San Francisco 10 Best Places to Visit

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Top 10 historic sights in San FranciscoSan Francisco has iconic landmarks aplenty: the Golden Gate bridge, Fisherman's Wharf,

Alcatraz and fog. But dig deeper and you'll find a richer history beyond the famoustourist sights

Fort Point was built to protect the Bay from naval attacks. Photograph: Mike

Shaw/Getty Images/Flickr RF Photo By Mike Shaw/Getty Images/Flickr RF

Lavinia Spalding

Friday 11 April 2014 11.13 BST

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Fort Point

At the foot of the Golden Gate bridge is Fort Point, built from 1853 to 1861 to

protect the Bay from naval attacks. It is constructed in the multi-tieredThird

Systemmilitary style, with a design allowing cannons to hit enemy ships at water

level; Fort Point is the only one of its kind in the west. Though never used inbattle, the national historic site is an example of impressive masonry. Stop for

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coffee at The Warming Hut (built in 1909 as a US Engineer Storehouse), then

make your way across that beautiful big red bridge and don't forget a jacket!

+ 1 415 556 1693,nps.gov/fopo.Open Fri-Sun 10am-5pm, admission free

Mission Dolores and The Mission District

Photograph: Robert

Vente/DK Images/REX

Spanish missionaries settled Yerba Buena (later renamed San Francisco) on 29

June 1776, five days before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Visitthe spot where it all began: Mission Dolores, the city's oldest intact building, and

one of only two cemeteries remaining in the city. The neighbourhood, originally

populated by theOhlonepeople, is a vibrant Latino arts community don't miss

the Clarion Alley and Balmy Alley murals and a foodie paradise. But no visit to

San Francisco is complete until you've patronised a taquera (taco shop) and

tasted your first Mission burrito.

Mission Dolores, 3321 16th Street, +1 415 621 8203,missiondolores.org.Open

daily (except holidays) 1 May-31 Oct, 9am-4.30pm and 1 Nov-30 Apr, 9am-4pm, admission free

The Old Ship Saloon

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Photograph:Kris

Vera-Phillips/flickr

When California struck gold, some 300,000 fortune hunters stormed the state,

many travelling by sea and abandoning their boats. The Old Ship Saloon is built

on the remains of The Arkansas, which ran aground on Alcatraz in 1849. Two

years after being towed in, an enterprising Englishman cut a hole in the hull and

began serving spirits, and it's operated as a saloon, brothel, rooming house, or

shanghai den ever since. The term "shanghaied" originates here: unlucky

patrons downed drug-spiked liquor and woke up on a ship at sea. Today, this

locals' hangout is fairly innocuous, but the Pisco Punch still packs a wallop.The Old Ship Saloon, 298 Pacific Avenue,oldshipsaloon.com.Open Mon-Fri

11.30am-2am

Cable Car Museum

Photograph: HultonArchive/Getty Images

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In 1869, during the American industrial age, Andrew Smith Hallidie witnessed a

carriage accident that killed five horses. He decided something had to be done.

Enter San Francisco's iconic transportation system. Before riding one of the

three lines still in operation, visit the Cable Car Museum, where you can even

watch the engines and winding wheels pulling the cables. Then hop aboard and

regale fellow passengers with all you've learned about grips, tracks and brakes. A

local's tip: instead of waiting in line, walk to the next stop and board en route,

wherever you see the brown and white cable-car sign.

Cable Car Museum, 1201 Mason Street,cablecarmuseum.org.Open daily 1

Apr-30 Sept 10am-6pm and 1 Oct-31 March 10am-5pm, admission free

Cliff House and Sutro Baths

Photograph: Curved

Light USA/Alamy

A daytime excursion to Cliff House is a must. Go for the panoramic ocean views,

martinis, oysters,Crab Louisand the stories. Built in 1863, the Cliff House was

levelled by fire twice, in 1894 and 1907 (just a year after surviving the greatearthquake), and rebuilt and renovated again and again. While there, visit the

Camera Obscura (fashioned after Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century design), and

explore the ruins of the colossal Sutro Baths, which once accommodated up to

10,000 swimmers.

