Vacation ideas

san francisco vacation

If you have ever considered heading West over the holidays, one of the most rewarding things that you could do is to take a San Francisco vacation. There is a wealth of things to do, see and experience, and the entire city is uniquely accessible by foot or public transport.

San Francisco has a diverse and colorful history. The birthplace of the Gold Rush in 1849, the city has blossomed into a nerve center of culture, music, arts and environmental consciousness. The wave of Asian immigration at the turn of the 20th century, the 1960s flower-child era, followed by the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Pride Movement, have all left their indelible mark on the city. Should you decide to take a San Francisco vacation, you will see where the birthplace of West Coast jazz erupted, playing to the likes of John Coltrane and Zoot Sims. You will also be able to visit the usual haunts of the Beat Poets, including Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg.

The music and nightlife scene are inextricably part of the city’s soul, and a San Francisco vacation should include visiting venues in North Beach, the Castro, the Mission District and Haight Street among others. There you can see live jazz and blues at its finest, along with excellent DJs and live local bands. The best free newspaper in the city is the S.F. Bay Guardian, which contains all the local listings for the week on entertainment - a must-have if you want to experience your San Francisco vacation to the fullest. Poetry and novel readings are regularly offered in the City Lights bookstore on Columbus Ave., and weekend art showings in Washington Square Park are something you should check out during your San Francisco vacation.

The vast array of food and drinking spots on offer in San Francisco caters to every taste and palette. American, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, African, Middle-Eastern, South and Central American and European cuisine are all representing around different pockets of city, and some have been around for decades. A person could spend their entire San Francisco vacation eating their way through the delicacies offered, from fresh clam chowder to Mexican burritos, sashimi to chicken pot pies.

If you are concerned about finding an affordable hotel to stay at in the City, you needn’t worry. Though San Francisco has the highest number of tourists per day next to any US city, it is relatively easy to find accommodation at a decent price. Before you depart for your San Francisco vacation, it would be wise to check online to see which hotels are available. Often these hotels offer inclusive tourist perks with their rooms, so it is good to ask what may be available.

Finding a good guidebook will increase your chances of making the most of your San Francisco vacation. Frommer’s guidebooks offer good historical overviews of the city, while Moon Metro guides provide excellent maps for getting to know the neighborhoods. If you decide to go without, no doubt you will find it very easy to get to know the city by walking or grabbing any of the numerous trams that flow through the City by the Bay.