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Lombard Street, San Francisco

View from below Lombard St. - San Francisco
View from below Lombard St.
by Stargazer1
Lombard Street tips and photos posted by real travelers and San Francisco locals.

Lombard Street. Descent begins at Hyde Street.
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Lombard Street: Lombard Street
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  • richiecdisc
  • Updated By richiecdisc on November 15, 2005
  • San Francisco Page by richiecdisc
  • a lovely place to live despite the hordes - San Francisco
    a lovely place to live
    despite the hordes
    by richiecdisc
    Lombard Street is noted as the world's "crookedest" street though before the advent of the automobile it was probably just one of the steepest. As it turns out, early cars couldn't make it up the incline so they added the switchbacks and the rest is sweet tourist history. As jam-packed of camera happy snappers as it is, on a sunny day, it's easy to see why it's also one of the most exclusive places in town to live. Full of flowers and great sweeping views, it's hard to not at least dream about calling it home. The walk from its Russian Hill location to the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill has to be the best in the city proper.

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    Lombard Street: The Steepest & Most Crooked Street in the World
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  • Sandi-2004
  • Updated By Sandi-2004 on October 24, 2004
  • San Francisco Page by Sandi-2004
  • Lombard Street - San Francisco
    Lombard Street
    by Sandi-2004
    Actually, I have read that San Francisco has steeper & more crooked streets than this beautiful cobblestone, but this is the famous one that everyone loves. When you are in your car & approach the top of Lombard Street, you can't see any pavement out ahead of you. It seems that your car with you & your family or friends in it will simply drop off a cliff because no street is in view. It definitely will give your stomach a few butterflies even though in your mind, you know the street HAS to be there. Lombard Street IS there but has begun it's steep descent. It has hairpin curves one after another. It's lined with beautiful flowers & lovely Victorian homes on either side. The fun of going down Lombard Street will definitely give you a few moments of fear and fun.

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    Lombard Street: Lombard street - The best place to photograph
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  • K.Knight
  • Updated By K.Knight on March 19, 2009
  • San Francisco Page by K.Knight
  • Cars, cars and more cars. - San Francisco
    Cars, cars and more cars.
    by K.Knight
    The best place to photograph the street, is from Leavenworth Street, at the bottom - looking up. You will see cars headed down slowly, daring souls walking up, and down the sides, while the flowers and buildings provide dazzling color. It is truly an incredible sight.
    In the spring Lombard Street is alive with color, as the chrysanthemums provide a breathtaking carpet of colour.

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    Lombard Street: Walk or drive down Lombard Street
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  • K.Knight
  • Updated By K.Knight on July 21, 2004
  • San Francisco Page by K.Knight
  • America's crookedest street - San Francisco
    America's crookedest
    street
    by K.Knight
    Lombard Street is America's crookedest street. The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions. The street is paved with bricks and is an amazing site to see.
    To get to Lombard Street, take the Hyde Street Cable Car line, which stops on the crest. From this beautiful vantage point, you can also see down Hyde Street to Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the rest of the Bay. Looking east, North Beach, Telegraph Hill, and the Bay Bridge present a breathtaking sight.

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    Lombard Street: "Crookedest Street in the World"
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  • smschley
  • By smschley on March 11, 2005
  • San Francisco Page by smschley
  • Lombard Street - San Francisco
    by smschley
    The block-long "Crookedest Street in the World" makes eight switchbacks down the east face of Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth streets, past million-dollar, beautifully landscaped homes and unsurpassed views of the Bay. The angle of the street is so steep that the road has to snake back and forth to make a descent possible. This short stretch of Lombard Street is one-way, downhill, and fun to drive. Take the curves slowly and in low gear. The brick-lined street zigzags around the residences' bright flower gardens, which explode with color during warmer months.

    Residents complain about the traffic jam outside their front doors, and occasionally the city attempts to discourage drivers by posting a traffic cop near the top of the hill, but the determined can find a way around. For this reason, the city is considering closing Lombard to motor traffic.

    If no one is standing guard, join the line of cars waiting to drive down the steep hill, or avoid the whole mess and walk down the steps on either side of Lombard. You take in super views of North Beach and Coit Tower whether you walk or drive -- though if you're the one behind the wheel, you'd better keep your eye on the road lest you become yet another of the many folks who ram the garden barriers. Save your film for the bottom where, if you're lucky, you can find a parking space and take a few snapshots of the silly spectacle.

