Things to do in San Francisco - San Francisco Neighborhoods Private Walking and City Tour #SanFranciscoNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek

Things to do in San Francisco - San Francisco Neighborhoods private walking and city tour by Urban Trek USA. (Note: Urban Trek USA is a one-man operation and takes only approximately 3 reservations a month so making a reservation in advance is a plus.)

The San Francisco Neighborhoods urban trek has a good mix of history and beautiful scenery, well-known tourist and not so famous interesting places, some art and architecture by combining five San Francisco diverse neighborhoods plus brief walk-throughs of two more neighborhoods. You will get a local perspective from your Urban Trek Leader who has lived in San Francisco for decades. You will definitely get the insider's tips on what you can do in these neighborhoods should you want to revisit them after your urban trek experience. This particular urban trek is a true well-rounded San Francisco experience for visitors, especially first-time visitors.

Our goal for this private urban trek is for you to experience five different and diverse neighborhoods of San Francisco plus a brief walk through in one neighborhood in a full-day walking and city tour:

Chinatown for its rich historical and cultural aspect. Click here for a more detailed description of the Chinatown experience.

 

North Beach for its uniqueness and a place with a whole bunch of legacy businesses (over 50 years old). Click here for a more detailed description of the North Beach experience. (Note: The coffee break in North Beach is not part of the San Francisco neighborhoods itinerary, but you will get recommendations on what cafes are worth visiting on your own.)

A brief walk through in the Cow Hollow neighborhood to transfer buses. Cow Hollow is a neighborhood with Victorian houses that have been converted into boutiques, restaurants and offices.

Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights has a whole bunch on good places to eat so this is an excellent place to have a lunch break. You will have a choice from varied cuisines: American, Mediterranean, Italian, Seafood, Vietnamese, etc. (Note: The cost of lunch and snack break, when applicable, is not included in the urban trek price and will be your responsibility.)

After lunch, you will explore Pacific Heights which can be considered the premier neighborhood of San Francisco because most of the city's elite live in this neighborhood. Click here for a more detailed description of the Pacific Heights experience. 

Alamo Square neighborhood has the famous "Painted Ladies" Victorian houses and NOPA (North of the Panhandle) has been going though quite a transformation (gentrification?) in the past years. The name NOPA is part of said transformation (LOL). Click here for a more detailed description of the Alamo Square / NOPA experience. 

 

Hayes Valley is the neighborhood that had gone through a huge transformation and used to be called an up and coming neighborhood, but I believe it has already arrived to be a desirable place to live. Click here for a more detailed description of the Hayes Valley experience.

How to make a reservation:

• Send an e-mail to anton@urbantrekusa.com
• Include the date you want to reserve and the private urban trek you want to do.

Additional information:

• Start time: 9:30 am (or mutually agreed upon time)
• Approximate length of urban trek: 6.5 to 7 hours which includes one-hour lunch break and, if you want, an afternoon break for ice cream, coffee, hot chocolate, beer/wine.
• To make a reservation, send an e-mail to anton@urbantrekusa.com or WhatsApp and Viber 1-415-265-8229
• Price: 1 to 4 people $210 (total) plus $15 for each additional person (Note: Price does not include the cost of your meals, but it includes the cost of Muni fares <no cable car rides>)

 Fitness level for this urban trek:

This is a moderate urban trek mostly because it is a whole-day urban trek (with bus rides) and a few uphill walks to get the best vantage points and being San Francisco is a very hilly city. But there is a one-hour lunch break to relax halfway though the urban trek. Everyone has to be fit in order to walk uphill for at least one city block and can spend hours on their feet. Of course, walking will not be constant since there will be a whole lot of standing stops while you hear commentaries and short stops to admire and take photos of the scenery. Resting will be fine but it will be hard for people who cannot walk for about 10 minutes without stopping to rest to do this urban trek and enjoy it. Each stretch of walking will be approximately 10 minutes before a short standing break while the Urban Trek Leader explains or says something about the place.

Things to do in San Francisco - Hayes Valley

Urban Trek USA San Francisco private walking and city tours has been the premier San Francisco tour for over a decade.

Hayes Valley is one of the hippest neighborhoods in San Francisco with a whole bunch of good places to eat with outdoor seating; neat bars, beer garden and wine shops; excellent coffee and hot chocolate places; and trendy boutiques. Another neat thing about this neighborhood is the contrast of old Victorian buildings and more contemporary architecture style buildings mixed together. This neighborhood used to be considered an up and coming neighborhood but today it has definitely arrived. In my opinion, the gentrification that happened in this neighborhood was a good thing. You will learn about the transformation that happened and the main reason for the transformation. 

If you are doing the San Francisco neighborhoods private urban trek, this neighborhood is where it ends. This was done intentionally because you have the option to hang out here and shop or browse at the many of the trendy shops or have coffee or hot chocolate or beer or wine to unwind after your full-day urban trek of San Francisco neighborhoods. You will be given directions on how to get to where you want to go (e.g. your hotel) if you decide to end your private urban trek here. You will also get excellent recommendations of what to do in this neighborhood.

