A vacation in San Francisco (or simply Frisco) is best spent on the bay of the same name, sampling the bountiful bounty of the sea. The city is famous for its 43 hills and its population, filled with eccentrics, crazy inventors, freethinkers, and just plain weirdos.

San Francisco Attractions and Entertainment
From its founding to the present day, San Francisco has been and remains a port. The city is surrounded by water on three sides, and its most iconic landmark is the Golden Gate Bridge, the only entrance to the city from the north. The Oakland Bay Bridge, on the other side of the bay, is no less impressive, though less well-known.

The historic cable car is the best way to get around this city, nestled on 43 hills. It stops at the famous Lombard Street, amidst flowers and descending the hill in a crazy serpentine at a 30° angle. Chinatown, with its bright lanterns, wise dragons, and Chinese characters on its signs, is one of its main attractions.

The Transamerica skyscraper, better known as the Spire, is the tallest building in San Francisco. For a panoramic view of the city, climb Coit Tower at the top of Telegraph Hill.

A beautiful 360-degree panorama also opens from the twin hills of Twin Peaks. There’s a telescope on the observation deck of the northern hill.

The waterfront, with its piers jutting out into the sea, is one of the busiest spots in San Francisco. Pier 39 is a popular recreation area with amusement rides, shops, seafood restaurants, and, most importantly, a rookery of seals frolicking in the water or relaxing on wooden rafts. From Pier 41, you can take a boat ride to the prison island of Alcatraz. For 29 years from 1934, it housed the most dangerous criminals in the United States. Now the prison building has been converted into a museum.