The Classic San Francisco Walking Tour: Downtown and Chinatown
San Francisco, California
Rating: 
Trip Type: City Tours
Duration: 4 hours 30 minutes
For the ultimate introduction to San Francisco, visit the city’s two most timeless and popular neighborhoods: Downtown and Chinatown. This tour shows off the best of San Francisco’s origins and rise as the Gold Rush metropolis, home to the crazed, the wealthy and the inspirational. Hear how this overnight city began, survived the Great Earthquake of 1906 and saw influence from incredible creators and communities.
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For the ultimate introduction to San Francisco, visit the city’s two most timeless and popular neighborhoods: Downtown and Chinatown. This tour shows off the best of San Francisco’s origins and rise as the Gold Rush metropolis, home to the crazed, the wealthy and the inspirational. Hear how this overnight city began, survived the Great Earthquake of 1906 and saw influence from incredible creators and communities.The tour begins in Union Square. Our joyful downtown streets were once the Gold Rush center of San Francisco, home to heroes and villains who defined this lawless land of cutthroats, swindlers and gamblers. Trace their old steps, and visit where the cable car ran, and the Transamerica Pyramid stands. We'll pass the St. Francis Hotel, home to a presidential assassination attempt, and see the jewel of Union Square, the central Dewey Monument. From here we'll see a formerly seedy alley, Maiden Lane, our old red light district. Around the corner is the entrance to Chinatown, marked by a grand gate with dragons and foo dogs. In the nearby Financial District, hear how AP Giannini's turn-of-the-century community bank became the Bank of America, and see where our first eccentric, Emperor Norton, once lived. End the Downtown portion at the base of our tallest structure, the Transamerica Pyramid.
After a 1.5hr lunch break, the group heads to Portsmouth Square, center of Chinatown's day-to-day life, constantly bustling with dancers, conversation and street games. You'll continue up onto the main boulevard of Grant Avenue to see the trinket shops and overwhelming, colorful architecture, learning how the Chinese arrived during the Gold Rush, only to face hostility and an uncertain future. Next you'll see one of the few relics that survived the Great Earthquake of 1906, the beautiful Old St. Mary's Cathedral, before heading down back alleys rarely traveled by tourists. Hear about the violent gang battles that scarred Chinatown in these streets, plus the inspirational leaders who helped transform them into something new. You'll get a chance to peek inside one of the last remaining fortune cookie factories and sample the treat, then explore a bit of the new street art appearing on walls in Chinatown.
What we see:
After a 1.5hr lunch break, the group heads to Portsmouth Square, center of Chinatown's day-to-day life, constantly bustling with dancers, conversation and street games. You'll continue up onto the main boulevard of Grant Avenue to see the trinket shops and overwhelming, colorful architecture, learning how the Chinese arrived during the Gold Rush, only to face hostility and an uncertain future. Next you'll see one of the few relics that survived the Great Earthquake of 1906, the beautiful Old St. Mary's Cathedral, before heading down back alleys rarely traveled by tourists. Hear about the violent gang battles that scarred Chinatown in these streets, plus the inspirational leaders who helped transform them into something new. You'll get a chance to peek inside one of the last remaining fortune cookie factories and sample the treat, then explore a bit of the new street art appearing on walls in Chinatown.
What we see:
- Transamerica Pyramid, SF’s tallest structure
- Fortune Cookie factory
- Union Square and the St. Francis Hotel
- Maiden Lane, the Red Light District
- Chinatown Dragon Gate
- Portsmouth Square, Chinatown’s “living room”
- Photogenic alleys (from Indiana Jones & Pursuit of Happyness)
- Tin How Temple, first Chinese temple in America
- St. Mary’s Cathedral, oldest on West Coast
- Site of first Cable Car line
- Painted balconies of Waverly Place
- Golden Dragon Massacre location in Chinatown
- Former home of eccentric Emperor Norton
- Site of buried Gold Rush ships
- Plus a few cool surprises!
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