The best way to see San Francisco is on foot – hills be damned. Long strolls will let you fully appreciate the city’s nuances, quirks and endless appeal.
We’ve compiled five long walks that will take you into the historic heart of the city and explore some of its most diverse neighborhoods. Even in the center of the city, you can expect encounters with nature while enjoying the fabulous views that are part of the city’s lore. You’ll even get up close and personal with some of the city’s top icons. Whether you have two hours or most of a day, one of these walks will suit you. Along the way, you’ll discover opportunities for good food and drink, as well as shops like none you’ll find elsewhere.
1. Chinatown and North Beach
Best for essential San Francisco
1.5 miles one-way, 3 hours, moderate
This itinerary starts in Chinatown at Portsmouth Square, the neighborhood’s unofficial living room. The square is graced by the Goddess of Democracy, a bronze replica of the statue that Tiananmen Square protesters made in 1989.
Stop in at the Chinese Historical Society of America, dedicated to the experiences of Chinese immigrants to the USA during the gold rush, construction of the transcontinental railroad and the decades that followed, with virulent racism a steady backdrop. Meander north on the busy, shop-lined streets, watching for the 41 historic alleyways packed into Chinatown’s 22 blocks. Don’t miss Waverly Place and its historic clinker-brick buildings and flag-festooned temple balconies.
Cut over to Columbus Ave and the heart of San Francisco’s Beat culture at Jack Kerouac Alley. Take note of the words of Chinese poet Li Po embedded in the alley: “In the company of friends, there is never enough wine.” And indeed, in the 1950s, Kerouac, Arthur Miller and other literary icons used to raise a few at the neighboring bar Vesuvio. Nearby is legendary City Lights Books, one of America’s best bookshops.
Continue up Columbus through the heart of North Beach, which still has discernible Italian roots. At lushly planted Washington Square, you’ll spot parrots in the treetops and octogenarians in tai chi tiger stances on the lawn.
Next, head up steep, residential Greenwich St to Coit Tower – and the best views in the city. The exclamation point on San Francisco’s skyline, this stark, white art deco structure is surrounded by a park, from which thrilling vistas open up from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge and beyond. Take time to duck into the tower’s lobby, where murals depict city life during the Depression: people lining up at soup kitchens, organizing dockworkers’ unions, partying despite Prohibition and more. These scenes have riled up conservatives since they were first unveiled.
Now, head east and down the Filbert Street Steps. The steep climb leads past hidden cottages along Napier Lane, more sweeping views and more colorful wild-parrot flocks. Continue across the Embarcadero to the waterfront at Pier 23, where you turn left for Fisherman’s Wharf or right for the Ferry Building.
2. The Mission
Best for seeing San Francisco’s contradictions on display, and for murals
2.75 miles one-way, 3 hours, easy
The Mission is a crossroads of contradictions. At its heart is Mission St, SF’s faded “miracle mile” that’s now occupied by dollar stores and rollicking street life, festooned with colorful murals and filled with buzzy restaurants. West of Mission St, Valencia St has both quirky boutiques and seven-figure condos. Calle 24 (24th St) is SF’s designated Latino Cultural District. A walk through the Mission puts the multitudes that modern San Francisco contains on full display.
Begin at the city’s first building and neighborhood namesake: the adobe Mission Dolores, built by some 5000 conscripted Ohlone and Miwok laborers in the 18th century. (You can see the Miwok memorial hut, dedicated to these anonymous laborers, through the mission fence on Chula Lane.) Hitchcock fans will note a prime filming location from the 1958 classic Vertigo.
Climb to the upper southwestern corner of Dolores Park for panoramic views and prime people-watching. Then walk down 19th St, past Daniel Doherty’s impressionist-inspired 2009 mural A Sunday Afternoon at Dolores Park, which depicts Dolores Park’s regular cast of characters, including frolicking pugs and handlebar-mustached men in matching swim shorts.
On Valencia, pause to pay your respects to bygone celebrities at Dog Eared Books: the front window features hand-drawn obituary cartoons of luminaries. Window-shop down Valencia, then hang a left onto Calle 24, where you’ll pass community centers, churches, bodegas, panaderias (bakeries) and taquerias all swathed in murals. Stop at 24th & York Mini Park, where Aztec serpent-god Quetzalcoatl rears his mighty mosaic head.
Double back along 24th St, cross over and swing down to Balmy Alley, where you may recognize beatified activist Archbishop Romero and surrealist painter Frida Kahlo among the colorful characters illuminating garage doors. Since you’ll have worked up an appetite by now, join the line at La Taqueria for one of SF’s best burritos. Get yours dorado–style, with a crispy surface.
