Gold Rush to Golden Gate: Self-Guided Tour of San Francisco

San Francisco Bay

The land of water surrounding San Francisco

San Francisco Bay Bridge

The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 260,000 vehicles a day on its two decks.

Coit Tower

30 min

Coit Tower is a 210-foot tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, offering panoramic views over the city and the bay

Levi's Plaza Park

15 min

Houses the headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co and museum.

Pier 39

1 hour

Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco, California. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of California sea lions hauled out on docks on Pier 39's marina.

Ghirardelli Square

20 min

Ghirardelli Square is a landmark public square with shops and restaurants and a 5-star hotel in the Marina area of San Francisco. A portion of the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company.

Lombard Street

5 min

Famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns.

Alcatraz Island

5 min

Alcatraz Island is located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles (2 km) offshore from San Francisco. The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a federal prison from 1934 until 21 March 1963.

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

10 min

The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there.

Presidio of San Francisco

10 min

The Presidio, a 1,500-acre park on a former military post, is a major outdoor recreation hub. It has forested areas, miles of trails, a golf course and scenic overlooks.

Fort Point National Historic Site

10 min

Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is also the geographic name of the promontory upon which the fort and the southern approach of the Golden Gate Bridge were constructed. The fort was completed just before the American Civil War by the US Army, to defend San Francisco Bay against hostile warships. The fort is now protected as Fort Point National Historic Site.

Golden Gate Bridge

45 min

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

Ferry Building Marketplace

30 min

Located on the Embarcadero, the ferry building is a terminal for ferries that travel across San Francisco Bay, food halll and farmers markets

Cable Car Museum

30 min

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system. An icon of San Francisco, the cable car system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway.