Golden times
decorated Castro – the city’s gay district. Hangouts still standing from the 70s sit beside the newer and vibrant shops, pavement cafes and restaurants. The Art Deco Castro Theatre, which dates back to 1922, is a joyful slice of old-school glamour.
To visit one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, Alcatraz Island, you’ll need to jump on a boat. On sunny days, a sail out to The Rock offers panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge and around the bay.
Visitors can take a tour of the halls of the famous maximum-security prison where Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly did time.
The audio guide, voiced by ex-cons and prison guards, is superb, leading tourists to walk in inmates’ footsteps, taking in the hole in the wall where the infamous escapees broke free.
After a day in the slammer you may be craving a lighter, more uplifting evening. We enjoyed a night of high-energy, over-the-top patriotism watching basketball team the Golden State Warriors play a match at the Chase Center.
The following day we visited
Pier 39, a retro pier crammed full of boutiques, quirky food stands and amusements. It’s also home to hundreds of wild sea lions who frolic and sunbathe on pontoons near the shore. If you head around the waterfront, you’ll reach the San Francisco Ferry Building, instantly recognisable for its clock.
It reopened in 2003 after a four-year restoration and is now a world-class food market full of independent producers offering everything from pastries to cured meats, as well as some top restaurants. At The Slanted Door, executive chef Charles Phan goes to great lengths to recreate authentic Vietnamese dishes using contemporary methods with the freshest ingredients.
On Sundays, local traders offer handmade gifts and vintage garments at the Fog City Flea Market upstairs.
At weekends, locals and tourists also head for the most diverse green space in the city – Golden Gate Park.
Don’t miss the exquisite Japanese Tea Garden, the immaculate Conservatory of Flowers and the
San Francisco Botanical Garden.
Follow artist Andy
Golden
State Warriors in action
The Golden Gate Bridge
at sunset
Goldsworthy’s artificial fault line to the De Young Fine Arts Museum, showcasing American paintings, sculptures and textiles.
The California Academy of Sciences is a landmark eco-building housing 40,000 animals in a four-storey rainforest exhibition and split-level aquarium. Packed with mind-blowing spectacles and interactive attractions, you can even brave an earthquake simulation or get lost in a fog room.
A CityPASS (£40 for adults, £30 for children) gets you into both the park museums and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which houses a collection so vast, it has outgrown its home twice.
Highlights include its abstract Expressionist pieces and Andy Warhol’s pop art.
A city created by thinkers, trailblazers and dreamers, a trip to San Fran will leave you enriched, enlightened and inspired.
British Airways offers a four-night room-only break at the four-star Kimpton Alton Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco from £1,257 per person, departing from Heathrow on May 4 with 23kg baggage. britishairways.com
The pier is home to hundreds of wild sea lions who frolic by the shore
Infamous
prison Alcatraz
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