The San Francisco Chronicle, one of the world’s great papers, includes a seismological section in its daily weather page. Don’t let it put you off - the chances are minimal!

So much of the modern world kicked off in San Francisco.

Other cities are larger, other cities are smarter, other cities have greater economic power, other cities have longer history, other cities have richer cultural back stories, but no other city has been more vital to the development of the modern world and the way we in the developed west live today than San Francisco.

When we talk of San Francisco we really mean The Bay Area - which is much more than the city of San Francisco, there’s Oakland and Berkeley, Marin County and the San Fernando Valley - but do we talk of Paris and St Denis? do we doff our hats to Jersey City or Long Island when talking of New York? To we consider Gateshead when referring to Newcastle? Hardly.

San Francisco is the heart of the region that brought us Levis, Gap, Apple, Google, Oracle, any number of information technology innovations and world leading brands. But it also brought us the idealism of the 1960s and the politics of personal and sexual liberation. This is the place where the United Nations charter was signed in 1945. San Francisco is where things start.

The city’s history of earthquake and rebuilding, its unrelentingly hopeful and creative outlook and its position on the edge of a continent underlies the reality of San Francisco as a place of ideas, birth and re-birth. If you can’t believe that there can be a better world here you can’t believe it anywhere.

And with the sole exception of New York, San Francisco is the world’s greatest movie set - quite simply the most damned handsome city you could ever want. There are hills everywhere. But there is a view everywhere. You have seen it on TV, you’ve been there in the movies, but somehow, unlike many other famous locations, San Francisco doesn’t disappoint - it looks just as good as it does on the screen.

The San Francisco climate is notoriously unpredictable and the seasons are just weird - it isn’t known as Fog City for nothing and the weather can change rapidly at any time of the year, but that’s all part of the fun, even if it makes packing frustratingly complicated.

The other frustration that deserves passing mention is the west coast penchant for rules and regulations. For supposedly the most ‘liberal’ city in the USA there is a tremendous amount of ‘don’t do this’ and ‘don’t do that’. At times you wonder if this really is the ‘Land of the Free’ at all. However, it is really just the Californian manifestation of the American respect for law and authority - for ‘their law’ and ‘their democracy’ they could argue. But do they have to be quite so officious and miserable about it?

The city is full of ‘must dos’, but the biggest ‘must do’ is the city itself. Walking around the neighbourhoods of San Francisco is the way to get the feel for life in the city. Unless you visit at least some of The Castro, Mission, Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, Pacific Heights and so on you won’t get the place. You will see more by walking, you will discover more by walking, you will have a better idea of the way people live and, unless you are a complete misery, you will discover some great shops on foot.

If you are going to San Francisco go to the gym first. The Californians are notoriously health conscious and there are plenty of fit looking people to envy. However the biggest reason for getting fit is to be able to cope with some serious urban mountaineering. The streets don’t just look steep on the screen - they are dramatically steep and will be hard work for the overweight or under exercised.

However, you don’t have to walk everywhere. The city has an excellent public transport system and a Muni passport provides unlimited travel at very reasonable cost. It makes it possible to hop on and off cable cars (’hanging’ is still the coolest way of getting around), trams and buses to get over the steep hills to the next neighbourhood. The city claims that there are Muni stops within 2 blocks of 90% of all city residences - and who are we to argue?

Christmas shopping on the west coast? Sounds entirely daft at first - an eleven hour flight and an eight hour time difference? But it is reasonably warm, even in December and the shopping is as good as anything on offer on the East coast - the big advantage in San Francisco is that the city centre shopping area is compact, competitive, and walkable - save the odd one-in-two gradient. Bear in mind also that things are generally slower on the west coast than the east - and that includes service. New York it ain’t! The eight hour difference is actually no worse to manage than the five hours for the east coast - better in some ways. So with a flight at the right price, and there are often bargains to be had, it isn’t half as daft as it sounds.

 

Five Top San Francisco Tips

1. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge - there’s nothing else like it.

2. Drink champagne at sunset at Top of The Mark

3. Buy a Muni Passport

4. Visit the neighbourhoods rather than Fisherman’s Wharf

5. Drink the local beer - it’s good