San Francisco

Public Transport

To avoid steep hills and aching feet, the city’s transport authority, SanFranciscoMunicipalTransportation Agency - Muni (tel: 311, within San Francisco or (415) 710 2311; website: www.sfmta.com) operates trolley cars, buses, streetcars, cable cars and a light rail system, for a 24-hour service to all areas of the city. Routes, schedules, maps, ticket and traffic information are available online. Also try the Bay Area Travel Info line (tel: 511; website: www.511.org).

San Francisco has many different types of above-ground vehicles covering the same routes. Buses, trolleys (with wire cable) and streetcars all cover the same routes and command the same fare. These operate citywide, with the name, destination and line number displayed on the front of the bus. Pole signs and curb and street markings designate stops. Tickets are available upon boarding and exact change is required. Historic streetcars run similar routes, every six to 15 minutes. The cars come from as far away as Italy and date back to 1928, with US$14 million spent on restoring and maintaining them. Tickets are available upon boarding.

Cable cars run on three routes (see KeyAttractions) and provide some of the best views in the city. Passengers can buy tickets on board (exact change is required) or from kiosks located at the cable car turnarounds. One-day cable car passes are available, although the Muni Passport (see below) is a better deal if you plan to ride other Muni vehicles. Expect higher prices than regular public transport.

Muni light rail travels along Market Street to the Mission District and Noe Valley (J line), the Ingleside district (K line), the Sunset District (L, M, and N lines), and the Castro, Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf (F line). Transfers are issued and are good for bus-to-rail or rail-to-bus connections within 90 minutes.

The BayAreaRapidTransit (BART) system (tel: (415) 989 2278; website: www.bart.gov) operates San Francisco’s subway, which runs along Market Street stopping at The Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Centre, and links San Francisco with East Bay and Daly City. It operates from early morning (exact hours of service depend on the line: some Muni lines begin at 0430 on weekdays; others at 0730, others claim to be 24 hours) until 2400. Tickets are available from machines located in the stations.

Muni Passports are available for one day, three days or seven days and allow unlimited travel on Muni services. These passes are sold at a number of venues, including the ticket booth at the cable car turnaround at Powell Street and Market Street, as well as the Visitor Information Centre, lower level, Hallidie Plaza, Powell Street and Market Street. A comprehensive map of all Muni routes is available from local bookstores, newspaper stands and corner shops.

Ferries depart from the Ferry Building, The Embarcadero, located at the east end of Market Street - once the world’s second busiest passenger terminal, handling 100,000 daily ferry commuters. Regular crossings go to and from Bay communities. Sausalito and Larkspur are served by the GoldenGateFerry (tel: (415) 455 2000; website: www.goldengateferry.org), which leaves from the south wing of the Ferry Building and makes frequent crossings, taking 30 to 45 minutes. Tickets are sold on board and near the boarding gate. BlueandGoldFleet (tel: (415) 705 8200; website: www.blueandgoldfleet.com), RedandWhiteFleet (tel: (415) 673 2900; website: www.redandwhite.com) and Baylink (tel: (707) 643 3779; website: www.baylinkferry.com) run daily services from the Ferry Building (weekdays only for Tiburon) and Pier 41, Fisherman’s Wharf, serving Oakland, Alameda, Vallejo, Tiburon and Sausalito.

Taxis

Taxis are plentiful and, despite reports to the contrary, hailing them is not difficult, although the wise passenger will book in advance. Tipping is customary, almost obligatory, and drivers expect about 15%. YellowCabCooperativeInc (tel: (415) 626 2345) and VeteransNational&UnitedTaxicabCompany (tel: (415) 552 1300) are both reputable providers.

Driving in the City

While arriving in San Francisco by car is a delight, driving around this city is not. Hills and cable cars, which have right of way, do not help. Parking is at a premium, car parks are expensive and the unwitting tourist can easily fall prey to a hefty fine. Regulations can be confusing and are aggressively enforced - pedestrians at a crossing always have the right of way and coloured curbs indicate restricted parking. It is important to note that, when parking on a hill, the driver must curb the wheels to prevent a runaway and ensure that the handbrake is on. Wheels should be turned out facing uphill.

