How many stops are on the Parks & Nature walking tour in San Francisco?

The Parks & Nature route in San Francisco includes 7 curated stops.

How long does the Parks & Nature tour in San Francisco take?

The Parks & Nature walking tour in San Francisco takes approximately 3.5 hours at a leisurely pace.

Is the Parks & Nature walking tour in San Francisco free?

Yes, Promenario's Parks & Nature tour in San Francisco is free to download and use, with full offline support.

🇺🇸 San Francisco, United States

Parks & Nature in San Francisco

Gardens, parks, riverside segments, and green routes. Explore 7 curated stops in San Francisco, including Pier 39, Chinatown, and North Beach. Highlights include Chinatown, rated 4.5/5 by 22,000 visitors.

7 stops ~3h 30m Available in app

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7 places in this collection

Parks & Nature places

7 places in this collection

Image by Kingofthedead, CC BY-SA 4.0

Pier 39

Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of California sea lions hauled out on docks on Pier 39's marina. A two-story carousel is one of the pier's more dominant features, although it is not directly visible from the street and sits towards the end of the pier. The family-oriented entertainment and presence of marine mammals make this a popular tourist location for families with kids. The pier is located at the edge of the Fisherman's Wharf district and is close to North Beach, Chinatown, and the Embarcadero. The area is easily accessible with the historic F Market streetcars. From the pier one can see Angel Island, Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Bay Bridge. Blue & Gold Fleet's bay cruises leave from Pier 39. California sea lions have always been present in San Francisco Bay. They started to haul out on docks of Pier 39 in September 1989. Before that they mostly used Seal Rock for that purpose. Ever since September 1989 the number of sea lions on Seal Rock has been steadily decreasing, while their number on Pier 39 has generally increased. Some people speculate that sea lions moved to docks because of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, but the earthquake occurred months after the first sea lions had arrived at Pier 39. It is likely that the sea lions feel safer inside the Bay.

Image by chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0

Chinatown

The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese enclave outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinatowns within the City. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture. San Francisco's Chinatown is also renowned as a major tourist attraction, drawing more visitors annually than the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco Chinatown restaurants are cxonsidered to be the birthplace of Americanized Chinese cuisine such as food items like Chop Suey while introducing and popularizing Dim Sum to American tastes, as its Dim Sum tea houses are a major tourist attraction.

Image by Team at Carnaval.com Studios, CC BY 2.0

North Beach

North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's 'Little Italy' and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still has many Italian restaurants, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture and has become one of San Francisco's main nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families, and Chinese immigrants. The American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach as one of ten 'Great Neighborhoods in America'.

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Image by Steven Lek, CC BY-SA 4.0

Aquarium of the Bay

Aquarium of the Bay is a public aquarium located at The Embarcadero and Beach Street, at the edge of Pier 39 in San Francisco, California. The Aquarium is focused on local aquatic animals from the San Francisco Bay and neighboring rivers and watersheds as far as the Sierras. The Aquarium of the Bay is a Smithsonian Affiliate, accredited by Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and certified as a Green Business by the city of San Francisco. It is a member of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP), a collaboration to promote ocean and freshwater conservation, specifically by reducing plastic pollution. The Aquarium has over 50 sharks. The Aquarium also has skates, bat rays and thousands of other animals including eels, flatfish, rockfish, Wrasse, Gobies, Kelpfish, Pricklebacks, Sculpin and Sturgeons. A river otter exhibit opened on June 28, 2013. Snow is placed in the otter enclosure periodically during the winter during what are called 'Otter Snow Days.'

Image by Dead.rabbit, CC BY-SA 4.0

555 California Street

555 California Street, formerly Bank of America Center, is a 52-story 779 ft (237 m) skyscraper in San Francisco. It is the fourth tallest building in the city, the largest by floor area. Completed in 1969, the tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Transamerica Pyramid in 1972, and the world headquarters of Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank, when the company moved its headquarters to the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. A 70 percent interest was acquired by Vornado Realty Trust from foreign investors in March 2007 with a 30 percent limited partnership interest still owned by Donald Trump, managed by the Vornado Realty Trust.

Image by Georgio from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0

Washington Square

Washington Square is a park in the North Beach district of San Francisco. It was established in 1847 and is one of the city's first parks. The park is bordered by sidewalk cafes and restaurants such as Mama's (restaurant), Park Tavern restaurant and the Liguria Bakery as well as the Sts. Peter and Paul Church. The Square is a natural community gathering place with a long history. Festivals, free movie nights and other special events are hosted there throughout the year.

Image by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0

Saints Peter and Paul Church

Saints Peter and Paul Church is a Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. It is directly across from Washington Square and is administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It is known as 'la cattedrale italiana dell'Ovest', or the Italian Cathedral of the West, and has served as the home church and cultural center for San Francisco's Italian-American community since its consecration. It offers English, Italian, and Cantonese-language services. The first Saints Peter and Paul Church, built in 1884 on the corner of Filbert Street and Grant Avenue, was destroyed by the Great Quake of 1906. Construction on the current cathedral was completed in 1924. During 1926–27, the church was the target of radical anti-catholic anarchists, who instituted five separate bomb attacks against the building in the space of one year. On March 6, 1927, police shot and killed one man and seriously wounded another, Celsten Eklund, a radical anarchist and local soapbox orator, as the two men attempted to light the fuse of a large dynamite bomb in front of the church. The dead man, known only as 'Ricca', was never fully identified; Eklund died of his wounds some time later without giving any information about his co-conspirators. In recent years, Saints Peter and Paul has also become the home church for the city's Chinese-American Roman Catholic population, offering weekly masses in Italian, Cantonese, and English. Mass in Latin is offered monthly as well. Saints Peter and Paul serves the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

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