Sanfrancisco Hotels RSS Feed
 
 
 
 

San Francisco: Reasons to Visit the Bay Area on Your Next Vacation

Ocean Beach - San Francisco

Ocean Beach - San Francisco

Okay, so your next long vacation isn’t around the corner yet, but you’re already planning on the places you want to visit once your boss gives you the signal. San Francisco may be the best bet for you. Aside from it is just one plane ticket away, San Francisco has everything the rest of the world has to offer you. Here’s why.

Bask in the glorious blend of sun, sand, and sea. San Francisco, like everywhere else in California, will always be loved for its distinctly Mediterranean feel. Warm summers, mild winters, and great beaches. Surrounded on its three sides by the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco has what the state calls the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a long strip of beaches, parks, and historical sites where tourists and locals alike can appreciate the natural beauty of the state. Ocean Beach and Baker Beach are two of the most famous San Francisco beaches. Though Ocean Beach is not known for swimming and surfing because of its rip cold waves and rip currents, it is still considered a thing of beauty and visited by people who want to enjoy a little sight-seeing.

Get to know nature a little better. San Francisco has more than 200 parks, which are taken care of by its own Recreation and Parks Department. The oldest, largest, and most popular park frequented by tourists is the Golden Gate Park. It is found at the center of the city west and extends all the way down to the Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate Park was built in 1860 by planting different species of non-native trees and flowering plants. It also features several attractions like the San Francisco Botanical Garden, Japanese Tea Garden, and the Conservatory of Flowers. Another famous park in San Francisco is the San Francisco Zoo, which is situated near the Lake Merced. San Francisco Zoo is home to more than 250 species of animals and many of these are in the list of endangered species.

Relive history, revive art. San Francisco is home to several museums and art houses that feature different pieces from various periods of time. San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor is dedicated to hosting European antiques, while the Museum of Modern Art features contemporary masterpieces that were modeled during the twentieth century. Meanwhile, the De Young Museum located within the Golden Gate Park is home to native and cultural artifacts discovered in Oceania, Africa, and North and South America. The Asian Art Museum was also part of the De Young Museum before it was rebuilt into its present form. The Asian Art Museum features ancient Asian artifacts that are about 6,000 years old.

San Francisco: Public Transportation, City’s Lifeline

San Francisco: The Only Moving Landmarks: Cable cars (courtesy: www.commons.wikimedia.org)

San Francisco: The Only Moving Landmarks: Cable cars (courtesy: www.commons.wikimedia.org)

Moving around San Francisco with our own vehicle can most of the time prove to be a nightmare, with the rush hour traffic, off beat roads and usual parking problems. Also the public transportation here is the seventh largest with around twenty agencies operating public transportation in the form of buses, streetcars, trains, Para transit and ferryboats.

It is obvious for major chunk of San Franciscans to use Public transportation for their day to day traveling. The natives and the tourists find the public transport safe and convenient. People are so used to this that most locales do not find the need to have a driver’s license until they attain the age of 19-20.

Cable cars are the oldest means of transportation on road; one can still enjoy its ride for $5 per person for one way ride, while going to Fisherman’s Wharf. The cable cars are seen moving from 6 am to 1.30 am. One can also procure one day cable car pass with the payment of $10 to the conductor.

After cable cars, the street cars serve the same purpose and both are the part of San Francisco’s Municipal (muni) Railway

Sanfrancisco: Muni Train At 4th Avenue ( courtesy: www.flickr.com)

Sanfrancisco: Muni Train At 4th Avenue ( courtesy: www.flickr.com)

Transportation convoy. During sports time Muni gives special services to Monster Park and AT &T Park. The fares are cheap but one need to have exact change, special considerations are given to senior citizens and disables.

Muni Transit is available 24x 7 with 80 routes, operating both old and modern vehicles. Diesel buses, alternative fuel vehicles, electric trolley coaches, light rail vehicles and most sought after historic cable cars and street cars of Muni Transit are seen on the road.

