The City

Start the morning here, ideally on a Saturday when the farmers' market wraps around the building (Tuesdays and Thursdays are smaller). Inside: oysters at Hog Island, Blue Bottle coffee, Acme bread. Then walk north along the water toward the piers. Muni F-streetcar or any BART/Muni to Embarcadero.

Genuinely excellent, and the audio tour is one of the best anywhere. Ferries leave from Pier 33. Tickets sell out weeks ahead — book at Alcatraz City Cruises, the only official seller. The night tour is worth the premium.

Skip the two-hour line at Powell & Market. Instead board the California Street line at California & Drumm (near the Ferry Building) — same charm, no queue — and ride it over Nob Hill. Or catch a Powell–Hyde car mid-route on Hyde St for the famous descent to the bay. Tap Clipper on board.

Walk the bridge's east sidewalk from the Welcome Center (about 1.7 miles across; do at least the first tower). Before or after, wander the Presidio Tunnel Tops park and Crissy Field beach, and see the Palace of Fine Arts nearby — a Roman ruin built for a 1915 world's fair. The 28 bus reaches the bridge; the free PresidiGo shuttle links the Presidio's corners.

The whole city and the Bay laid out below you. Ten minutes by car or rideshare from the house; bring the jacket — it is always windy up there.

Bigger than Central Park, and better. In the eastern half: the de Young Museum (ride its free observation tower even if you skip the galleries), the California Academy of Sciences (rainforest dome, aquarium, planetarium — superb with kids), the Japanese Tea Garden (go early), and the Conservatory of Flowers. Rent a bike or a paddle boat at Stow Lake. JFK Drive is closed to cars — a joy on foot. N-Judah from Church St, or the 33 bus.

Ride the N-Judah to the end and you are at the Pacific. Walk north along the sand to the Cliff House and the eerie ruins of the Sutro Baths, once the world's largest indoor swimming pool. Too cold to swim, always beautiful.

Our favorite walk in the city: a cliff-side trail through cypress from the Sutro Baths to the Legion of Honor museum, with the Golden Gate Bridge appearing around every bend. About 1.5 miles each way; look for the labyrinth at Mile Rock. The Legion itself is a gorgeous Beaux-Arts museum with Rodin's Thinker in the courtyard.

The classic postcard view of the bridge from the sand, with the Marin Headlands behind. The northern end is clothing-optional — you have been warned or encouraged, as you prefer.

Enter Chinatown through the Dragon Gate at Grant & Bush and walk north; duck into the alleys off Grant, and stop at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory on Ross Alley. Cross Columbus into North Beach, the old Italian quarter: City Lights Bookstore, a coffee at Caffe Trieste, then the climb up to Coit Tower for the view (and its 1930s murals).

A fifteen-minute walk west of the house. The rainbow crosswalks at 18th & Castro, the Castro Theatre's 1922 marquee, the GLBT History Museum, and a legendary bar scene. Rainbow Honor Walk plaques line the sidewalks.

The Summer of Love's ground zero, now a strip of vintage shops, record stores (Amoeba Music is enormous) and Victorians in impossible colours. Walk back through the Panhandle to Alamo Square for the Painted Ladies with downtown behind them — the Full House shot. The 33 bus from 18th & Church, or a 25-minute walk.

Fifteen minutes north: independent boutiques along Hayes St, Salt & Straw for ice cream, natural-wine bars, and the War Memorial Opera House, Symphony Hall and SFJAZZ for an evening out.

Touristy, yes — but the sea lions at Pier 39 are free and wonderful, and a clam chowder in a sourdough bowl on a foggy day is a rite of passage. Go early, stay an hour, then walk to the Exploratorium or up to North Beach.

Old-growth coast redwoods, 250 feet tall, forty minutes north over the bridge. Parking must be reserved in advance at GoMuirWoods.com (or take the shuttle from Sausalito/Marin City on weekends). Go at opening for silence; combine with Muir Beach or a hike down to Stinson Beach.

The nicest way to see the bay: the Golden Gate Ferry from the Ferry Building to Sausalito takes thirty minutes and passes Alcatraz. Lunch on the waterfront, then ferry back — or rent a bike in the city, ride over the bridge, and take the ferry home with it.

Wine country is 1–1½ hours north. Sonoma is more relaxed and better value; Napa more polished. Tastings generally need reservations now. Don't drive after — hire a driver or join a small-group tour that leaves from the city.

Ninety minutes north-west: wild beaches, elephant seals, tule elk, a lighthouse at the end of the earth, and oysters at Hog Island in Marshall. Needs a car and a full day.

On BART from 16th St. Berkeley for the campus, Chez Panisse (book far ahead), and the Gourmet Ghetto; Oakland for Lake Merritt, Temescal's restaurants, and the First Friday street festival on Telegraph Avenue each month.

Forty-five minutes south along the coast: cliffs, farm stands, and the beach at Pescadero. Continue to Santa Cruz (boardwalk, redwoods) for a long day.