A Vacation in the Golden City

San Francisco: the Golden City, and my home. Having lived in the Bay Area my entire life, I’ve been able to explore the city all throughout. SF is buzzing with exciting activities, cafes, restaurants, and sights. It’s definitely safe to say that if you’re planning to visit San Francisco on vacation, your day will be packed!

Here are a few places you should visit if you do plan on vacationing in the Golden City:

  1. Union Square and Powell Street

A plaza located in downtown San Francisco, bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets, and a hub for shops, theaters, and hotels, Union Square is one of the most popular attractions in the city. The plaza, a vital cosmopolitan gathering area, is actually one of the largest and busiest shopping districts in the world. Once you’re done at Union Square, take a walk down Powell Street, where even more clothing stores and cafes are located.

  1. Golden Gate Park
Image Source: Sami Iyengar

The Golden Gate Park, which consists of over 1000 acres of land, is home to the beautiful Japanese Tea Garden and the De Young Museum. The Japanese Tea Garden in this park is actually the oldest public Japanese garden in the country; if you’re interested in beautiful flowers and greenery along with amazing architecture, consider visiting these gardens. The De Young Museum is a fine arts museum that features various genres of and decades of art, with other special alternating exhibitions. Overall, Golden Gate Park is home to some beautiful activities and is definitely worth a visit.

  1. Mission District Murals
Image Source: Sami Iyengar

The Mission is one of SF’s oldest districts, and is actually home to the oldest standing building in San Francisco, the Mission San Francisco De Asís. One of the most richly cultured parts of the city, the many walls in the district are decorated with beautiful murals. Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley specifically have some of the most widely recognized and famous murals in the district.

  1. Castro Street
Image Source: Sami Iyengar

The Castro District, one of the first LGBT neighborhoods in the country, is a prominent symbol of LGBT culture in history. Take a walk down the street and you’ll notice not only the many rainbows decorating the street and the crosswalks, but rainbow flags, the Hot Cookie Bakery, which is a world-famous cookie store, and pro-LGBT souvenir shops that sell shirts, flags, pins, and other memorabilia.

If you’re going to explore the sunny SF, your day definitely won’t be boring. Take lots of pictures and make some memories!