People living in East Bay Area have better option to travel in clean BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) which is the commuter rail mostly runs on time. It also operates AirBART shuttle to Oakland Airport.

May it be Muni Transit or BART, during rush hour one has to push oneself inside with all its might and gush as it is crammed

Sanfrancisco: BART Commuter Rail ( courtesy: www. commons.wikimedia.org)

Sanfrancisco: BART Commuter Rail ( courtesy: www. commons.wikimedia.org)

with locals as well as tourists. The available maps and website of transit system are meant to keep you well informed of their arrival and departure time and halts. The city transport is the integral part in the life of the people. In short it is the life line which keeps the city moving.

The best part is, new modes of transport have been introduce on the roads from time to time, but the old ones have not been discarded, they still continue to move on roads with same importance like those that of modern ones.

While mentioning the various modes of transportation, one cannot forget about Car Share, the most appreciated, efficient and fuel saving mode of transportation. This car sharing program started in the year 2001, 70 vehicles are being operated for this purpose on hourly basis. Around 1,500 members are benefiting from this and have helped to avoid the hassle of parking.

There are other services too that move in different parts of San Francisco or restricted to certain parts. It is entirely people’s choice were do they feel comfortable traveling in.

San Francisco: Stanford University, The Alma Mater Of Excellence

San Francisco: Renowned Stranford University ( courtesy: www.bristol.k12.ct.us)

San Francisco: Renowned Stranford University ( courtesy: www.bristol.k12.ct.us)

San Francisco is the most happening place, and heartthrob of many travelers. Everything things seems to be near perfection and conducive for the proper growth of an individual. For some it is a dream city while for other, to settle down here is a far fetched idea.

The city has never learned to compromise whether it is preserving the relics, nature or growing in terms of technology. The city is filled with talents and capability to harness it in right way.

The graph of educated people in San Francisco is quite high with good percentage of people having graduate degree and quite a number of people with their education and training beyond high school.

People with diverse interest find proper scope to develop, nurture and specialize it. There are few but top class universities that have success story since ages. They have produced some of the best brainy characters and highly intellectual and charismatic personalities.

The most important is the courses offered and the wide scope of learning; the students get from these universities. When we talk about the education in San Francisco, it is well judged by the popularity of its universities.

The name Stanford University may not be new to many, with its international repute of being the top ranked graduate school in the country and the honor of producing 18 noble laureates and several founder members of various popular technology related companies- Sun Microsystems, Google and many more.

It would not be an exaggeration to mention few names of the alumni of Stanford University who have excelled in their

San Francisco: Chelsea Clinton And Fellow Members Of 2001 in 110th Graduation Commencement Ceremony (courtesy: www.pro.corbis.com)

San Francisco: Chelsea Clinton And Fellow Members Of 2001 in 110th Graduation Commencement Ceremony (courtesy: www.pro.corbis.com)

respective fields and brought laurels to their university. Astronaut Sally Ride, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, President Herbert Hoover, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor football player John Elway and golfer Tiger Woods and Tom Watson.

Came into existence in the year 1885, the University progressed gradually with number of students and courses increasing simultaneously. The National Research Council rates this University among the best while U.S News and World Report ranked it fourth among the national universities.

Stanford has wide variety of courses to offer for graduate and undergraduate degree, within the close proximity of Silicon Valley, it makes business management and engineering as highly competitive courses and students really have to try hard to enroll themselves for the same.

In addition to these two, students can pursue their studies for graduate and undergraduate degrees in Earth Science and Humanities and Science. The other four graduate courses include business, education, Law and Medicine and other prospective courses.

Every year new chapter of success is added in the growth history of Stanford University. This is all due to the sole intention of every faculty member and respective dean of the schools to strive for the best. Students get their lessons from the best teachers and researchers in their field.

To talk about more on universities, this is not the only one which highlights the educational growth of the city. There are few more whose invaluable contribution as torch bearers have definitely yielded fruits. Like University of California San Francisco, San Francisco State University and University of San Francisco.