3. Presidio and Crissy Field
Best for views of the ocean, bay and Golden Gate Bridge
3.5 miles one-way, 4 hours or more, easy
As you explore the Presidio, the vast splotch of green on the map between Baker Beach and Crissy Field, you’ll find parade grounds, historic buildings by the dozen, beautiful natural areas and some fascinating art projects. What started as a Spanish fort built by Ohlone conscripts in 1776 is today a treasure hunt of surprises. It was decommissioned as a military base in 1994 and turned over to the National Park Service (NPS), which has been transforming it into one of the nation’s most exciting urban parks. Download the NPS Presidio app for details on trails and sights.
At mile-long Baker Beach, you can take in the spectacular views of the Golden Gate. Crowds descend on weekends, especially on fog-free days, so arrive early. For nude sunbathing, head to the northern end. Mind the currents and the c-c-cold water.
Hike up along the Batteries to Bluffs Trail, which follows the coast and offers spectacular views from bluffs where huge guns once defended San Francisco. Head inland to Fort Winfield Scott, with its flat parade ground and vintage buildings. Curve east on paths along Lincoln Blvd and enjoy the bay and bridge views.
At the manicured Main Parade Lawn, cafes and museums await. The Presidio Officer’s Club is the site’s oldest building, its gorgeous Spanish-Moorish adobe architecture dating to the 1700s. The free Heritage Gallery shows the history of the Presidio, from Native American days to the present, along with temporary exhibitions.
Cross over the new grasslands covering Hwy 101 and head down to Crissy Field, a military airstrip turned waterfront nature preserve with knockout Golden Gate views. Bird-watchers, walkers, windsurfers, kitesurfers and cyclists flock here. Rent a bike and join the fun, or sit on the beach and watch for the gray whales that sometimes venture into the bay.
4. Haight and Golden Gate Park
Best for hippie culture and a fun-filled park
4.5 miles one-way, 4 hours or more, easy
Begin this long walk in Buena Vista Park, with its panoramic city views, then head west up Haight St and into the neighborhood that defined the Summer of Love in 1967. Hippie flashbacks are a given here, where the fog is fragrant downwind of Haight St’s legal marijuana dispensaries.
Turn right onto Waller St and left uphill past 432 Delmar St, site of the Sid Vicious overdose that broke up the Sex Pistols in 1978. A block over, pay your respects to Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Pigpen at the Grateful Dead House. Down the block, 635 Ashbury St is one of many SF addresses associated with Janis Joplin, who had a hard time hanging onto leases in the 1960s.
At the corner of Haight and Ashbury, the clock overhead always reads 4:20 – better known in “Hashbury” as International Bong-Hit Time. Follow your bliss to the drum circle at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, where free spirits have gathered since the ’60s to sway to the beat.
This blissful green space sprawls across 1017 wonderful acres, with a variety of sites that hold something for every interest. Heading west toward the ocean, you can see carnivorous plants gobbling insects at the Conservatory of Flowers, or spot blue butterflies in the rainforest dome at the California Academy of Sciences. Perhaps you’ll choose to get lost in the art galleries of the de Young Museum, or maybe you’ll allot a couple of hours to sipping green tea in the Japanese Tea Garden. Note that cars were banned from John F Kennedy Dr in 2021, which makes walking here even more enjoyable.
Continuing west, there’s the walk to the summit at Strawberry Hill and the namesake large, furry critters grazing at the Buffalo Paddock. The sound of the surf means you’re close to the Pacific and magnificent 4-mile-long Ocean Beach.
5. The Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito
Best for dramatic views and nature
5 miles one-way, 4–6 hours, moderate
One of San Francisco’s best walks takes you immediately out of the city. But what a walk it is.
Your first steps will take you onto the Golden Gate Bridge, which you’ll cross before bending around the bay to the delightful town of Sausalito, and a ferry back to SF. (Confirm the ferry schedule before you set out.) Expect sweeping views of the city and extensive natural beauty that surprises so close to a major metropolis.
The city’s most spectacular icon towers 80 stories above the roiling waters of the Golden Gate, the narrow entrance to San Francisco Bay. Begin your walk at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center at the south end, where you’ll learn how the monumental undertaking was completed in 1937, a mere 4 years after construction began.
Pedestrians will take the eastern sidewalk. Be sure to dress warmly: It’s 1.7 miles across, and you’ll want to take your time for the views, both horizontal and vertical. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to look right down the funnel of a passing ship.
At the north end, follow the curving walkway and road all the way down to Ft Baker and Horseshoe Bay. This former military post, which must have one of the world’s best views, served as a defensive position for much of the 20th century.
Continue on East Rd along the tree-lined coast north into Sausalito, where you can stroll the cute town center and enjoy some of the region’s best seafood in a waterfront cafe like Fish. On a Golden Gate Ferry for the 30-minute ride to the Ferry Building in SF, you’ll go right past Alcatraz.
