San Francisco is on the California coast 400 miles north of Los Angeles. Situated around a large bay sheltered by coastal mountains. San Francisco is renown for its steep streets with panoramic views of the bay & the surrounding mountains.

In 1846 the discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills lead to a Gold Rush. By 1849, San Francisco was inundated with "forty-niners" as the gold seekers were commonly called & the population of the city exploded turning San Francisco from a muddy village into a thriving supply center & transit town. 

By the time the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 San Francisco was a lawless, rowdy boomtown. The people who had hit it big on the more dependable silver  worked hard to change this by constructing wide boulevards, parks, a cable car system & elaborate Victorian redwood mansions.

In 1906 a massive earthquake & three days of fire, wiped out most of the town. Many of the city's landmarks, including Coit Tower, the Golden Gate & the Bay bridges, were built in the 1920s & 1930s. 

 Oakland & Berkley lie just across the bay from San Francisco & are easily accessible via the Bay Bridge.The more famous Golden Gate Bridge spans the narrow inlet that extends from the Pacific Ocean into the bay. 

Alcatraz Island with its abandoned prison is situated in the middle of San Francisco Bay. 

About 30 miles south of San Francisco the area near San Jose & Santa Clara is known as "Silicon Valley", home of the largest concentration of electronics & computer firms in the USA.

San Francisco is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the USA. Steep streets lined with Victorian era houses, a great bay surrounded by low mountains & antique cable cars that shuttle passengers up & down the city slopes all make San Francisco one of the most picturesque cities in the US. 

Among the many attractions of San Francisco are the ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown & Japantown with their traditional shops & restaurants. North Beach is renown as an Italian neighborhood, the Mission District as a Hispanic community & Castro Street for its gay population. 

The famous Fisherman's Wharf still hosts a fleet of working fishing vessels along with fish markets, seafood restaurants & gift shops. 

The downtown area of San Francisco is the center of business & shopping. There are a wide variety of shops near Union Square & a big shopping mall on Market Street .