Lonely Planet San Francisco

by Lonely Planet, Alison Bing, Sara Benson

Lonely The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet San Francisco is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Be impressed by the brilliance of the Golden Gate Bridge, swing down Balmy Alley for a slice of Mission life and witness some of its oldest murals, or immerse yourself in the fog and fabulousness of the city's hills on a cable-car ride; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of San Francisco and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet's San Francisco Travel The Perfect Lonely Planet San Francisco, our most comprehensive guide to San Francisco, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled. About Lonely Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. Lonely Planet enables the curious to experience the world fully and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves, near or far from home. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guide devotes as much space to shopping, dining, and nightlife as to sights. I find that off putting.

[Maria Klondike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went to San Fran this past May. Weather estimation was on point, I did not wear shorts!

Unfortunately, what they don't mention in this is that you really don't want to park on the public beaches. Yes. It was dumb. But we parked there anyway. Our car window was smashed and some of our bags were stolen.

Here's a pro-tip for travelers to San Fran: the vast majority of pharmacies are not open on Sunday! If something happens, like your medicine gets stolen and you need an emergency replacement and it happens to be Sunday, head for the Chinese Hospital Pharmacy because it's sort of the only pharmacy open. Even then, you might not get your prescription filled.

But this book is great. I used it to make all sorts of really neat plans that got de-railed. While I don't actually know how helpful it was in execution, I know it was fun to flip through it!

Although I did get to take their suggestion to walk down the Filbert Street steps from the Coit Tower. That was spectacular, 10/10 would recommend.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks. I like reading more about the history of places I am visiting.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this guide very helpful during our visit to San Francisco. Easy to use and some great tips on good restaurants and cafés. Was very helpful in planning the best way of seeing the sights and visit restaurants in our limited 3 day visit.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was published in September of 2022 so the information was new and had been updated with relevant COVID-related information. The book was organized well and had many easy-to-navigate maps. The information about public transportation options was detailed and easy to understand.
There was just so much good information and history about San Francisco- we were glad to have had it on our recent trip (March 2023).

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to SF. Has overview of the more touristy areas, landmarks, neighborhoods, and little history of the city. Picking places to eat or stay definitely needs to be double-checked online through sites like Yelp or Tripadvisor.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful content and well-organized, but I read it as an e-book, and it kept freezing up! I have never had that problem with an e-book before. Too much trouble to bother with. I'll stick with paper!

[Laurie Byro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, just reading a few of these for forthcoming travel and always enjoy them, as a former travel agent, find them lively, accurate, and helpful.