Hayes Valley is also a good place to have a lunch break if you do a customized urban trek because you will have a whole bunch of good choices for a place to stop for lunch.

#HayesValleyUrbanTrek #NeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SanFanciscoNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SFNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek 

Last updated: May 17, 2022

  

Things to do in San Francisco - Alamo Square

Urban Trek USA San Francisco private walking and city tours has been the premier San Francisco tour for over a decade.

Alamo Square is famous because of the beautiful Victorian houses commonly called the "Painted Ladies" and the panoramic view of the skyline of the downtown buildings. However, the Westerfeld Mansion is also a stunning Victorian house with an interesting history. Revolving art by local artist is another interesting aspect not well-known by most tourists. You will learn about the history of the famous "Painted Ladies" Victorian houses (e.g. listing on how much they were originally sold) and more current sales (at outrageous prices) of the famous houses. Also learn about the Westerfeld Mansion and, when available, some information on the local artists that have their art on display.

There will be a short walk-through the NOPA neighborhood (North of the Panhandle). This neighborhood has evolved (still evolving) into one of the places where the people in their 20s and 30s have moved and hang out especially during the weekends. Today, there are a whole bunch of very good places to dine, have coffee & desserts, cool bars and other forms of entertainment. You will get some information on the evolution of this neighborhood and why the long-time locals are not quire sold on the NOPA name.

Although Alamo Square has been written about in all the tour books on San Francisco, it is likely that you will still get some interesting information about this area that will enhance your appreciation of this neighborhood.

#AlamoSquareUrbanTrek #NeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SanFranciscoNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SFNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek 

Last updated: May 17, 2022

Things to do in San Francisco - Pacific Heights

Urban Trek USA San Francisco private walking and city tours has been the premier San Francisco tour for over a decade.

Pacific Heights is considered by most as the elite neighborhood where the socialites and the well-connected residents of San Francisco live because of the awesome view from this neighborhood. 

Highlights of what you will experience here:

1. View of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz and a little bit of the Golden Gate Bridge
2. Well-preserved Victorian houses
3. Homes (mansions) worth multi-millions

Other things you can expect:

• History on how this neighborhood evolved (i.e. why the wealthy moved to this neighborhood)
• Brief historical information about a couple of Victorian houses and mansions in the neighborhood
• See the house used in the movie, "Mrs. Doubtfire"

Note: On a whole-day private urban trek, this neighborhood is a good place to stop for a lunch break because there is a wide variety of good food and cuisine to choose from along Fillmore Street.

When you do an urban trek with Pacific Heights as part of your itinerary, you will experience a part of San Francisco that is not a popular tourist destination, but knowledgeable locals know this neighborhood is a gem if they know the best spots to visit.

 

#PacificHeightsUrbanTrek #NeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SanFranciscoNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek #SFNeighborhoodsUrbanTrek 

Things to do in San Francisco - North Beach

Urban Trek USA San Francisco private walking and city tours has been a premier San Francisco tour for over a decade. 

North Beach is the Urban Trek Leader's most favorite of all neighborhoods in San Francisco and Anton will try his best to share the reasons why:

1. Although businesses have changed hands, most buildings look pretty much the same from the 1950s. There are a whole bunch of establishments that are over 50 years old (legacy businesses) and you will get some insight on my favorites. In my opinion this place has kept its charm through the years in spite of changes all neighborhoods experience. Other places lose their essence due to gentrification. North Beach has kept most of it.

2. Although North Beach is known as San Francisco's Little Italy, it was not the Italians that first inhabited this neighborhood and the Italians are no longer the major ethnic population. You will learn the evolution of this neighborhood.

3. North Beach is also a good place to hang out at night (i.e. dinner, cocktails) and you will get tips on the best places to feel the old vibe and the new vibe.

4. Of course, this neighborhood is the best place to stop for a coffee break. You can sample excellent Italian pastries at one of the oldest cafes in San Francisco that are still baked in the oven from the 1940s. (Note: This happens when the itinerary is the Historical San Francisco one.)

So when you join an urban trek that has North Beach as part of the itinerary, you will experience one of the well-known and historic neighborhoods in San Francisco.

#NorthBeachUrbanTrek

Chinatown - San Francisco - Things to do in San Francisco

Urban Trek USA San Francisco private walking and sightseeing city tours has been a premier San Francisco tour for over a decade.

Chinatown has been a neighborhood famous as a tourist destination. It is probably because most visitors feel this neighborhood is exotic. However, in my opinion, the importance of this neighborhood are two-fold:

1. Prior to being Chinatown, this place was were modern-day San Francisco started and the center of happenings during the Gold Rush Era. Yes, most people probably do not realize this but if you want to learn about the interesting history of San Francisco, this is where you should be and why our urban trek to this neighborhood will give you interesting historical information while being where it all happened.

2. The City is very diverse and this neighborhood is where the major minority group has its roots. You will learn what kind of life the people that live here is like. Fantasy does not always match reality.

So when you join an urban trek that has Chinatown as part of its itinerary, you will have a good historical account about San Francisco and learn how it has evolved over the years.

#SanFrancisco #ThingsToDoInSanFrancisco #ChinatownUrbanTrek