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City Trips San Francisco  -  San Francisco holidays.

San Francisco Bay Area : San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley, Alviso, Cupertino, Saratoga, Aptos, Almaden Valley, Atherton, Berryessa, Blossom Valley, Boulder Creek, Calistoga, Geyserville, Glen Ellen, Mill Valley, Napa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sausalito, Sebastopol, Sonoma, St. Helena, Tiburon, Windsor, Yountville, Campbell, Fremont, Gilroy, Half Moon Bay, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Silver Creek Valley, Sunnyvale, Willow Glen, Woodside


car hire, holiday homes, hostels, hotels, travel agency, travel guides, transportation / travelling to san francisco 

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Car Rental San Francisco / Motorcycle Rental

 Holiday Autos  -   
Holiday Autos offers the best fully inclusive car hire prices. Get cheap car hire quickly and securely online with holidayautos.co.uk, the experts in online car rental.

 Sixt  -  
Pick-Up Station : San Francisco Airport and Francisco Downtown.

 EagleRider
the world's largest motorcycle rental and tour company specializing in Harley-Davidson rentals, ATV rentals, Dirt Bike rentals and Watercraft rentals. They offer the opportunity to rent the "American Dream" and experience the ultimate motorcycle touring adventure from worldwide locations.

Holiday Homes / Apartments

 Home Base Holidays
Home exchange vacations; enabling house swap holidays since 1985

Hostels San Francisco

 
Hostelbookers.com is one of the worlds largest online booking services for hostels. All hostels you see here are offering realtime prices and availability. We do not charge a fee to use this service.

 HI-USA  -  American affiliate of the Hostelling International network

 TheBackpacker.Net

Hotels in San Francisco

  -  Motel 6 and Red Roof

  -  Create your perfect trip to San Francisco  -  Flight, Hotel and Car

 
Book cheap flights to San Francisco at ebookers and benefit from discounted airfares. View their latest offers and book your flights, accommodation, car hire and insurance online.

  -  flights to San Francisco

  Airline Tickets / Bargain Flights

International Rail- - Rail passes, Trains and destinations, Plan your trip
Amtrak, America's leading train operator, offers a selection of rail passes for international travelers. The USA Rail Passes provide for travel in three different regions, or the entire United States, with varying travel durations.

 Bay Area Transit Info
511 TakeTransit Trip Planner, Schedules & Route Maps, Popular Destinations, Transit Provider Info, Fare Information, PDA & Wireless, Other info & Links
 San Francisco Municipal Railway [ Muni ]
Seventh-largest public transit system in the United States, as measured by ridership.
Its fleet of about 1,000 vehicles, over half of which are electric, consists of subway-surface light-rail vehicles (Metro streetcars), electric trolley buses, diesel buses, the world-famous cable cars, the only ones in the world still operating, and a unique collection of historic streetcars.

 Golden Gate Bridge 
Operating the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Transit and Golden Gate Ferry.

The city is compact, so you can walk or take a ride on the famous street cars.

 Mapblast! Driving Directions  -  streetmaps etc.
Provides interactive maps and driving directions, as well as extensive information on services and products near a user's address or travel route.
 Mc Nally  -  Route Planner San Francisco
 Multimap.com


Links 

 Travel Insurance  -  online travel and holiday insurance for UK and Irish residents

