• Coit Towercoit tower san francisco image by Gary Truhlar from Fotolia.com
  
  The quintessential boomtown has a lot to offer. With consistent weather throughout the year, the San Francisco Bay Area should satisfy almost anyone. It has 43 hills, ocean, lakes, parks, cable cars, street cars, historical buildings, world-class museums and fine restaurants. You don't need to rent a car to explore the city. Streets are rather narrow and finding a parking spot could be very difficult and expensive.
  
  

Union Square

• This is a shopper's paradise of designer boutiques and large department stores. Retailers around the square (at Powell, Geary, Post and Stockton streets) are hundreds of high-end stores such as Macy's, Tiffany & Co., Prada, H&M, Niketown, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. The square is surrounded by major hotels, including Westin St. Francis and Grand Hyatt, and many restaurants and cafes. You can see the cable car going up and down Powell Street.
  
  

Castro District

• At the upper end of Market Street is the very friendly and liberal neighborhood Castro District, which is marked by the Castro Theatre marquee. The area caters to its largely gay and lesbian population, and it is internationally known. To go there from downtown, get on a streetcar. The Castro is the end of the line for the F-line. With many rainbow flags, organic stores, stylish restaurants and shops, you will find this neighborhood easily.
  
  

Coit Tower

• Built at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco, this 210-foot tower is one of San Francisco's most distinctive skyline sights. During the California Gold Rush, a young girl Lillie Hitchcock Coit, known as Miss Lil, was a fervent admirer of her local fire company and she once chased down the street after her favorite engine, Knickerbocker No. 5. She became the Knickerbocker Company's mascot and always signed her name "Lillie Coit 5." The Coit Tower actually looks like a fire hose nozzle. For amazing views, ride the elevator to the top of the tower. The best way to get there is to take the 39 bus because parking at Coit Tower is limited.
  
  Coit Tower
  Telegraph Hill Boulevard
  San Francisco CA 94133
  415-362-0808
  
  

SoMa

• Short for South of Market, SoMa is a district, sprawling from the Embarcadero to Eleventh Street, between Market and Townsend. This is the area you could spend all day museum-hopping. The area is home to many museums and galleries, such as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Cartoon Art Museum, Museum of the African Diaspora, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, California Historical Society Museum, Contemporary Jewish Museum, GLBT Historical Society Museum, Old U.S. Mint and Asian Art Museum. An arts and technology museum for children called Zeum is located in Yerba Buena Gardens.
  
  

City Hall

• Opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, this massive gold-leaf dome is higher than the U.S. Capitol's and is about as close to a palace as you can get in San Francisco. The classic granite and marble behemoth was modeled after St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. This is also the place where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married. City Hall provides a 45-minute tour program to the public during weekdays.
  
  City Hall
  1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
  San Francisco, CA 94102
  415-554-6139
  sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=1085