San Francisco, one of the world’s favorite cities, has a magnetic appeal that makes it an ideal year-round destination. With spectacular views and appealing scenery, it has easily become America’s most beautiful city. Only in San Francisco can you find such desirable climate, cosmopolitan character, unique topography and world-renowned cuisine.

 

San Francisco Offers…

 

Culinary Excellence:  A metropolis in every sense of the word, San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the nation and is repeatedly named one of the best restaurant cities in the United States and the world.  Cultural diversity, a healthy atmosphere of creativity and competition and access to the freshest and finest ingredients combine to create a prime culinary destination.

 

•           Known as one of the world's most creative cities, San Francisco is regularly rated by magazines and culinary   foundations as one of the finest restaurant cities in the world.  Chefs are celebrities in San Francisco. 

 

•           Several San Francisco chefs and restaurants have won James Beard Foundation Awards, considered the             Oscars of the food world. In 2009, Nate Appleman, formerly of A16 in San Francisco, was named the national             Rising Star Chef, awarded to a chef younger than 30. Three San Francisco restaurants were also nominated for the 2010 award for Best New Restaurant including RN74, Flour + Water, and Frances. At least            two San Francisco restaurants or chefs were nominated in almost every category this year.

 

•           Beyond the Golden Gate, several Bay Area restaurants shined in the 2010 awards. Nicole Plue of             Yountville’s Redd won the Outstanding Pastry Chef Award. Timothy Hollingsworth of Yountville’s acclaimed   French Laundry won the Rising Star Chef Award. In Napa, the Shafer Vineyards won for Outstanding Wine            and Spirits.

•           In the 2011 Michelin Guide, The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena joined The French Laundry as the            Bay Area’s second restaurant to receive a 3-star Michelin Rating. San Francisco restaurants Coi, Cyrus and     Manresa maintain their 2-star rating this year. Plus, five more restaurants were added with 1-star to the guide,          making a total of 42 San Francisco restaurants rated by the Michelin Guide.

 

•           Bay Area chefs appear regularly on “Top Chef”-- Michael Chiarello of Bottega in   Yountville, Elizabeth Falkner of             Orson and Citizen Cake in San Francisco, and Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco competed on          “Top Chef Masters.”

 

•           San Francisco is home to Ron Siegel, the first and only American chef to unanimously win the Japanese Iron       Chef competition in 1999, and was one of Food & Wine          Magazine’s “10 Best New Chefs in America.”

 

•           Situated between California's fertile agricultural regions and the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco has unlimited             access to the freshest ingredients.  The City is adjacent to America's finest wine-producing regions,         including Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, Carmel and the Central Coast.

 

•           Visit a neighborhood farmers market. The Ferry Building’s farmers market is one of the country’s most famous    – offer locally grown produce and fruit, there is also an inside market where visits may indulge in gourmet   chocolate, sample fresh cheese, or try olive oil, mushrooms, freshly baked bread and other edible treats.

 

•           Dine About Town – visiting in late January or early June? Enjoy a there’s a new two-course lunch menu for             $17.95 and the three-course dinner menu is $34.95 at more than 100 participating Dine About Town          restaurants in the San Francisco area.

 

Arts and Culture: San Francisco supports a world-renowned opera, symphony and ballet, international film festivals, major public art museums, and dozens of galleries and theatres. A dynamic and diverse year round calendar of events puts the city at the forefront of the American art scene.  Landmark cultural institutions include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the deYoung Museum, the Legion of Honor, the Asian Art Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and many others.

 

•           A San Francisco CityPASS packs unlimited Muni and cable car transportation plus a collection of San Francisco’s most popular five attractions in a prepaid booklet that saves 49% off regular admissions.

 

Diverse Neighborhoods.  San Francisco is a collection of neighborhoods, each reflecting the diversity of its population.  Visitors flock to North Beach, the Little Italy of the West, and the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.   The Mission District with its eclectic nightlife and Latin heritage, and SOMA (South of Market) with its equally lively club scene, are gaining in popularity.  The African American heritage of the Fillmore Jazz District is neighbors with the restaurants, festivals and shops of Japantown.  On the western side of town, the Sunset and Richmond districts are gathering places for the world, with Asian, Russian, Irish and other influences.

