San Francisco itineraries

How these days work

Each day keeps to one part of the city, so that the walking joins up and the rides are short. The order of the stops within a day follows the lie of the land: where there is a hill, the plan rides up and walks down. Every sight carries a grade mark, and the hills page lists the easier ways up.

The weather matters more than the order. The views, from the bridge, Twin Peaks, Coit Tower and Lands End, are best on a clear day, and summer fog often rolls in during the afternoon; move those days to the clearest forecast and keep the museum days for the gray ones. See when to come.

Getting between the stops

Day one runs along the flat. From the Ferry Building, the F-line streetcar follows the Embarcadero north past Pier 33, where the Alcatraz ferries leave from Alcatraz Landing, to Fisherman's Wharf. After the island, walk west along the Wharf to the Hyde Street Pier and Aquatic Park, where the Powell–Hyde cable car can carry you back downtown.

Day two climbs. Queue at the Powell and Market turntable, or board along the route, and ride the Powell–Hyde line to the top of Lombard Street. Walk down the crooked block and on through North Beach to Washington Square, then take Muni's 39 Coit bus up Telegraph Hill. After the tower, walk down the Filbert Steps toward the Embarcadero, or down the west side of the hill back to North Beach, and on to Chinatown on foot.

Day three follows the northern shore. Start at the Palace of Fine Arts, walk out along the bay on the Crissy Field promenade toward Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, and walk out on the span. Muni buses cross the Presidio and run west toward Lands End and the Legion of Honor; the Coastal Trail's paved first stretch is the easy part.

Day four starts in the park, where the N Judah line and several buses run along the edges, and ends on the hills: walk east along Haight Street toward Alamo Square, and go up Twin Peaks by taxi or car. Day five is the flattest of all, joined by BART and Muni Metro under Market Street, from the Sixteenth Street station for the Mission to Civic Center and Montgomery Street for SFMOMA.

If you have one day

With a single day, ride the Powell–Hyde cable car from the Powell and Market turntable over Nob Hill and Russian Hill, get off at the top of Lombard Street and walk down its crooked block. Carry on down to North Beach for coffee and lunch, walk through Chinatown's Grant Avenue, and take the F-line streetcar along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building. In the late afternoon, take a taxi or bus to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and walk out onto the span.

If you can book it, trade the afternoon for Alcatraz instead; it is the one sight that people most regret missing, and it has to be arranged ahead. See booking ahead.

If you have three days

Take days one, two and three. They cover the waterfront, Alcatraz, the cable cars, Chinatown, North Beach and Telegraph Hill, the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge: the city most visitors picture before they arrive. If the fog comes in on your bridge day, swap it with the waterfront, and walk out on the span on whichever afternoon is clearest.

With a spare evening, ride the California Street cable car, usually the quietest of the three lines, over Nob Hill at dusk.

If you have five days

All five days together reach every one of the eighteen sights. Days four and five add the western and southern city: Golden Gate Park, with its museums and gardens, the Victorian houses of the Haight and Alamo Square, the summit of Twin Peaks, the Mission's murals and taquerias, the Beaux-Arts dome of City Hall and the modern art of SFMOMA.

A sixth day is best spent out of the city: the redwoods, the wine valleys or a ferry across the bay. See day trips.

A level route

For anyone who finds the hills hard, much of the city can be seen on level ground. Start at the Ferry Building, follow the Embarcadero north by the F-line streetcar to Fisherman's Wharf and the Hyde Street Pier, and take the ferry to Alcatraz, though the island itself has a steep walk to the cellhouse. On another day, cover the Civic Center, City Hall, SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Gardens, all on the flat, then take the BART to Sixteenth Street for Mission Dolores.

The northern shore, from the Palace of Fine Arts along Crissy Field to Fort Point under the bridge, is level walking all the way, and so is most of Golden Gate Park. For the viewpoints on the hills, taxis and ride-hailing cars reach Twin Peaks, Alamo Square and Coit Tower's summit.

With children

Children tend to love the cable cars, the ships, the sea lions that have hauled out on the docks of Pier 39 since 1989, the ferry ride to Alcatraz, and the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, with its aquarium, its planetarium dome and a rainforest inside a glass dome ninety feet across. The wide lawns and playgrounds of the park, the beach at Crissy Field and the walk over the bridge suit restless legs. Break up the hill days with rides, and carry an extra layer for everyone: the wind on the water and the bridge is colder than it looks.

Evenings

The best evenings are simple: dinner in North Beach, Chinatown or the Mission, a walk along the Embarcadero as the lights come on across the Bay Bridge, or a performance at the Civic Center's opera house or symphony hall. Coit Tower and Twin Peaks give the great views of the lit city, but check how you will get down before you go up. See eating and drinking for where the city's own dishes come from, and where to stay for a base that keeps the evenings short.