The Cliff House, 1090 Point Lobos Avenue, +1 415 386 3330,cliffhouse.com.

Open for lunch Mon-Sat 11.30am-3.30pm, Sun 11am-3.30pm, dinner, daily

5pm-9.30pm

The Fairmont Hotel

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Photograph: George

Rose/Getty Images

The1906 earthquakewas one of the worst natural disasters in American history,

reducing much of San Francisco to rubble. But not the Fairmont, which "stood

Parthenon-like at the top of the hill". Suffering only structural damage, the

brand-new hotel opened one year later and has since hosted the first United

Nations meeting, every president sinceWilliam Howard Taft,and Tony Bennett,

who crooned I Left My Heart in San Francisco there. Maybe you will, too, after a

couple ofTonga RoomMai Tais. Not your style? Reserve afternoon tea service

with honey from the hotel's own beehives in The Laurel Court.The Fairmont, 950 Mason Street, +1 415 772 5000,fairmont.com/san-

francisco.Tea service Sat-Sun 1.30pm-3.30pm

Angel Island

Photograph: LeeFoster/Alamy

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More tourists visit Chinatown annually than the Golden Gate bridge, but you'll

find the real story at Angel Island where, from 1910-1940, hundreds of

thousands of Chinese immigrants were detained sometimes for months or

years. What is often referred to as the Ellis Island of the west was built after the

1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, a response to xenophobia and

resentment toward Gold Rush-era immigrants. Now it's a museum preserving

the history, including 100-plus Chinese poems found etched into the walls. The

hilly island also offers spectacular views, beaches, cycling and hiking trails,

Segway tours, campsites, a cafe and a weekend oyster bar.

Angel Island,angelisland.com.Open daily April-October, March Wed-Sun.

Guided tours $7 adults, $5 kids. Self-guided tours also available. Round-trip

ferry ticket from San Francisco $17 adult

City Lights Bookstore

Photograph: Robert

Alexander/Getty Images

Nothing symbolises the 50s beat generation like this historic landmark and localgem, founded in 1953 in North Beach. City Lights gained national recognition

when ownerLawrence Ferlinghettiwas charged with obscenity for

publishingAllen Ginsberg's Howland prevailed. When you're finished

browsing the shop's three levels of books, bring your new acquisition across the

street to Vesuvio and raise a glass to the ghosts of Jack Kerouac and Neal

Cassady, who frequented the legendary watering hole. And while you're in Little

Italy, stop for an afternoon espresso at Caf Trieste, where Frances Ford Coppola

reportedly wrote the Godfather screenplay.

City Lights, 261 Columbus Avenue,citylights.com.Open daily 10am-midnight.

Vesuvio, 255 Columbus Avenue,vesuvio.com.Open daily 6am-2am

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Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate park

Photograph: Kerrick

James/Corbis

If you missed the Summer of Love and your inner flower child wants out, head to

the Upper Haight, where echoes of the bohemian counterculture that drew

hundreds of thousands of hippies in the 1960s shifting the nation's political

climate forever are inescapable. Nurse a pint at Magnolia Gastropub and

Brewery, formerly Magnolia Thunderpussy (named for the burlesque performer

who owned the restaurant in the 60s), which once offered an all-night deliveryservice and erotic desserts. Hit a head shop, buy some fringed velvet pants at a

consignment shop, then cross the street into Golden Gate park, the site of the

first "Human Be-In".

Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, 1398 Haight Street, +1 415 864

7468,magnoliapub.com.Open Mon-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri 11am-1am, Sat

10am-1am, Sun 10am-11pm

The Castro Theater and neighbourhood

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Photograph: Proehl

Studios/Corbis

The Castro Theater is one of only a few American 1920s-era movie palaces still in

operation. Plan your trip around a sing-along night (think Sound of Music, Little

Mermaid, Grease) and arrive early to catch the live Wurlitzer organ

performance. Then, visit the sidewalk plaque outside the former site ofHarvey

Milk's camera store and campaign centre, the hub of the gay community in the

70s. Finally, have a nightcap at Twin Peaks Tavern, a historic landmark believed

to be the nation's first gay bar with full-length, plate-glass windows, which

allowed patrons to see out and the public to see in.