San Francisco is a rare
American city where you don't
need a car to see everything.
In fact, given the chronic
shortage of parking downtown,
horrible traffic and zealous
meter maids who love to give
expensive parking tickets,
going carless makes sense. The
public transportation system,
MUNI
, though much maligned by
locals for its unpredictable
schedule, covers every
neighborhood inexpensively via
its system of cable cars,
buses and trolleys. Bikes are
a good option, as marked bike
routes - with lanes - direct
riders to all major points of
interest. Walking the compact
metropolis is the best bet,
with each turn revealing
surprises. Often these are in
the form of stunning homes and
bustling marketplaces, but on
killer hills, some angled at
30 degrees and all punishment
on the legs. Wear comfortable
shoes.
San Francisco public
transport
Useful bus routes #5 From the
Transbay Terminal, west
alongside Haight-Ashbury and
Golden Gate Park to the ocean.
#7 From the Ferry Terminal
(Market St) to the end of
Haight St and to Golden Gate
Park. ...
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Muni
The city's public
transportation is run by the
San Francisco Municipal
Railway , or Muni (tel
415/673-6864). A comprehensive
network of buses, trolleybuses
and cable cars run up and over
the city's hills, while the...
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Other transportation
services
Various other public
transportation networks serve
San Francisco and the Bay
Area. Along Market Street
downtown, Muni shares the
station concourses with BART,
which runs to the East Bay -
including downtown Oakland and
Berkeley - and outer suburbs.
The ...
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Organized tours
One way to orient yourself is
an organized tour . Gray Line
Tours (tel 415/558-9400), for
example, take you around the
city in four fairly tedious
hours for around $37 a head.
Considerably more exciting are
the 60-minute bay cruises ...
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