Travel guides to San Francisco, California selected by SanFrancisco.com editors, including travel books, dining guides, maps and San Francisco-specific specialty guides and cookbooks. Featuring top travel guides such as Lonely Planet, Frommer's and Fodor's San Francisco.
Secret San Francisco: The Unique Guidebook to San Francisco's Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes
By David Armstrong
San Francisco's hidden treasures and secret "best of" sites, sounds and tastes will appeal to the visitor or San Francisco local that wants to bypass the glossy postcard options and find the best behind-the-scenes options. This paperback book will point the San Francisco adventurer in the right direction. (Sonja Pecavar)
Frommer's Unofficial Guide to San Francisco, 3rd Edition (March 2002)
By Joe Surkiewicz
The self-professed "Consumer Report" of travel guides, Frommer's Unofficial Guide to San Francisco is a candid overview of San Francisco for unassuming visitors.
Frommer's San Francisco 2003
By Erika Lenkert
More comprehensive than the Unoffical guide, this Frommer's San Francisco keeps both alternative and mainstream San Francisco attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and sports in mind, as well as detailed information on public transportation and festivals.
Lonely Planet San Francisco (2002)
Lonely Planet has an office in Oakland, just across the Bay from San Francisco. Bay Area compatriots, Lonely Planet's travel guide to San Francisco is well-informed, and includes budget options, walking tours of San Francisco, 27 full color neighborhod maps marked with San Francisco attractions, hotels and multi-faceted nightlife, as well as a guide to San Francisco's festivals and events.
Moon Metro San Francisco
By Avalon Travel Publishing
Fold out color maps on heavy weight paper unfold San Francisco with this clever, edgy and locally-informed travel guide to San Francisco. From trendy shops and salons, to a comprehensive look at San Francisco neighborhoods where each section is punctuated with must eat restaurants and must do activities. Filled with pictures and sincerely imparting a feel for San Francisco beyond the San Francisco tourist hype, this new Moon Metro series is a cool way to travel. This San Francisco guide is also an excellent reference for newcomers and those recently relocated to San Francisco.
Fodor's Pocket 2003 San Francisco: The All-In-One Guide to the Best of the City Packed With Places to Eat, Sleep Shop, and Explore (Fodor's Pocket San Francisco)
This backpocket-sized San Francisco guide book has all the bare-bones information on San Francisco dining, lodging and attractions, as well as laminated pull-outs maps and information for light exploring.
Hidden San Francisco and Northern California including Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Yosemite and Lake Tahoe
By Ray Riegart
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of America's most diverse places, not just population-wise, but geographically as well. Hidden San Francisco and Northern California features Ray Riegart 's opinionated reviews of both the worthy and the just infamous in San Francisco and information on the redwoods, the Northern California coast, the wine country, and the Sierras.
Zagatsurvey 2003 San Francisco/Bay Area Restaurants (Zagat Guide)
The most up-to-date and easy to read review of San Francisco and the Bay Area's restaurant scene, ranking everything from the local English pub's bangers and mash combo to the most eclectic California cuisine.
The Cafes of San Francisco: A Guide to the Sights, Sounds, and Tastes of America's Original Cafe Society
By S. Green, et al
A colorful and informative guide to the best of San Francisco's cafes, from sidewalk pastry shops to park-side bistros, plus café stories and recipes from San Francisco cafe-oholics.
Frommer's San Francisco with Kids 2003
By Paula Tevis
With its mild climate, colorful sites and huge parks, San Francisco is a great (and educational) destination for traveling families. Paul Tevis offers a comprehensive and kid-proof guide to San Francisco restaurants, hotels and attractions cuing adult travelers to the child in San Francisco.
San Francisco As You Like It: 20 Tailor-Made Tours for Culture Vultures, Shopaholics, Non-Bohemians, Fitness Freaks, Savvy Natives, and Everyone Else
By Bonnie Wach
Born and raised in San Francisco, Bonnie Wach (appropriately pronounced "Walk") is an authoritative and clever San Francisco tour guide. Her 20 walking tours work for San Francisco visitors and locals with company alike, have the right balance of outdoor and indoor adventures, and are all told in a charming and humorous voice that even makes a good read for armchair vacationers.
Betty and Pansy's Severe Queer Review of San Francisco: An Irreverent, Opinionated Guide to the Bars, Clubs, Restaurants, Cruising Areas...
