Union Square, SoMa & the Embarcadero

Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach and Chinatown sit side by side in San Francisco's northeast corner, between the bayfront and the Financial District. On foot, you can work your way from Chinatown's dim sum bakeries through North Beach's espresso bars down to the piers in half a day.Chinatown starts at the Dragon Gate on Grant Avenue, the stretch of souvenir shops and restaurants. For everyday Chinatown, with produce stands and fish markets, walk one block over to Stockton Street. North Beach is the old Italian neighborhood around Columbus Avenue and Washington Square, full of pizzerias, delis and the bars where the Beat writers drank in the 1950s. Above it rises Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower. Fisherman's Wharf is the most touristy part of town: crab stands, T-shirt shops, Pier 39 and the Alcatraz ferry.Plan your day: Chinatown in the morning, lunch in North Beach, then up to Coit Tower in the afternoon and down to the Wharf. From the Dragon Gate to Pier 39 is about 1.5 miles.The Wharf: An hour is plenty for Pier 39 and the sea lions. You'll eat better in North Beach or Chinatown than at the waterfront places that live off foot traffic.

Nob Hill, Russian Hill and the Fillmore are the hilltop neighborhoods west of Chinatown and North Beach: the railroad barons' grand hotels and cathedral on top, steep residential streets with stairways and gardens to the north, and Japantown and the old Fillmore Street jazz corridor to the west. Come for the cable cars, the views from the hills and Lombard Street, and stay for a drink at the Nob Hill hotel bars.Cable cars are the most practical way around here: the Powell-Hyde line climbs over Nob Hill to Lombard Street, and the California line crosses Nob Hill to Van Ness Avenue. Give Nob Hill and Russian Hill half a day, and save an afternoon for Japantown, Fillmore Street and Alamo Square with the Painted Ladies, a few blocks south.Nob Hill: Grace Cathedral, the Cable Car Museum, Huntington Park and the Fairmont and Mark Hopkins hotels.Russian Hill: Lombard Street, Macondray Lane and stairways with bay views.Japantown and the Fillmore: Japan Center and the Peace Pagoda, ramen and sushi, and on Fillmore Street, boutiques, restaurants and live jazz.The hills are seriously steep. If you're walking, allow extra time going up, and take the cable car or bus back.

San Francisco sits on the hilly northern tip of a peninsula in Northern California, between the Pacific and the Bay, with about 874,000 people. You come for the Golden Gate Bridge, the old prison on Alcatraz, cable cars clanking up steep hills and walkable neighborhoods like Chinatown and the Mission.Give it at least three full days: one for the waterfront from Fisherman's Wharf to the Ferry Building, one for Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and one for Chinatown, North Beach, the Mission and Haight-Ashbury.The neighborhoods at a glanceFisherman's Wharf, North Beach & Chinatown: Piers and sea lions, the old Italian quarter and the oldest Chinatown in North America, all linked on foot.Union Square, SoMa & the Embarcadero: Downtown, with hotels, department stores, SFMOMA and the Ferry Building on the water.Nob Hill, Russian Hill & the Fillmore: Cable cars, Grace Cathedral and Lombard Street up on the hills, plus Japantown and the old Fillmore Street jazz corridor.Mission District & the Castro: Murals, taquerias, Dolores Park and the country's best-known gay neighborhood, often sunnier than the rest of town.Haight-Ashbury & Golden Gate Park: Hippie history, Victorian houses and the big park with its museums and Japanese Tea Garden.Presidio, Marina & Lands End: Beach, bayfront path and coastal trail around the Golden Gate Bridge.Book ahead: Alcatraz tickets are sold only through Alcatraz City Cruises, up to 90 days out. For summer, weekends and holiday weekends like Memorial Day or Labor Day, book early; walk-up spots are rare.Weather: Summer fog pours through the Golden Gate, and the waterfront gets cold and windy. Dress in layers and pack a jacket, even in July.Driving: You don't need a car downtown, and parking is expensive. Never leave anything visible in a parked car.

The Mission District and the Castro sit next to each other south of downtown San Francisco, with Dolores Park in between. The weather here is often sunnier than on the waterfront, and the days revolve around murals, taquerias and the park, the nights around bars that stay busy late.The Mission is the city's oldest neighborhood, named for Mission Dolores (1776), and for decades the heart of San Francisco's Latino community. Valencia Street has cafés, bookstores and restaurants; Mission Street and 24th Street are louder and cheaper, lined with taquerias and panaderías. The Castro, just west, has been the country's best-known gay neighborhood since the 1970s, marked by the rainbow crosswalks at Castro and 18th and the Castro Theatre's neon sign.Plan your day: Mission Dolores and Dolores Park in the morning, a burrito for lunch, the Balmy Alley murals off 24th Street in the afternoon, then the Castro in the evening.Weather: Sheltered by Twin Peaks, the Mission is often warmer and less foggy than Fisherman's Wharf, which is why Dolores Park gets packed on sunny weekends.

The Presidio, the Marina and Lands End cover San Francisco's northwest corner, between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific. This is where you spend time outdoors: on the beach at Crissy Field, on wooded trails in the Presidio and along the Lands End coastal trail with views of the Golden Gate.The Marina is an affluent waterfront neighborhood with the Palace of Fine Arts, the Fort Mason cultural center and Chestnut Street for restaurants and bars. Just west is the Presidio, an Army post from 1776 to 1994 and now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with museums in old barracks, the Tunnel Tops park and Fort Point under the bridge. Farthest west, the Lands End trail winds through cypress groves to the ruins of the Sutro Baths.Plan your day: Walk from the Palace of Fine Arts across Crissy Field to Fort Point (about 3 miles), then take the bus out to the Lands End Lookout.Weather: Fog and wind hit here first. Summer mornings are often gray, so bring a jacket.