 

•           Don’t miss an opportunity to see San Francisco at its most vibrant during one of the many neighborhood             celebrations coming up in the coming months: Japantown’s Cherry Blossom Festival (www.nccbf.org), the             Mission District’s Carnaval (www.carnavalsf.com), the Union Street Festival (www.unionstreetfestival), Fiesta             Filipina (www.fiestafilipinausa.com), Juneteenth Festival (www.sfjuneteenth.org) in the Western Addition, North             Beach Festival (www.sfnorthbeach.org), Fillmore Street Jazz Festival (www.hartmannstudios.com), Positively 6th             Street Fair (www.6thstreetfair.org), Chinatown’s Autumn Moon Festival (www.moonfestival.org), the San Bruno             Avenue Community Festival (www.sresproductions.com), and the Castro Street Fair         (www.castrostreetfair.org).

 

World Class Shopping. San Francisco offers a plethora of shopping options, including intimate “only in San Francisco” boutiques to the world famous Union Square shopping district, which includes the following flagship stores:

Saks Fifth Avenue; Neiman Marcus; and Macy's as well as Bulgari; Tiffany & Co.; Williams-Sonoma; Nike; Levi's;  Louis Vuitton; and Gucci.  On Maiden Lane, visitors will find Xanadu; Glory Chen; Chanel; Marc Jacobs; Theory; Tory Burch; and Hermes. And, just beyond the square on Post St., shoppers will find De Beers; Max Mara; Allen-Edmonds; Rockport; Gump's; Ming by Mango; Burberry; Pink; and Armani. Market St. is home to Westfield San Francisco Centre which features Bloomindale’s and Nordstrom’s as well more than 170 boutiques.

Spectator Sports: San Francisco Bay area is home to a wide variety of sports:  professional baseball (San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's), football (49ers), basketball (Golden State Warriors), hockey (San Jose Sharks), tennis, collegiate contests, and horse racing. The crowning gem of San Francisco sports is the downtown AT&T Park, home of the 2010 World Series winning San Francisco Giants.

 

International Conventions: Conventions held in San Francisco attract attendees from all over the world, particularly in the medical, legal, scientific and hi-tech fields. Moscone Convention Center is a premier facility offering 900,000 sq. feet of meeting and exhibit space. 

 

A State-of-the- Art International Airport:  San Francisco International Airport, known as SFO, is extraordinarily modern and convenient. The new International Terminal is the largest in North America and offers passengers the highest level of service for baggage, customs, restaurants and airport facilities. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop links with more than 31 international points on 30 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with more than 71 cities in the U.S. on 18 domestic airlines. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. 

 

SFO is only 15 miles south of the City, just 30 minutes from downtown. The new Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART, train offers travelers a direct link from the airport to the City with a nominal cost of $8.10 USD.

 

A City with Colorful History: San Francisco has an international birthright. Five flags (English, Spanish, Mexican, the Republic of California and the USA) have flown over the region during its first four centuries, 1579-1850. The city was known first by the Spanish name “Yerba Buena” until 1847 when it was officially christened San Francisco.

 

After gold was discovered in 1848 near Sacramento, 140 miles east of the city, the population exploded. The frenzied rush for gold filled the port of San Francisco with people of all nationalities, customs and languages.  The City's innate cosmopolitanism is evident everywhere and can be seen its culinary arts, neighborhoods and street names, cultural ambiance and especially in the ethnic pageantry, which highlights the annual events schedule.

 

Today there are some 7 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. The hub of a nine-county complex and one of the financial and biotech capitals of the West, the city has a resident population of about 824,525. 

 

•           Mission Dolores, 16th and Dolores streets, is the oldest structure in San Francisco. Many of the city’s pioneers   are buried in an adjacent cemetery.

 

•           Old St. Mary's (California and Grant streets) is located on the outskirts of the financial district in Chinatown and is             one of San Francisco's best-loved ecclesiastical landmarks.  Known as the tranquil grandmother of the City's             churches, it is San Francisco's first cathedral and was dedicated at the midnight mass on Christmas 1854.

 

•           Alamo Square is surrounded by picture-perfect “painted ladies” – colorful Victorians – many that survived the San             Francisco 1906 earthquake and fire.

 

A Unique Location: San Francisco offers travelers two built-in advantages. It's one of the most scenic cities in the world and yet one of the most compact.  The city is located on a 46.6 square-mile peninsula bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by the Golden Gate Strait and from north to east by San Francisco Bay. Only in San Francisco will visitors find:

 

•           The Golden Gate Bridge

•           Alcatraz Island – a former federal penitentiary that housed Al Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz

•           Coit Tower – a stunning Art Deco icon jutting into the skyline that is home to WPA murals.

