San Francisco doesn’t have any beaches but it does have some fantastic scenery. Famous for its Golden Gate Bridge and its historic cable cars there is plenty to do and see in San Francisco.
The hilly streets here are lined with Victorian houses which overlook the huge blue bay surrounded by mountains. This bay area is home to the famous crooked street and a Chinatown.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Golden Gate Bridge is a magnificent 1.7 mile long suspension bridge that links San Francisco to Marin County. There are parking and viewing areas at each end of the bridge which can be crossed by car, cycle or on foot. Views from the Marin Headlands stretch from Golden Gate Park and Twin Peaks to

Golden Gate Bridge

 The Bay Bridge, Alcatraz Island and beyond.

Golden Gate Park covers an area of 1,013 acres and is San Francisco’s largest park, bigger than New York’s Central Park. The park has over a million trees, nine lakes, fly casting pools and a lily pond. It is also home to the Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Garden, The Conservatory of Flowers and some museums.

CABLE CARS

The San Francisco cable car system is the only transportation system listed on The National Register of Historic Places. It is the last of the world’s permanently operated, manually operated cable car systems.
The cable cars operate on three routes, two from Union Square to Fishermans Wharf and one which runs along California Street.

ALCATRAZ ISLAND (The Rock)

Located in San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz island lies 1.5 miles from the mainland. This historic island has been home to a lighthouse, a military fort, a military prison and a federal prison. In 1972 the island became a national recreation area and can be reached by ferry from Fishermans Wharf.

Alcatraz Island

CLIMATE

San Francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, hence the weather here is influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean.
It has a mild climate that varies very little with seasons. From May to October it is dry with mild to warm temperatures, reaching 18-21C and with lows of 11-13C. November to April is the rainy period with temperatures of 14-18C and lows of 8-11c.

If you are thinking about visiting San Francisco, you won’t be disappointed. There are many holiday websites offering holiday packages to America to help you on your way.

For more information on America and to view my latest articles please visit my America Blog.
Happy Holidays.

Big Sur coastal highway

The beautiful coastline curves northward of Los Angeles to San Francisco along the famous Big Sur coastal highway, one of the most scenic drives in the country. The San Francisco Bay Area is presided over by San Francisco, the cosmopolitan city with its cable cars and Golden Gate Bridge.

California’s best-known wine country extends north of San Francisco into the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, but there are also wine regions near Santa Barbara and San Diego.

Northern California is the land of giant sequoias and redwoods, waterfalls, whitewater rivers, forests, icy lakes and towering mountains.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles, the ‘City of Angels’ is the second-largest city in the USA and lives up to its reputation as ‘the entertainment capital of the world’.

Orange County is home to the world famous Disneyland Resort but also has 42 miles of beaches and the charming rural communities of the Santa Ana Mountains.

The Desert region, in the southeast, has expansive landscapes, pioneering history and glittering resort cities.

Summers are very warm, with cool evenings, while the spring and autumn months are mild, with cool evenings. The winter ‘rainy season’ occurs between January and March. Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. San Francisco is known for its characteristic fog in spring and early summer. Northern California and the high mountains have snow in winter, while the deserts experience very hot summers and mild winters.

KEY FACTS
Time – Pacific: GMT – 8 (GMT – 7 from second Sunday in march to first  Sunday in November).
Capital – Sacramento.
Nickname – The Golden State.

Hollywood

Things to see and do
View the famous Hollywood sign in the hills above the city.

Follow the ‘walk of fame’ etched in the pavement along Hollywood Boulevard, hear a concert at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl, visit the Hollywood Entertainment Museum.

Go for a cable car ride up and down the steep hills of San Francisco, overlooking the city’s bay and Golden Gate Bridge. The actual cable-winding machinery can be seen at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

Visit the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, a frontier fortress full of mementoes from the Western stars’ films and television shows. The Route 66 Museum has a collection of artifacts and photographs related to the famous highway.

Visit the San Diego Maritime Museum and take an excursion into Mission Bay on a yacht or excursion boat.

Cannery Row

View the famous 1920s sardine factory, Cannery Row and Old Fisherman’s Wharf in historic Monterey. And don’t forget to sample the traditional clam chowder and sourdough bread.

In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, famed for their forests of giant sequoia trees, you can see the 2,500-year-old General Sherman Tree Giant Forest. Kings Canyon is the deepest canyon in the USA.

Yosemite National Park is home to the world’s best-known glacier-carved valley, spectacular waterfalls, granite monoliths and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

Visit the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park where California’s 1848 gold rush began. Visit the museum and original and restored buildings at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma.

Alcatraz

Visit Alcatraz which was once the site of the USA’s toughest maximum security prison and is now a national park.

Follow the California Mission Trail from San Diego to San Francisco where you will see the famous migrating swallows of San Juan Capistrano and the fantastic gardens of Santa Barbara.

Take a hike around the eerily remote Joshua Tree National Park and cross the Mojave Desert to Death Valley, the hottest and lowest place in the continental United States, 282ft below sea level.

Hearst Castle

Visit Hearst Castle which was built by the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst on an enchanted hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.