Photos From San Francisco

We used to live in the Bay Area and love to return to San Francisco for a pre or post cruise or even a transit with an overnight in the city or a day visit.

The city is very easy to tour on your own on foot and also with public transportation.

Keith

This is one of the methods of transportation.

One of our destinations is the old ferry building. Inside there are lots of local restaurants and shops.

Depending on where you walk you may walk on a flat area or one with an incline (up hill or down hill).

Usually from where we stay we will take a walk towards the Marina District.

With the route we take a see all sorts of areas including nice residential areas.

You will see other sites such as churches.

From where we stay we take other walks.

This includes walking through Chinatown.

​From there we often head towards Fisherman's Wharf passing the Old Cannery Factory and Ghirardelli Square.

We have a restaurant that we enjoy. It is Scoma's. For us it brings back memories as I went there on business years ago. Then when we moved to the area we would take the family there and on most of our return trips we try to have a dinner or lunch there.

From Pier 39 we often walk to the Embarcadero passing by the various piers including the two piers used for passenger ships and other piers that are used for boat trips to places including Alcatraz and Sausalito. We might make a stop at the Ferry Building which is home to lots of restaurants and stores as I mentioned earlier.

Sometimes we make the loop and head over to Union Square which has lots of shopping and restaurants.

There are other routes that we can take from Fisherman's Wharf that I will mention later.

Another mode of transportation that you should do at least one time. Try going early to avoid crowds.

Chinatown. Alway interesting to walk through this area.

On the way towards Little Italy a beautiful Cathedral.

Continuing towards Little Italy.

Little Italy used to have a lot of residents of Italian Descent. A famous family was the Dimaggio's.

Today it still boasts many Italian Restaurants.

From there often we head towards the Cannery.

By the way if in doubt you are heading towards the water and from where we began our trek down hill.

Lots of Cable Cars.

Another iconic site where you can still purchase candy.

Outside a restaurant that has a lot of meaning and tradition for us which serves Italian Cuisine.

This was early in the morning. An hour later and throughout the day it would be very busy with many people purchasing something to eat or just browsing.

The tourists love them. The locals get a bit tired of the noise and even the smell.

When not swimming or eating they also like to rest.

On prior visits we have taken gone out to Alcatraz on three occasions. I highly recommend purchasing the tickets on line and well before the day your visit. If you wait to purchase them on the day you arrive often it is all sold out.

And you can't swim over there.

It is a tourist site but we often will visit Pier 39. Why not? We are tourists.

A popular venue/ride for the children.

Another view of the Ferry Building. Always take a photo or more when we are near this site.