 San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau 

 Alcatraz  -  Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island, which operated as an 'escape-proof' prison from 1933 to 1963. Al Capone, 'Machine Gun' Kelly and Robert Stroud, the 'birdman of Alcatraz,' were among the prison's unsavory residents.
 Cable cars  -  Downtown SF  -  Sfcablecar.com 
Cable cars rumble down the west side of the square; try looking down Hyde St towards Aquatic Park, down Washington St to Chinatown and the Financial District, or down California from Nob Hill.
 Castro District  -  see Webcastro.com
"The Castro" is a term broadly used to describe the area of San Francisco formerly known as Eureka Valley, and is bordered by Diamond Heights, Noe Valley, the Mission, the Fillmore, and the Haight districts. It has also come to mean more than a locale. Much of the gay and lesbian community of San Francisco lives and works in the Castro. It is known world-wide as the "gay mecca." Home to an ever-changing neighborhood of shops, restaurants, street fairs, and residents, the Castro has continued in its evolution. It is a community and a people rich with history, diversity, tears, and laughter. 
 Chinatown San Francisco - see Sanfranciscochinatown.com
A few blocks north of Union Square is Chinatown. It's a great place for casual wandering through narrow alleys, where on quiet afternoons you can hear the clack of mah jongg tiles from behind screen doors. The most colorful time to visit Chinatown is during the Chinese New Year in late January or early February, with a parade and fireworks and other festivities.
 Cliff House - fresh seafood and whale watching
Cliff House, where you can enjoy fresh seafood and whale watching. The dangerous waters of Ocean Beach are shared with these gentle giants who migrate North from Baja for the summer. From the restaurants or lounges you can enjoy an assortment of fine food and wine, enjoy the rhythms of the surf and if luck is with you ...there will be some whales frolicking in the water right below your table. Enjoy one of nature's most impressive shows
 Coit Tower  -  Coit Tower Virtual Tour 
One of the city's most famous landmarks, the tower is a prime spot to let loose your postcard-vista voyeurism. The 360° views from here are superb.
 Downtown San Francisco  -  Union Square  -  see Sfdowntown.com 
San Francisco's densely populated downtown is squeezed into the hilly northeastern corner of the peninsula.
 Exploratorium  -  The Exploratorium  -  museum of science, art and human perception
Housed within the walls of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium is a collage of hundreds of science, art, and human perception exhibits. The Exploratorium is a leader in the movement to promote museums as informal education centers.
 Financial District San Francisco  - see Inetours
The area is marked by the cluster of high-rise towers that lies between Grant Street east of the Union Square shopping district, Sacramento Street and Columbus Street, south of Chinatown and North Beach, and the Embarcadero that rings the waterfront.
 Fisherman's Wharf  -  Fisherman's Wharf Merchants Association 
Directly north of Russian Hill. Packed with shopping centers, hokey museums and countless accommodations, it's also the gateway for several top attractions (Alcatraz, the Maritime Museum and the Historic Ships Pier). Pier 39 is the area's focal point - it's become as popular with a colony of sea lions as it is with tourists.
 Fort Point National Historic Site  -  see National Park Service
Fort Point was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1853 and 1861 to prevent entrance of a hostile fleet into San Francisco Bay. The fort was designed to mount 126 massive cannon.
 Golden Gate Bridge
The beautiful Golden Gate Bridge crosses the 2 mile (3km) mouth of the bay. Completed in 1937, the bridge remains the symbol of the city despite competition from modern constructions. At the time of its completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and the 746ft (224m) suspension towers were higher than any structure west of New York City.
 Golden Gate Park  -  see San Francisco Recreation & Park Department 
Golden Gate Park stretches almost halfway across the 6 mile (10km) wide peninsula, from the Pacific Ocean to the Haight's Panhandle. Apart from gardens (including a flower conservatory and a charming Japanese tea garden), lakes (rowboats, pedal boats and motor boats can all be rented), sporting facilities (including horse riding, archery, softball, golf, lawn bowling, horseshoe pitching and petanque), the park also has a host of museums and an aquarium, making it a useful escape even when the fog rolls in and the temperature plummets.
 Haight-Ashbury  -  district of San Francisco  -  see Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties
Home of flower power in the late 1960s. Today, the Haight is still colorful, with its pretty Victorian houses
 Lombard Street  -  the crookedest [ most winding ] street in the United States
Lombard Street in San Francisco, California is famous for having a section of tight hairpin turns. The steep section, surrounded with flowers, is a tourist attraction.
 Mission Dolores
Mission San Francisco de Asís, also known as Mission Dolores, was founded on October 9, 1776. It was the sixth Alta California mission, founded by Lt. José Joaquin Moraga and Father Francisco Palou [ both members of the de Anza Expedition ].
 Nob Hill
Views from the top of the hill [ and especially from the tower of the Fairmont Hotel ] extend in all directions around the San Francisco Bay Area.
The intersection of California and Powell streets is also the home to the fanciest hotels in San Francisco: the Fairmont Hotel, the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel, the Stanford Court, and the Huntington Hotel.
 North Beach  -  see San Francisco's Historic North Beach 
North Beach is sandwiched between Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf. It's a lively stretch of strip joints, bars, cafes and restaurants that started as the city's Italian quarter and gave birth to the Beats in the 1950s.
 Pacific Heights - affluent neighborhood of San Francisco, on the north side of the city
Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic and park-like settings in Northern California, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz and the Presidio. See Pacific Heights Neighborhood Guide
 Palace of Fine Arts 
Originally the building was constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition [ designed by Bernard Maybeck, who took his inspiration from Roman and Greek architecture ]. It was the only building from the Exposition not to be demolished, and in the 1960s it was entirely rebuilt to ensure its longevity.
The Palace of Fine Arts has been a favorite wedding location for brides and grooms throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
 PIER39
There is something for everyone at PIER 39, San Francisco's Premier Bay Attraction, a festival marketplace with more than 110 stores, 13 Bay view restaurants, and a variety of fun-filled attractions for all ages including, our world-renowned sea lions, street performers and live daily entertainment.
 Postcard Row Victorians
 Presidio of San Francisco  -  see National Park Service
The Presidio served as a military post under the flags of Spain (1776-1822), Mexico (1822-48), and the United States (1848-1994). As a U.S. Army post, the Presidio protected commerce and trade, and played a logistical role in every major U.S. military conflict from 1848 until closure. World events and those on the home front - from military campaigns to the rise of aviation, from World Fairs to natural disasters - left their mark here.
 San Francisco Bay  -  see Save The Bay
 San Francisco Zoo
 SoMa  -  South of Market Street  -  neighborhood in San Francisco
A combination of lofty office buildings spilling over from the Financial District, fancy condos along the Embarcadero, a touristy gallery and museum precinct around Yerba Buena Gardens and the late night entertainment scene along Folsom and 11th Sts.
 Union Square  - Downtown
Union Square is San Francisco's downtown tourist center. It's a mishmash of glitzy shops and hotels, flower vendors and homeless people.
 Yerba Buena Gardens
Public park between Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Sony Metreon. "Yerba Buena" is the original name for San Francisco, which was the name later chosen by Spanish missionaries.

