San Francisco is made up of 43 named hills, however, only 7 are the original natural hills. The city is the scene of many movies and movie and TV stars often frequent the city.
There are many different walking tours, most free, but we didn't have time to do any. Just so much to see and do in
San Francisco, it would takes weeks, if not months to see it all. We had only 3 days.
We had the choice of two hop on hop off bus
companies. I downloaded each companies map and compared. I also compared times,
stops, extras etc.
I thought the Big Bus tours was the better of the two, mainly because their hours were
9-6, where as HoHo was 10-5. And Big Bus dropped off at Union Square after the
night time tour. Also we’ve had dealings with Isango – owner of Hop on Hop off
San Francisco – in the past, and was really not happy with their service.
So
Big Bus it was suppose to be!
Both companies had an all inclusive ticket, that included 2 days on the hop on hop off; 3
walking tours; a night tour to Treasure Island, the sight of a World Expo;
Sausalito tour; the 7D experience ride; and 1 hr bike rental (with purchase of
an hour). All for $50 US each.
Once we had arrived back from our Alcatraz tour, we walked along the Embacadero towards Fisherman's Wharf. We came across a shop front selling the bus tours and we asked if it was the big bus tour, and were told yes. It was not. It was the other company. We asked if the night tour was taking place the next night (4th July) and were told yes - it did not, so we missed out. We asked if the bus was running to normal times the next day and were told it was. The next day there were signs saying the last bus was 2pm. Very disappointed in this company. We do not recommend it!
In saying that, we still got to see a fair bit of San Francisco.
Columbus Avenue is one of the main thoroughfares through the city.
Tour buses are no longer allowed to drive past the Painted Ladies.The Painted Ladies are a row of colourful painted Victorian homes on Steiner St. in Alamo Square. Alamo Square park sits on a hill between Western
Addition and Lower Haigh. In the 1850’s all the land around here was dunes, but as the wealthy
wanted to move away from the city, and they selected land to build their new homes.
Most of the houses were built about 1870-1890. This mosaic is on one of the walls of Alamo Park. This is where the bus stopped for the painted ladies. One needs to walk up the hill on the left to see them.
We saw many examples of Victorian and Queen Anne architecture in San Francisco.
The next stop was the Haight Ashbury District. This was the heart of the hippy
generation in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and it is like a time warp back to that time. The area is many blocks surrounding the intersection of Haight Street and Ashbury Street.
It is a very colourful area and has a lot of unusual shops and restaurants. This was one of the few areas not hit by the 1906 earthquake. Many famous singers were attracted to the district, such as Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.
One iconic site in Haight Street is the fishnet covered legs popping out the window of the Piedmont Boutique. We were told the shop had hand made jewellery and custom made clothes.
We went over the Golden Gate Bridge each day that we were in San Fran, and each day the traffic was like a car park.
Alcatraz Island from the Golden Gate Bridge.
We did the Sausalito tour on 4th July. The name Sausalito comes from the Spanish meaning 'small window.' The tour was on a trolley car, similar to what we had in Seattle.
Our first stop was Fort Baker, where we were able to walk around for about 10 minutes. The fort is located in the Marin Headlands and was built between 1902 and 1910.
The area was established as an army defence area in the 1860's. We saw this old (well, we think it is old) caravan at Fort Baker.
Like many places we have been on this trip there was a lot of local public art. Sausalito looked like a lovely little village, shame we didn't have more time to spend there.
Maybe next time!
The view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Baker.
Back at Fisherman's Wharf, we were not really surprised at the large number of people that had come into the wharf area to celebrate American Independence Day. 
There were many costumed characters walking around.
... and so many people.
There is a two story merry go round, a mirror maze and many eateries and souvenir places. We couldn't find the musical stairs, and it was the wrong time of year for the sea lions - just have to come back.
Many people were setting up for the Independence Day firework display. This was the view while we were there. 
The Oakland Bay Bridge is the other bridge in the bay. We would have gone over it if we had been able to do the Treasure Island night Tour.
Treasure island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay that was built in 1936-7 for the 1939 Golden Gate EXPO. The buildings have been listed as historical landmarks.
On the way back to the hotel, we saw a street performer - there were many street performers around Union Square. This one was particularly interesting and got quite a big crowd.
Union Square was always full of people and was walking distance from our hotel. We would walk there each day to catch the bus. It is a plaza with a lot of hotels and shops and cafes. Not far away are museums and theatres. The area was damaged in the 1906 earthquake.
We were happy to spend Canada Day in Calgary, Canada - Happy Birthday Ava; and American Independence Day in San Francisco, U.S.A. - Happy Birthday Matilda.
Life is a voyage of discovery.
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