2024-01-22 23:19:55
EXPLORE ICONIC SAN FRANCISCO RECOGNIZED AROUND THE WORLD AS BEING SYNONYMOUS WITH SAN FRANCISCO, THESE SEVEN LEGENDARY ATTRACTIONS SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF ANY VISITOR’S ITINERARY. 1. THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE Crossing the strait of the Golden Gate is the world-renowned Golden Gate Bridge, easily identified by its International Orange color. Once called “the bridge that couldn’t be built,” today it is one the seven wonders of the modern world. You can drive, bike, or walk across its 1.7-mile span. 2. ALCATRAZ A former prison, Alcatraz is now a national park and San Francisco’s most popular attraction. A visit to the island includes a tour of the cell house where visitors can see how the prisoners lived. The island is full of American, Indigenous, and natural history to explore. 3. CABLE CARS Tony Bennett once sang about the little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars; but did you know they’d been climbing those hills long before he stepped up to the mic? It’s true! First put into service by inventor Andrew S. Hallidie in 1873, San Francisco’s cable cars offer a fun and fascinating peek into the past while you travel through the city of the future. 4. PAINTED LADIES Along the eastern side of Alamo Square Park is one of the most iconic and most photographed sights in San Francisco. These pastel-colored homes, standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the gentle slope of Steiner Street, are called the Painted Ladies. These Victorian homes—still occupied by locals—are a beautiful reminder of the San Francisco of old, while the gleaming downtown skyline of new San Francisco shimmers in the distance. 5. FISHERMAN’S WHARF The cheery ringing of the cable car bells; the sights, sounds and smells along busy Jefferson Street; the renovated historic red-brick factories; the steaming street-side pots of Dungeness crab—all help make Fisherman’s Wharf a top attraction year after year. 6. COIT TOWER Coit Tower sticks out like a sore thumb, and for good reason. It’s a defining characteristic of San Francisco’s skyline. This elegant tapering column was built in 1933, the legacy of San Francisco’s colorful Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who left a $125,000 bequest “for the purpose of adding beauty to the city which I have always loved.” 7. LOMBARD STREET Known as the “Crookedest Street in the World,” Lombard Street is one of San Francisco’s most popular landmarks. Every year, millions of visitors walk or drive down its eight sharp hairpin turns. Surrounded by Russian Hill mansions and perfectly manicured landscaping and flowers, it is also one of the city’s most scenic streets.
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