Beyond San Francisco

 Chabot Space & Science Center [ Oakland ]
Chabot Space & Science Center (CSSC) is an innovative teaching and learning center focusing on astronomy and the space sciences and the interrelationships of all sciences. Its observatory, planetarium, exhibits, and natural park setting are a place where a diverse population of students, teachers, and the public can imagine, understand, and learn to shape their future through science.
 Carmel  -  Carmel-by-the-Sea
An enchanting seaside community, Carmel-by-the-Sea is known throughout the world for its pristine white, sandy beaches, fairy-tale cottage-type architecture, and Mission San Carlos de Borromeo, the jewel of the California missions and the resting place of its founder, Father Junipero Serra. Local law preserves Carmel's rustic quaintness by prohibiting stop lights, neon signs, live music in bars, and commercial enterprise on the beach. Even trees may not be cut without special permission.
 East Bay
The East Bay communities of Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda spring up across the eight-mile San Francisco -Oakland Bay Bridge, offering a fascinating mix of culture and history. Jack London Square and Village is a captivating collection of shops and restaurants on Oakland's western waterfront. Lake Merritt in The City's downtown corridor is ideal for jogging enthusiasts and midday daydreamers. Berkeley, a well-known liberal stronghold, is home to the University of California, offers unique shopping, trend-setting restaurants and world-renowned cultural and performing arts.
Eastbay Cities include : Alameda, Albany, Antioch, Bay Point, Berkeley, Brentwood, Castro Valley, Concord, Danville, Dublin, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Kensington, Lafayette, Livermore, Martinez, Moraga, Mount Eden, Newark, North Richmond, Oakland, Orinda, Piedmont, Pittsburg, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Richmond, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, San Ramon, Sunol, Union City and Walnut Creek
 Jack London Square [ Oakland ]
Bay Area's most beloved destinations. The beautiful, vibrant waterfront enchants visitors. It defines the space. And it is the essential element of everything it is - a dynamic destination buzzing with restaurants, shops, hotels, entertainment, recreation, outdoor markets and special events.
 Lawrence Hall of Science [ Berkeley ]
Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) is a singular resource center for preschool through high school science and mathematics education, and a public science center with exciting hands-on experiences for learners of all ages.
 Marin County  -  north of SF
Just across the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge lies Marin County, a hill-coated haven combining the quaint and alluring with the mighty and majestic. The Alexander Avenue exit off Highway 101 leads to Sausalito, a charming Mediterranean look-alike nestled along an inviting shoreline eight miles north of San Francisco. Rustic houses cascade down deep slopes to the bay, overlooking shops and open-air restaurants. Ferries from San Francisco make frequent crossings to Sausalito, as well as the nearby towns of Tiburon and Larkspur.
 Monterey Bay Aquarium 
The mission of this award-winning web site is to inspire, enrich and extend a visit to the aquarium, while fostering a deeper commitment and connection to the institution and ocean conservation.
 Monterey Peninsula  -  south of SF  -  see Monterey.com
The magnificent Monterey Peninsula has been called the greatest meeting of land, sea and sky and is recognized as an ideal vacation and business destination. This beautiful seaside community combines all the charm of small town America with an endless variety of recreational and cultural activities. Monterey's rich history, the saga of California's Mission Trail, historic Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, 20 world-class golf courses, the world's best aquarium, a unique variety of shops and galleries and a spectacular assortment of parks and natural areas combine to provide a truly unrivaled place for your next getaway. Monterey.com brings the peninsula to you!.
 Oakland Zoo [ Oakland ]  -  Conservation & Education
The Oakland Zoo is a non-profit organization, managed by the East Bay Zoological Society. Founded in 1922 by Henry Snow, the Zoo has been located in its current Knowland Park location since 1936.
 Old Oakland District [ Oakland ]  -  see Oldoakland.org 
The Old Oakland Historic District is the 1870s downtown of Oakland, California. Carefully restored, it stands as a fine mainstreet of Victorian brick and glass, alive again with shops, restaurants and offices in a setting that evokes the era of the Railroad.
 Paramount's Great America [ Santa Clara ] - family fun and adventure
 Pebble Beach Monterey
Some of the most spectacular scenery on the Monterey Peninsula is found along Pebble Beach's 17-Mile Drive, a route that meanders through tall pine forests and along the rocky coast. Pebble Beach is indeed a tourist mecca, and is probably best known for its world-class resort hotels and championship golf courses. See County of Monterey.
 Six Flags Marine World [ Vallejo ]
Six Flags Marine World is America's only combination wildlife park, oceanarium and theme park. From world -class rides and up-close animal encounters to sensational live shows and special events, there's something for every member of the family to enjoy!  
 Tri Valley  -  east of SF
In the Tri-Valley area near Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton, 15 award-winning wineries make this one of the most accessible areas for wine adventures.

