Neighborhood

Telegraph Hill, primarily a residential area, is best known for Coit Tower, the wild parrots, the 300-plus steps of Filbert Street and the breathtaking views and sounds of nearby Bay and Fisherman’s Wharf. During the daytime, adjacent North Beach offers a dense assortment of sidewalk cafes, Italian delicatessens, hidden bookstores, antique shops and upscale boutiques. At night, it lights up with some of the liveliest nightclubs, restaurants and bars in the City. If San Francisco is America’s most European city, then North Beach is San Francisco’s Little Italy and its historic center. North Beach is that truly rare thing, a neighborhood that manages to consistently be a hit with tourists and also beloved by San Franciscans. Fans of the Beat movement still seek the old haunts of Kerouac, Ginsberg and Enrico Banducci by making pilgrimage to Caffe Trieste, City Lights Bookstore, Tosca Café and Vesuvio’s.

Favorite places: Washington Square Park, Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store, Caffe Trieste, the WPA Murals of Coit Tower and City Lights Bookstore.