The FifthandMissionParkingGarage (tel: (415) 982 8522; website: www.fifthandmission.com), located where Fifth Street and Mission Street meet, is the biggest in the city. Other car parks include UnionSquareGarage (tel: (415) 397 0631; website: www.unionsquareshop.com) and the Ellis-O’FarrellGarage (tel: (415) 986 4800; website: www.eofgarage.com), located where these two streets meet. The cheapest parking lots charge around US$2.50 per hour and are, of course, the first to fill up.

Car Hire

The best reason for hiring a car is to explore the magnificent coastal road, Highway 1, or for longer journeys, further afield. Most car hire companies offer deals that include insurance and unlimited mileage but drivers should be at least 21 years of age - some specify 25 years. A valid driving licence is required, while a second form of identification and booking ahead is advised. Alamo (tel: 1 800 462 5266; website: www.alamo.com), Avis (tel: (415) 929 2555 or 1 800 331 1212; website: www.avis.com), Budget (tel: (415) 433 3717 or 1 800 527 0700; website: www.budget.com), Dollar (tel: 1 800 800 3665; website: www.dollar.com) or Thrifty (tel: (415) 788 8111 or 1 800 847 4389; website: www.thrifty.com) offer competitive rates.

Bicycle Hire

For those visitors who believe they can take on the hills, The Bike Hut at Pier 40 (tel:415 543 4335; website: www.thebikehut.com) hires out mountain and street bikes. The more adventurous may want to sit astride a Harley. EagleriderMotorcycleRental (tel: 1 888 900 9901 or (415) 503 1900; website: www.eaglerider.com) can turn mere citizens into easyriders. Prices include helmets, basic liability insurance and unlimited mileage. Drivers must be at least 21 years old and hold a motorcycle driving licence.

Introduction

The cultural life of San Francisco is as diverse as the different cultures that reside here. In the Mission, the art is on the walls with colourful murals covering historical moments and major personalities in Latin history. In the Civic Centre, it streams melodically from purpose-built buildings dedicated to the pursuit of music. SoMa (the district south of Market Street) is home to important museums and some of the most exciting visual art in the world, while Union Square is theatreland.

Acid rock was born in the LSD days of the 1960s and played to the hippie generation, by bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, while, in 1967, the Summer of Love crystallised this new cultural consciousness. Today, the city continues to provide a home to artists of all description, reflecting the breadth of cultural diversity. Its status as a pioneer has settled down, as many of the ideas that earlier generations fought for (such as gay rights in the 1970s) are now more accepted. But there remains a rich tradition of alternative theatre, as well as successful mainstream offerings.

TixBayArea, on Powell Street in Union Square (tel: (415) 430 1140; website: www.theatrebayarea.org), provides full-price advance tickets as well as half-price day-of-performance tickets (in person and online) for a range of events.

SFBayGuardian (website: www.sfbg.com), the SFWeekly (website: www.sfweekly.com) and the biweekly BayAreaReporter (website: www.ebar.com) all provide listings and information on the city’s cultural activities. (The first two are free papers widely available in newspaper boxes throughout the city.)

Music: San Franciscans love music. Concerts of the Grammy-Award winning San Francisco Symphony, led by acclaimed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, are often sold out. Performances are held at the ultra-modern Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue (tel: (415) 864 6000; website: www.sfsymphony.org). The full-length glass windows overlook the restored City Hall, like Washington DC’s Capitol Building, only with a gilt dome 12m (40ft) taller.

The San Francisco Opera (tel: (415) 864 3330; website: www.sfopera.com) has established itself as one of the world’s great opera companies, re-invigorated by director David Gockley. Its home is the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, a gorgeous building dating from 1932. The season is September to January and June to July. Same-day tickets, mostly for standing room only, are usually available.

Theatre: Shows range from Broadway productions on Geary Street to smaller, more alternative shows throughout the city. The Geary Theatre, 415 Geary Street (tel: (415) 749 2228; website: www.act-sf.org), opened in 1996 and is home to the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), one of the nation’s largest resident companies and a Tony Award winner. The Curran Theatre, 445 Geary Street (tel: (415) 551 2000; website: www.shnsf.com), hosts touring Broadway musicals, while Teatro Zinzanni, Pier 27-29, The Embarcadero (tel: (415) 438 2668; website: www.teatrozinzanni.org), blends cabaret, spectacle, music and dinner. 42nd Street Moon, 601 Van Ness Street, (tel: (415) 255 8207; website: www.42ndstmoon.org), prides itself on offbeat musicals.