 San Francisco Chronicle

Cuisine - San Francisco Foods

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant 
Judy Rodgers
Chef-owner Judy Rogers offers a collection of 250 diverse recipes along with explanations of each preparation step and ideas on roasting, pastry-making, braising, and the importance of tasting.
Hardcover 504 pages (September 2002); Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd.; Language: English; ISBN: 0393020436
Terra: Cooking from the Heart of Nappa Valley  -  Hiro Sone, Lissa Doumani
In the late 1980s, Spago-trained chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani opened their award-winning Napa Valley restaurant, Terra, in a century-old fieldstone foundry in St. Helena. Their dream of running a world-class restaurant became a reality as word quickly spread about the duo's extraordinary cooking and hospitality. Now, along with the French Laundry, the venerable Terra is a cornerstone of the Napa Valley food scene, and one of its quintessential dining experiences. In this book, over 100 recipes from the restaurant's standing and seasonal menus showcase the chefs' sophisticated, yet eminently playful and deeply personal cuisine. Sone and Doumani provide readers with a wealth of insight into the ingredients, preparations, and techniques that shape their cooking philosophy and menus, giving readers guidance - and inspiration - to execute these dishes at home.
Hardcover 240 pages (February 2001); Publisher: Ten Speed Press; Language: English; ISBN: 1580081495
 Historic American Recipes 
Apple-Fritters | Dough-Nuts | Cocoa-nut Drops | Molasses Gingerbread | Common Gingerbread | Election Cake | Indian Meal Pudding | Fried Sweet Potatoes | Sweet Potato Pie | Beef-Stake | German Chicken Stew | Jack Rabbit Stew | To Roast a Pig | Broiled Scrod | To boil a Cod's Head.

History City of San Francisco

 Chinese Historical Society of America  -  Museum & Learning Center
Oldest and largest organization dedicated tothe study, documentation, and dissemination of Chinese American history.
 Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
 San Francisco Cable Car Museum

