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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