San Francisco, California

View of downtown San Francisco with Market Street cutting right through the middle
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cityscapes_of_San_Francisco#mediaviewer/File:
Downtown_San_Francisco_-_March_2013.jpg
Author: Peter Kaminski


San Francisco is a city in California, on the west coast of the United States. It has a population of about 810,000 and is the fourth largest city in the state behind Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. San Francisco is the financial, cultural and transportation hub for the San Francisco Bay Area, a region with a population of about 7.4 million people.

Due to its geography and architecture, San Francisco is a major tourist destination. It has many iconic attractions, the most famous being the Golden Gate Bridge. Other major attractions include its cable car and Chinatown.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Gate_Bridge_Yang_Ming_Line.jpg
Author: Cary Bass


San Francisco enjoys a Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and cool, dry summers. The mild climate of San Francisco is due to the cool currents from the Pacific Ocean that tends to moderate extreme temperatures. The warmest months of the year is September when average daily temperature is at around 63.7°F (17.6°C) while coolest month is January when temperature goes down to 46.4 °F (8°C). January is also the wettest month with 4.72 inches (119.9 mm) of rainfall.

Chinatown, San Francisco
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_SanFrancisco10.jpg
Author: Urban

Travel to San Francisco

The San Francisco International Airport is 10 miles (16 km) to the south of downtown. It receives the bulk of the international flights arriving in San Francisco. The Oakland International Airport is another airport serving the Bay Area.

Both the San Francisco and the Oakland airports are connected by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train system to downtown San Francisco. The ride from San Francisco Airport to downtown costs $8 one way. If you arrive at Oakland Airport, you must first take the AirBart bus to the BART station. The fare is $3 per adult - you need to prepare exact change in cash. From the BART station to downtown, the fare is a further $4.00.

San Francisco Cable Car No. 60
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:San_Francisco_cable_car_no._60
#mediaviewer/File:San_Francisco_-_Flickr_-_besopha.jpg
Author: besopha

Travel within San Francisco

It is possible to explore San Francisco on foot. Having said that, you need to bear in mind that this is a big city, so take the necessary precautions expected of every stranger in a strange town. The streets and avenues of San Francisco are numbered, so that helps to a certain extend, in helping you locate places.

I wouldn't recommend driving in San Francisco unless you are familiar with the streets. Also, the many intersections with no left turns mean you may be going around quite a bit each time you miss a turn. Taking Public Transit
The San Francisco Municipal Railway runs the trains and cable cars in San Francisco. If you are taking public transit quite a bit, you should get the day pass for $13, allowing you unlimited rides for a day. Longer passes are available: $20 for 3 days while $26 buys you a full one week of rides. The passes are available at the airport, the cable car ticket booth at Market and Powell stations and a few other locations.

Houses in San Francisco
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Architecture_of_San_Francisco#mediaviewer/File:
Fen%C3%AAtres-arqu%C3%A9es-2013-SF5.jpg
Author: Hypersite

Places of Interest in San Francisco

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.