About San Francisco
America's favorite city sits at the edge of the Western world, a location that lends even greater romance to its legend. Pastoral, cosmopolitan and surprisingly small, San Francisco is a ravishing city, conforming to every clich?the tourist board can throw at it and acting as a magnet for nearly three million visitors a year. Famous for its liberal attitudes, radical politics and eccentricity, it occupies a special place in the hearts of Americans and is considered the last bastion of civilization on the lunatic fringe that is California. For all its nostalgic, even provincial feel, San Francisco is an affluent, world-class city - its visitors alone pour nearly $2 billion into its coffers every year, and as the financial center of the West Coast, its business community thrives.

Downtown
San Francisco's usefully compact downtown area is composed of three contradictory square miles crowded into the northeastern corner of the peninsula, between the hills and the bay. Situated on the north side of diagonal Market Street, the city's main commercial artery, its high-class stores and fancy hotels sit somewhat strangely between the poor, rather sleazy districts to the west and the New World skyscrapers of the Financial District. Most prominent in the skyline is the Transamerica Pyramid, which can be seen from almost anywhere in the city and is a useful landmark for your explorations. Just a few blocks from here and you enter the more chaotic enclave of Chinatown, above which sits the otherworldly wealth of San Francisco's most famous peak, Nob Hill, a good place to view the downtown expanse.

Directions
Yahoo Maps 580 California St., San Francisco

From East Bay / Oakland: Cross Bay Bridge (I-80 West). Take Fremont St exit. Turn left onto Fremont. Cross-over Market St., then Fremont becomes Front. Turn left onto Pine. Turn right onto Kearny. Building is on the corner of Kearny and California.

From South Bay / Peninsula: Take US-101 North. Merge onto I-80 East towards Bay Bridge. Take the Fourth St. exit. Merge onto Bryant. Turn left onto 3rd. Cross-over Market St., then 3rd becomes Kearny. Building is on the corner of Kearny and California.

From North Bay / Marin: Take US-101 South. Cross Golden Gate Bridge. US-101 becomes Lombard. Turn right onto Van Ness. Turn left onto Bush. Turn left onto Kearny. Building is on the corner of Kearny and California.

Weather
With a moody weather pattern that has San Francisco alternately drenched in sunshine or bathed in swirling fogs, the romance factor is high. Turning a corner, climbing a hill and stumbling across an unexpected vista literally takes your breath away.

Link to San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau Weather

Lodging
Visitors are San Francisco's number-one business, and the city is full of motel, hotel, bed and breakfast and hostel rooms of a consistently high standard. Such standards, however, have their price, and with room rates averaging around $100 per night, accommodation will almost certainly be the major expense of your stay. The good news is that failure to phone ahead, even in the peak summer months, doesn't mean getting stuck without a place to sleep, though it's always a bit dumb to just turn up in a city with no destination in mind. Even if it's only for the first night, book a room before you travel. Though prices err on the high side, the city does have a good range of options for every budget, and it's well worth shopping around.