District is the heart of the gay leather and S&M scene, which has its roots in the Folsom Street "Miracle Mile" of gay clubs and bathhouses in the '70s. This is also the site of the annual fetish bonanza of the Folsom Street Fair and there are also a number of Sex Shops and Massage Parlors nearby.