Dance: Ballet has been part of San Franciscan life longer than in any other city in America. San Francisco Ballet (tel: (415) 865 2000; website: www.sfballet.org) is not only the oldest company (it started life in 1933), but also reputedly among the best. Performances take place at the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, between February and May. There are a number of innovative dance troupes dotted around town. The Ethnic Dance Festival (tel: (415) 392 4400; website: www.worldartswest.org) takes place at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, Lyon Street, over four weekends in June.

Film: San Francisco has been the backdrop for innumerable well-known movies. Including StarWars, Shrek and IndianaJones. Its steep hills are favoured for car chases and the Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz in the distance, provides an unrivalled backdrop. Most famously, Steve McQueen starred in the 1960s classic Bullitt (1968). Chris Columbus filmed local resident Robin Williams in MrsDoubtfire (1993) and Sean Connery appeared in TheRock (1996). Jennifer Lopez filmed TheWeddingPlanner (2001) here, and Elizabeth Hurley came to the city to film Bedazzled (2001). Ang Lee’s remake of Hulk (2003) was shot in San Francisco. The quirky BeingJohnMalkovich was filmed here in 1999, and UndertheTuscanSun, starring Diane Lane, was partially filmed in San Francisco in 2003. The 2004 wine-drenched comedy Sideways has stimulated tours following in the footsteps of this zany road trip in the Napa Valley.

The San Francisco International Film Festival (website: www.sffs.org) is held in April and May. Venues include Landmark’s Clay Theatre, 2261 Fillmore Street (at Clay) (tel: (415) 267 4893; website: www.landmarktheatres.com), and Castro Theatre, Castro Street and Market Street (tel: (415) 621 6120; website: www.thecastrotheatre.com), which shows independent, art and foreign film, and has a Wurlitzer organ that plays before each showing.

Literary Notes: San Francisco has inspired literary comment almost since its inception. However, until the 1950s, it was mostly the odd epigram from wits like Mark Twain, who reckoned his coldest winter was a summer here, or Rudyard Kipling, who once called San Francisco ’a mad city - inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people’, or John Steinbeck, who described the city as a ’golden handcuff’ without a key. Although William Saroyan did have this to say during the Great Depression: ’If you’re alive, you can’t be bored in San Francisco. If you’re not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life.’

San Francisco has been at the vanguard of American consciousness ever since, peaking in the 1950s, thanks to Beat Generation writers Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gary Snyder. Ferlinghetti, poet and publisher, was declared innocent of obscenity for publishing Ginsberg’s Howl (1956), paving the way for an open and liberal cultural life in the city. Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was inspired by the cultural diversity and natural beauty of the place. But for many, it was the city’s drug culture and political climate. Most famous of them all is Jack Kerouac, whose OnTheRoad (1957) spoke for a generation. The only survivor of the Beat Generation is Ferlinghetti, whose City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, holds a reputation as one of the best places for buying cutting-edge and classical literature.

Ken Kesey, author of OneFlewOverTheCuckoo’sNest (1962), continued the outraging of American society, a decade later, fuelled by LSD. For Dylan Thomas, it was a city out of this world. ’You wouldn’t think such a place as San Francisco could exist,’ he proclaimed. Gay writer Armistead Maupin’s success was founded on that of his newspaper column, which started in the SanFranciscoChronicle on 24 May 1976, and his understanding of his city’s gay population. He went on to become a major modern storyteller, quirkily reflecting city life in a series of novels that began with TalesoftheCity (1978). Bay Area author Amy Tan wrote the popular JoyLuckClub (1994), which chronicles four generations of women in San Francisco. ’Sister Spit’ success-story Michelle Tea won accolades for Valencia (2000), a story about young punk-rock lesbians in the Mission District.

Mystery writer James Calder has published three novels in the Bill Damon mystery series set in Silicon Valley while San Francisco’s author Nadia Gordon writes a murder mystery series set in Sonoma and Napa Valley wine country. Local author Kirk Russell’s crime mysteries are set in California. To coincide with the centenary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, local author and screenwriter James Dalessandro wrote an epic novel entitled 1906, set in San Francisco on the eve of the great earthquake and fire of 1906.

In more modern times, SoMa (2007), the debut novel of author Kemble Scott, is a social satire centred on the characters of San Francisco’s edgy South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood in the year’s following the 2001 dot-com bust. Although fiction, the novel features real San Francisco locations - and hints at a true tale or two.

© Columbus Travel Media Ltd.