By Betty Pearl
A Queer classic, Betty Pearl's "Review" of San Francisco's gay and lesbian bars, clubs, restaurants and neighborhoods is informationally indispensible and captures the mood of the gayer side of the City by the Bay.
Romantic San Francisco: A Guide to the Most Romantic Clubs, Restaurants, Bars and Hotels in San Francisco
Or how to woo your lover in San Francisco via the insights of two sophisticated New Yorkers. Together, William King's essays and Jimmy Hanks mood-making black & white photos tour the most popular and most romantic clubs, restaurants, bars and hotels in San Francisco.
San Francisco Bizarro: A Guide to Notorious Sights, Lusty Pursuits, and Downright Freakiness in the City by the Bay
By Jack Boulware
The index of this strange but insightful San Francisco guide is choc full of ironic travel tid bits and tips for touring San Francisco's underbelly. Highlights include Black Panther Legacy Tours, an overview of California's anti-cuisine and the site of Billie Holiday's opium bust.
Bay Area Backroads
By Doug McConnell
The hospitable host of San Francisco's local TV show, "Bay Area Backroads," has mountaineered through Northern California's ranges and valleys looking for compelling and rare-gem day trips and weekend getaways to bring to his posse of fans. This paperback edition of the show takes his top 50 Bay Area escapes and binds them in one handy guide to the great outdoors.
Cruising Guide to the San Francisco Bay
By Caroline and Bob Mehaffy
The Golden Gate Bridge spans a relatively narrow opening to the massive San Franciscos Bay, filled with islands, sleepy ports and urban destinations. From the cooler city front to the often sunny Angel Island, the Mehaffys have put together a guide to the best ports of call in the San Francisco Bay.
Walking San Francisco
By Liz Gans and Rick Newby
Just 7 miles by 7 miles, one could walk across the whole of San Francisco, the magical seaside city famous for its urbanity, its bayside setting, and its charming and distinctive neighborhoods, checking out breathtaking vistas from a few of San Francisco's 42 hills in under a day. This walking guide lays out key starting points and background information on the myriad of urban nooks and green parks in San Francisco.
Stairway Walks in San Francisco
By Adah Bakalinsky
Stairway-enthusiast Adak Balakinksy treats San Francisco like an urban wilderness. The 29 "trails" she offers are hidden and uncrowded staircases that wind through the hilly San Francisco and rise up to offer private vistas of both the City and the Bay.
Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to San Francisco and the Bay Area: Including San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley and Palo Alto (2001)
By Michael Bower
Like a yellow pages for people anticipating a move to San Francisco, Bower's Newcomer's Handbook includes handy numbers and internet addresses for San Francisco banks, rental agencies, transportation, movers and schools as well as describing the personality San Francisco's many neighborhoods and.parks Sections on other Bay Area cities are worthy guides as well.
The Zuni Café Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers
Chef-owner of San Francisco's Zuni Café has produced an instant classic with The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, which includes recipes from the San Francisco café's Mediterranean repertiore, beloved by locals and remembered by visitors. The famous Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad alone makes this a worthy San Francisco cookbook.
Bernard Maybeck
By Sally Byrne Woodbridge and Richard Barnes
A well-written and researched biography California's prodigal architect, Bernard Maybeck, known best for his other-worldy Palace of Fine Art in San Francisco. With color photographs of Maybeck's work, original sketches and the story behind the building of San Francisco's landmark Palace of Fine Arts.
Tiki Road Trip: A Guide to Tiki Culture in North America
By James Teitelbaum
This book is dedicated to the faded but not forgotten cult of Tiki kitsch and follows the fad that began with an American fascination with the exotic and culminated in a drinking and dining experience known as "Polynesian Pop," complete with its own soundtrack and pop aesthetic. In this guide to the remaining U.S. and international tributes to Tiki, Teitelbaum unearths the source of the Tiki craze and preserves pop culture history by listing and rating the diaspora of Tiki bars, restaurants and sites, providing a glossary of Tiki terms and a list of classic drink recipes. (Review by Shannon Ryan)
James Dean Died Here: The Location of America's Pop Culture Landmarks
By Chris Epting
Prepare to turn a road trip into a journey across the pop culture landscape and finally locate the exact place of events that made it into local newspapers as well as long-term cultural memory. From the already familiar yet suspicious Area 51 to the exact corner where one Hugh Grant propositioned a Hollywood hooker, this unusual United States cultural guide is filled with little known facts and obscure sights, offering an itinerary a map of America's pop culture hot spots. (Review by Shannon Ryan)
