RSSNeighborhood Guides | San Francisco Travel Blog - Part 2
San Francisco Neighborhood Guide: Nob Hill
For many years, San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood has been home to some of the city’s finest hotels, shops, restaurants and other businesses catering to the area’s well to do. Its position literally on the top of Nob Hill made it the perfect location for 19th Century barons of industry to build their stately mansions. The rich loved Nob Hill for the unobstructed views in each direction, easy access to Downtown and the Financial District and, most of all, its distance from the noise, crime, funk and other undesirable aspects of the waterfront.
San Francisco Neighborhood Guide: Cole Valley
For many travelers, a big part of their travel experience is seeing, smelling, tasting and experiencing the same things that the locals see, smell, eat and experience every day. Rather than join the crowds in the touristy areas, they seek out sights and experiences that are off the beaten path and authentic. Travelers who want more than a t-shirt and an overpriced lunch seek out places like the San Francisco neighborhood of Cole Valley. Cole Valley is primarily a residential community within San Francisco. A small town within a world-class city, Cole Valley’s unofficial borders are Stanyan Street and the Sutro Forest on the west, Tank Hill on the south, Clayton Street on the east and Frederick Street on the north.
San Francisco Neighborhood Guide: Haight-Ashbury
Haight-Ashbury, or simply “The Haight,” is another San Francisco neighborhood with a reputation that extends far beyond city limits. Generally considered the epicenter of the counterculture movement in the mid-to-late sixties, The Haight was the ultimate destination for thousands of disaffected youths who Timothy Leary encouraged to tune in, turn on and drop out. The first hippies were drawn to The Haight by a surplus of housing and cheap rent.
Bernal Heights
If you’re the type of traveler that prefers to eschew the touristy areas and likes to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and flavors of a destination, then you should set aside some time to check out some of San Francisco’s neighborhoods the next time you’re in the Bay Area. Bernal Heights isn’t internationally famous (or infamous) like some San Francisco neighborhoods, but it has its own unique character. If you’re an adventurous traveler who prefers to leave lots of space in your schedule for discovering new things, this neighborhood has plenty of off-the-beaten-path surprises and delights.
San Francisco: Chinatown
San Francisco’s Chinatown needs little introduction. The Chinatown Gate is one of the city’s most iconic images, this neighborhood attracts hordes of tourists each year and there’s never a shortage of things to see and do. What the travel brochures don’t tell visitors is that there really are two Chinatowns: one is for the tourists, and the other is for those that live there. Unlike other San Francisco tourist destinations, there is no “best way” to see everything and experience the place. If you really want to experience all that Chinatown has to offer, start exploring anywhere but the Gate. By beginning your explorations from another side of the neighborhood, you’ll get to see the Chinatown that goes to work in the morning, caters to locals instead of tourists and best of all, you’ll get to taste and experience the real Chinatown.
The Castro
Perhaps the most famous gay neighborhood in the world, San Francisco’s Castro district is located in the city’s Eureka Valley, but no one has referred to this neighborhood in that way for decades. It is customary for neighborhood guides to refer to the Castro as vibrant, dynamic, colorful and thriving, and it is certainly all those things and more. But if you get past the hyperbole and clichés and actually visit this neighborhood, you’ll also find that the Castro is a cool place to visit with great restaurants, trendy, unusual shops, one-of-a-kind festivals and some of the best people-watching opportunities on the planet.
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