    Can't stand the throngs? Potrero Hill's Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd streets is a kind of blue-collar Lombard Street, with a similar series of switchbacks but without Lombard's gorgeous gardens and views. Vermont has only six switchbacks, but they're steeper and sharper, with an interesting view of the back of the city, though the street itself isn't as scenic.

    Thrill seekers of a different stripe may want to head two blocks south of Lombard to Filbert Street. The hair-raising descent between Hyde and Leavenworth streets is said to be the city's steepest

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  • Directions: Don’t ask locals where Lombard Street is, they're likely to point you further down toward the Marina District, where the street becomes a main traffic thoroughfare
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    Lombard Street: Former Most Crooked Street in the World!
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  • machomikemd
  • Updated By machomikemd on October 21, 2007
  • San Francisco Page by machomikemd
  • Lombard Street - San Francisco
    Lombard Street
    by machomikemd,
    4 more photos
    Russian Hill, a residential neighborhood with pockets of restaurants and shops, is the start of the most famous part of Lombard Street, formerly the world most crooked street (Burlington's Snake Alley in Iowa is now it).

    Lombard Street is best known for one block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or switchbacks) that have earned the street the distinction of being "the former crookedest [most winding] street in the United States." (Vermont St. between 20th St and 22nd St near the San Francisco General Hospital may be steeper, but has only seven turns, and is in a much less picturesque location.) The Powell-Hyde cable car line stops at the top of this block.

    The crooked section of the street is reserved for one-way traffic traveling east (downhill), and is paved with bricks. The section was built in 1923 to accommodate the steepness of the slope

  • Directions: starts at hyde and lombard, San Francisco, CA 94133
  • Website: www.lombardstreetsf.com
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    Lombard Street: The long and sometimes winding road
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  • Bernd_L
  • Updated By Bernd_L on January 10, 2006
  • San Francisco Page by Bernd_L
  • Lombardstreet serpentines - San Francisco
    Lombardstreet serpentines
    by Bernd_L
    Streets in San Francisco can be very steep. Lombardstreet which goes paralell to the Golden Gate Waterfront a few blocks south of it is one of it. At one spot they had to build serpentines where traffic only can pass very slowly.

    This short part of Lombardstreet is very well decorated which flower-beds and is surrounded by nice houses. So it's worth to go there.

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    Lombard Street: America's Crookedest Street
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  • Carmela71
  • Updated By Carmela71 on September 5, 2004
  • San Francisco Page by Carmela71
  • Cars at the street - San Francisco
    Cars at the street
    by Carmela71
    I suggest to try to get the tram for this one (lIne Powell- Hyde) it stops you on the top of the street. If the tram is too busy and you decide to go walking, please go to the parallel one called Leavenworth as it is less hill as the other one and the views are much better from down that from the top.

    We are talking about 8 turnings in the same block as it was in the 20´s a steep street for a straigh road....

    Walk through it and do the photo from downside, you will have to fight for an space hehehehe

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    Lombard Street: Lombard Street
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  • Andraf
  • Updated By Andraf on January 19, 2005
  • San Francisco Page by Andraf
  • Lombard Street, San Francisco - San Francisco
    Lombard Street, San Francisco
    by Andraf
    Lombard Street is another postcard perfect San Francisco attraction. Because of that it's also very popular and no matter the day of the year you'll find numerous people taking pictures here. The attraction is advertised as the "crookedest street in the world" with eight curves in one block descent from Hyde to Leavenworth. The street wasn't always crooked (evidently) but its natural grade of 27 degrees made it harder for the earlier automobiles to climb it. Around 1920, the switchbacks were added and in the process the curve incline was reduced to 16. Cars can only go downhill while on the two sides there are stairways for pedestrians. The views from the top of the section are beautiful (towards the Coit Tower and the Alcatraz). It's nicer to visit in the summer when the flowers are in bloom.

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    Lombard Street: Lombard Street
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  • SmileyLeSa
  • Updated By SmileyLeSa on March 9, 2005
  • San Francisco Page by SmileyLeSa
  • Lombard Street - San Francisco
    Lombard Street
    by SmileyLeSa
    Lombard has eight angles and is known as the crookedest street in the world. The street lined with bricks includes old Victorian mansions. Everytime, I've been there, cars are lined up to drive down.

    The best place to photograph the street, is from Leavenworth Street. (See my picture below.)

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