A Guide To San Francisco

Summer is coming soon, and students with an excess of time and enthusiasm on a warm day in Piedmont may look out over the Bay to the city and feel the call to adventure. If you find yourself itching to take advantage of the world’s coolest city, let the following serve as an introductory guide. Nothing should be a barrier to exploration, so this route requires no driver’s license and can cost as little as the fare out and back on BART. It can be repeated again and again and feel fresh every time, and works alone, as a date, or with friends. We (I?) hope you enjoy it and everything else San Francisco has to offer.

Route 1

1. Arrive at Powell Street Station around 3 or 4. Walk up Powell Street.
2. Union Square. Go shopping, people watching, get coffee, etc.
3. Walk up Stockton Street through Chinatown. Take the stairs to go above the tunnel. Bonus: visit Ross Alley.
4. Washington Square Park. On Columbus and Stockton there are usually musicians at the north corner. Get slices (one per person, they’re huge) at Tony’s Slice Shack, plus cannoli. Eat in the park and people watch. Stop at Victoria’s for cake and pastries.
5. Telegraph Hill. Walk up Filbert and go to Coit Tower for sunset. Provided a great view of north San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, North Bay, and downtown. After sunset, walk down through either Greenwich or Filbert Street steps. Filbert has Napier Lane, but Greenwich has a public garden with a bench.
6. Embarcadero. Take the F train along Embarcadero back downtown to Embarcadero Station, and be sure not to pay–all Muni trains except the cable cars are free for youth under 19. Take the Yellow or Red northbound lines to return to Macarthur (R&Y) or Rockridge (Y) stations. There’s also a ferry at 9:20, from which the 12 Bus runs right to Oakland Ave and Beach Elementary.
7. Try it the other way around! Take the ferry in and BART out to get the bonus of the Ferry Building farmers market, the Steps during the day, Coit tower tour, and Chinatown in the evening. This route can be done in a million different variations, so try it numerous times.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Megan Foster

A full view of the city from Tank Hill, an alternative to Twin Peaks with less people and amazing views. (Stop 3 on route 2)

Route 2

At Embarcadero Station, transfer to the N Judah Muni line. Embarcadero is preferable because BART increases the fare with the number of stations you pass, while Muni is static and free for anyone under 19. Simply wave your hand over the sensor at the fare gate to open it in subway stations.

Exit at Cole Valley. From here, there are many options:

1. Go to a restaurant. Zazie, Beit Rama, Cole Valley Tavern, and Crepes on Cole are all excellent choices. La Boulangerie de San Francisco has pastries, coffee, and brunch.
2. Get ice cream at The Ice Cream Bar. It’s a 1950’s style ice cream parlor with vinyl barstools and friendly staff.
3. See a view from Tank Hill. A short uphill walk away from the station, Tank Hill offers a sweeping panorama of the city, and is best visited at night. On the way there, admire the residential architecture.
4. Access the park.
   1. Visit Waller Street Skatepark and see some of San Francisco’s skate culture.
   2. Walk northwest through Robin Williams Meadow, stopping at Hippie Hill. The circle of musicians there is almost perpetual, and provides a glimpse into SF’s counterculture movement.
   3. JFK Drive is car free and frequented by joggers, strollers, roller-skaters, and cyclists. It’s decorated by a series of Dogman and Rabbit Woman sculptures.
   4. Conservatory of Flowers. Get tickets in advance, and select a weekday if you can for cheaper admission.
   5. DeYoung Museum. Even if you’re not interested in paying to see inside, the observation tower is open for free until 4pm and gives a great view.
   6. California Academy of Sciences. Tickets are expensive, but a family pass is worth it, because it’s one of the largest and most impressive natural history museums in the world and works well for visiting relatives.
5. See Haight-Ashbury, the birthplace of the hippie.
   1. Walk north on Cole Street to Haight.
   2. Turn right and explore–Haigh Street is home to dozens of antique and vintage shops, restaurants, and attractions. Every corner is occupied by bead-draped hippies pushing merchandise and jewelry or playing music.
   3. The number one reason to visit Haight-Ashbury is the thrifting. There are too many stores to visit in one day, and with so much traffic, the clothes cycle through rapidly. Wasteland is sleek, modern, large, and has a DJ in the front lobby, but it’s expensive. Goodwill isn’t unique, but it’s cheap and sourced by donations from some of the most stylistically brave people of the last half century. Other shops will all have amazing selections and, even for the shallow-pocketed, provide an exciting experience just to walk around in.
   4. Haight Street isn’t short on restaurants. If you get hungry, visit any number of slice shacks, taquerias, and other restaurants serving fare inspired by every corner of the globe.
   5. For the radically-minded, Bound Together is a cozy anarchist bookstore with revolutionary literature, zines, and organization events. It holds irregular hours, so check online before you go.
   6. Musical historians will be interested to learn that Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead all lived in stunningly strange Victorian townhomes on the corner of Ashbury and Haight.
   7. Find vinyls at the Amoeba between Shrader and Stanyan, Offshore Sounds, and many of the vintage stores.
6. For the beach motivated, Cole Valley also works as a prep-spot for an Ocean Beach trip. 
   1. Get firewood at Cole Hardware, a cute neighborhood hardware store that’s been in the same location since 1920.
   2. Buy fruit, cheese, bread, and drinks at Luke’s Local market.
   3. Return to Muni. Remember that youth ride free, so don’t worry about tapping in with Clipper.
   4. Ride until the last stop. Disembark and walk up the now-pedestrianized Great Highway until you reach the Beach Chalet. Turn left, and you’ll see the firepits. These fill up quickly, so the earlier the arrival, the better. If you plan on having a fire, make sure you check that it isn’t a Spare The Air day.
   5. After the sun sets and the chill sets in, hop back on Muni and ride to Cole Valley. Burgers at the Tavern taste better after a full day on the beach.
   6. Return home via BART. Trips by way of Cole Valley, Golden Gate Park, and Ocean Beach can be as long or as short as you’d like them to be, but it takes a strong will not to take as much in as possible. Switch to BART (Muni subway exit gates open automatically without a Clipper tap) and take the Yellow or Red northbound lines to return to Macarthur (R&Y) or Rockridge (Y) stations.