San Francisco  is known as "Everyone's Favorite City". With the delightful convergence of fog, sun and near perfect Mediterranean climate. It is no wonder that Condé Nast Traveler Magazine readers have named the City by the Bay the world's top destination city twice and the top U.S. destination city seven times since 1988!

"You could live in San Francisco a month and ask no greater entertainment than walking through it," wrote Inez Hayes Irwin, the author of The Californiacs, an effusive 1921 homage to the state of California and the City by the Bay. Her claim remains true today: touring on foot is the best way to experience this diverse metropolis.

First-time visitors won't want to miss Golden Gate Park, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge, or a cable car ride over Nob Hill. But a walk down the Filbert Steps or through Macondray Lane, or a peaceful hour gazing east from Ina Coolbrith Park can be equally inspiring.
 

San Franciscans cherish the city's colorful past; many older buildings have been spared from demolition and nostalgically converted into modern offices and shops. Longtime locals rue the sites that got away -- railroad and mining boom-era residences lost in the 1906 earthquake, the baroque Fox Theater, and Playland at the Beach. Despite acts of God, the indifference of developers, and the mixed record of the city's planning commission, much of the architectural and historical interest remains.