•           Transamerica pyramid – unique to the San Francisco skyline, the landmark has become synonymous with the       city by the bay.

 

Spectacular Scenery:  San Francisco is built on a series of more than 43 hills. Consequently, almost every other street points the way to a panoramic view of the Bay. The principal hills, which early earned it the Roman sobriquet of "City of Seven Hills," are Nob, Russian, Telegraph, Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson, Rincon and Lone Mountain.

 

•           San Francisco’s natural inclinations offer some challenging ascents for even the most physically fit. As one anonymous person quipped, "When you get tired of walking around in San Francisco, you can always lean against             it."  Among the steepest streets: Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5 percent grade); 22nd Street between Church and Vicksburg (31.5 percent grade); Jones between Union and Filbert (29 percent grade); Duboce Avenue between Alpine and Buena Vista (27.9 percent grade). Percentage indicates for   every 100 feet, block rises 3l.5 feet, 29 feet, etc.

•           Drive up to Twin peaks on a clear day and take-in the panoramic views of the entire city

•           Take a famous cable car up Powell St. and visit mansions of railroad tycoons – many have are now Grand             Dame hotels such as the Fairmont and the Huntington. Someone wanting to visit the world-famous "Gates           of Paradise" in Florence, Italy, need go no further than Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill (Taylor and California streets) and see an exact size replica of the famed Ghiberti Doors, which depict scenes from the Old            Testament.  Grace Cathedral is the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the United States      and open to visitors      from all over the world.  More than 300,000 people a year use Grace Cathedral for numerous activities for     social, spiritual and intellectual needs.

•           Russian Hill has many boutiques, second-hand stores and neighborhood restaurants

•           Hop in your car and drive around the scenic “49 Mile Drive” to experience all of San Francisco’s scenery.             See             http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/maps/49miledrive.asp  for more information and directions.

 

Year-round Comfortable Climate: San Francisco is celebrated for its vitality and refreshing individualism. Its climate mirrors those characteristics. San Francisco is one of the four sunniest major cities in the United States and temperatures rarely rise above 75 or drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Freshening winds from the Pacific wash the city in all seasons, giving it an aura of perpetual spring. San Francisco's natural air conditioning -- the morning and evening fog -- make the city a welcome respite when much of the rest of the nation is sweltering in summer heat. Places to enjoy a picnic and the great outdoors in San Francisco include:

 

•           Ocean Beach -- at the base of the historic Cliff House, Ocean Beach is a playground for surfers, kite enthusiasts             and picnic lovers. Grab the Graham crackers, dark chocolate and marshmallows for an old-fashioned s’mores             party at the beach. Small wood bonfires for groups of less than 25 (without permit) are permitted on Ocean Beach             between Fulton and Lincoln. The full regulations are posted at www.nps.gov/goga.

 

•           San Francisco’s has six municipal golf courses under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Recreation and           Park Department (www.sfgov.org/recpark) at these courses: Harding (18         holes), site of the 2005 World Golf             Championship; Fleming (9 holes), Lincoln Park (18 holes), famous for its fairways along the Golden Gate;             Sharp Park (18 holes); Golden   Gate Park (9 holes), and Gleneagles (9 holes). Courses are open from dawn until             dusk.

 

•           Exercise the intellect and the body on one of the free, guided walks offered by San Francisco City Guides             (www.sfcityguides.org). More than 30 tours are offered day-in-and-day-out by the volunteer group. They   canvass every corner of the city from the ever-changing Castro District to Victorians of Alamo Square. Several     of the tours are offered             in the early evening hours including Telegraph Hill (5:30 p.m.) and North Beach at Night    (7 p.m.).

 

The Gateway to Northern California: San Francisco is the gateway to a vast vacationland, lying within easy driving distance of the High Sierra resorts of Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, the Monterey/Carmel peninsula, California's wine country in Napa and Sonoma counties, the Redwood Empire and the spectacular Mendocino Coast.

 

The San Francisco Travel Association is the official tourism marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. For information on reservations, packages, activities and more, visit www.sanfrancisco.travel or call 415-391-2000.  The Visitor Information Center is located at 900 Market St. in Hallidie Plaza, lower level, near the Powell Street cable car turnaround.

 

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San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 31 international points and over 69 non-stop cities in the U.S.  For up-to-the-minute information on the Bay Area's largest airport, visit www.flysfo.com

 

Note to editors: Photos and press releases are available at http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/media/.

 

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Revised 7.29.11