We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against  -  Nicholas Von Hoffman
If you want to understand hippies of the 60's read this book.
Paperback 279 pages (December 1, 1988); Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc.; Language: English; ISBN: 0929587065
San Francisco in the Sixties  -  George Perry
A cutting edge series of books on cult cities London, Paris, New York and San Francisco, captures the key moments of the sixties through key images, accompanied by a succinct narrative by film critic George Perry. With the passing of the twentieth century into history, the 1960s can be confirmed as one of its most crucial decades, an era of unprecedented social and cultural revolution. Across the world, barriers collapsed, new freedoms were claimed and an explosion of creative energy electrified the arts, fashion, politics and general lifestyles, often with accompanying anguish. Certain world cities - San Francisco included - were, in their very different ways, at the vanguard of this global ferment. The series of books reveals the arts, fashions, passions, people and events in each of these cities during this extraordinary era, by means of candid, striking images by contemporary photographers. The selection has been made with the advantage of hindsight, and offers both insights and surprises. Peace, love and hard drugs were the order of the day in San Francisco in the 60s. There was a summer of love and flower power was in the ascendant, but the spell was broken by the troubles of 1968 and the eruption of violence at Berkeley where the free speech campaign had begun four years earlier. An earthquake-prone San Francisco trembled, but carried on as a leader of popular taste, delivering the music of Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane, the graphics of Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton and the literature of Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsburg.
Paperback 128 pages (October 24, 2003); Publisher: Pavilion Books; Language: English; ISBN: 1862056161

 National Park Service - Links to the past
Explore America's cultural resources - buildings, landscapes, archeological sites, ethnographic resources, objects and documents, structures and districts.

Music, Art & Culture, Entertainment

 Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
One of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art. But it's more than just an art museum - it can be your ticket to Asia. Here, travel through 6,000 years of history, trek across seven major regions, and sample the cultures of numerous countries.
 M.H. de Young Memorial Museum  -  fine arts museum located in Golden Gate Park
 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
This site delves into new terrain not only by providing timely and relevant information about visiting and enjoying the physical museum itself - exhibitions, collections, educational activities, and public programs - but also as home for a special online gallery they call e.space.
 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Can you imagine a whole new way to see? Is it possible to break old habits and discover a new perspective on art and the world?

Off the Wall: Psychedelic Rock Posters from San Francisco 
Jean-Pierre Criqui, Jean-Marc Bel, Amelie Gastaut
In the mid-1960s, San Francisco rock, or psychedelic rock, emerged in Haight Ashbury, fueled by the use of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD. Groups and musicians such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana and others rose to prominence and in turn influenced musical groups around the USA and in other parts of the world, from the Velvet Underground to Sly and the Family Stone to The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The posters announcing the concerts that were held at places such as the fabled Fillmore and the Avalon Ballroom matched the revolutionary music with their brilliant, swirling colours and hallucinogenic imagery. Created by some of the most inventive graphic designers of the era, including the 'Big Five' of psychedelic poster design - Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Alton Kelley and Stanley 'Mouse' Miller - these groundbreaking posters reflect a singular moment in the history of American culture. This book showcases well over a hundred of the most striking, original and unconventional posters from this memorable period, stunningly printed in five colours to best reproduce the rich hues and dizzying patterns of the originals. The accompanying texts explain the influences ranging from Art Nouveau and Op Art on psychedelic poster design, and discuss the contributions of dozens of artists.
Paperback 144 pages (March 2005); Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd; Language: English; ISBN: 0500285543

 Popular songs in American history  -  Lesley Nelson's Website.
American Folk and Traditional Music with Lyrics, Midi Files, Tune Information and History behind the folksongs and ballads. With folksongs arranged by time period.

Web Portal / Search Engine / San Francisco Directory

 San Francisco Bay Guardian 
Comprehensive guide to the bay area's best food, entertainment, outdoors, shopping, and more.
 SanFrancisco.com  -  The Complete Guide to San Francisco, California
 San Francisco City Guides 
Non-profit organization that offers an extensive array of free walking tours of San Francisco and its neighborhoods.
 San Francisco Insider
Covers San Francisco's top sights and museums, and includes dozens of original photos. From world-class attractions to the hidden treasures often overlooked by other guide books, The Insider has it all.
 Things to do in San Francisco 
One of the USA's most attractive cities, San Francisco's hilly streets provide some gorgeous glimpses of the San Francisco Bay and its famous bridges. This is a mosaic of a city, a big picture made from the colorful tiles of bustling Chinatown, the gentrifying Mission, gay Castro, clubby SoMa, hippie Haight-Ashbury and faux-hemian North Beach.
San Francisco has an atmosphere of genteel chic mixed with offbeat innovation, and a self-effacing flutter-of -the-eyelids quality so blatantly missing from brassy New York and plastic LA. This is a place that breeds alternatives: it's the home of the Beat Generation, flower power, Critical Mass direct action bike rides and gay pride

 Castroonline.com

 Yahoo San Francisco Bay


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