San Francisco is a lovely place. The whole city is like a popular theme park. “49-Mile Scenic Drive” is the best method to enjoy all the good places in this city. This driving course is very enjoyable for anyone with a driver’s license. The good thing about San Francisco 49-Mile Scenic Drive is that one can start from anywhere in the city. A visitor finds the billboards with seagulls and begins to follow them. Also, if you are out of time and want to stop following the Scenic Drive sign, you can stop at any time. The official starting point is, however, the front of San Francisco City Hall. 49-Miles Drive ends by returning to the starting point.

The starting point area of ​​49-Miles Drive is the cultural center of San Francisco. On the east side of the City Hall, is the Center for Asian Culture, where various Asian Cultural Exhibitions and Theater Art Performances are held. Last year they were showing traditional Japanese Kabuki. In the museum, there is a permanently affixed Chinese Arts Exhibition. It also shows the history of Asian Americans. City Hall conducts wedding ceremony. There are couples who get married at City Hall and take photos in front of the park every weekend.

Now let’s follow the “49-Mile Scenic Drive” sign with the seagull illustration to drive to Japan Town as the next area of ​​interest. The San Francisco city area is full of one-way roads just like any other. Geary Street in the city center runs west. Turn left into Geary Street and drive for several minutes, following 49-Mile Drive will start to see the main buildings of Japan Town, namely Kinokuniya Building, Miyako-mall, Kabuki Theater Buildings. You will first see on your right from Geary Street the Japanese-style pagoda with 5-layer roofs.

The Japanese-Americans who lived here were taken to camps in World War II and most of them did not return. Now not so many Japanese-American families live here. This place is for historical monument, Japanese restaurant and souvenir shops. For Japanese and Japanese-Americans, this area remains a convenient place to eat sushi and buy Japanese books. There are several historical monuments in this area. 2 Chinese and Japanese characters engraved on the wall of the Pagoda square show all the hope of love and peace of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans. There are some shops and groups that provide training in Japanese dance, language, origami, drama, or music. From time to time, these groups have a booth in the buildings in Japan Town and serve tea and talk to people who visit here. They are extremely friendly. It is an excellent place to listen to English with a Japanese accent explaining Japanese traditions and stories.

Let’s leave Japan Town, turning right into Post Street. 49-Mile Scenic Drive now takes the fan to one of the most famous and popular places for visitors. That’s Union Square. Union Square is a commercial center for visitors and residents. There’s Macy’s on South of Square, Neiman Marcus on the southwest corner, and Bloomingdale’s on Market Street. In addition, there are stores like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Gucci. There are world class hotels nearby. They include Westin St. Francis, Grand Hyatt, Clift Hotel, Villa Florence, Marriott, etc.

Union Square’s history is deeply tied to the Civil War. The name of this park is “Union Square” because campaigns for the Union Army were held here, and people noted that this square was a movement supporting the Union Army. In 1903, the plaza built the Victory Statue commemorating Admiral George Dewey’s victory in the Battle of Manila Bay. This Victory monument, “Victoria”, was modeled after a local heiress, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels. Union Square is precisely the “heart” of San Francisco. Every weekend, there are some ceremonies and events that include art exhibitions. This square is famous for the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations sponsored by Macy’s. Please visit here again when Christmas comes around.

Around the corner from Union Square, the 49-Mile Scenic Drive takes the visitor to China Town. China Town in San Francisco is one of the largest in the world in size and population. The Chinese living in China Town, San Francisco are predominantly Cantonese. Despite Japan Town, China Town smells of life. Visitors can hear a baby crying, upstairs from souvenir shops, or fighting voices, yelling loudly, on the second floor of a restaurant. China Town makes you feel more energetic than Japan Town.

In addition to tourists, there are always Chinese who sell and buy meat, vegetables, fruits, or everyday items. A visitor can feel the power of the Chinese spreading across the world and building their own cities. Whichever city in the world one visits, one will find Chinese restaurants. There are always Chinese living there.

Departing from China Town, the route takes the follower up the hill and leads to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. There was history when a broadcast was made from the top of this hill. Coit Tower was built as city planning, adding another attractive architect to the city. Mural on the Tower is something a visitor must see. The mural, which partly shows European life, shows the life of the Native Americans. Coit Tower is not on the official 49-mile route. This place, however, is a popular place that has an aerial view of the city. The problems are the traffic jam on the way to the top and the difficulty to park.

The route takes the follower to Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. The slope here was too steep to build a straight path and it made a crooked path like this. The path next to Lombard is so steep that it looks like a cliff when one tries to go down. The visitor can make his passenger scream in fear.

The route now takes Leavenworth Street to the north. When the follower reaches the top of the hill, he begins to see San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz Island. Fisherman’s Wharf is near here. This place is always full of tourists. Whenever visitors come to this place, they can always find something interesting, fun and new. Visitors are not allowed to visit this place without bringing a camera.

Continue west past Fisherman’s Wharf, the tracker will pass Fort Mason and arrive at the entrance to the Presidio. Fort Mason is the city in the park, while the Beijing Olympic Torch Runner was running, instead of the scheduled and advertised road, due to the protest movement. Presidio Park is historically a Naval Base, just like the movie. Presideo Park is a forest with old but elegant looking houses. The other reason visitors like this area of ​​Fort Mason and Presidio Park is the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There is the pedestrian and bicycle entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge in the north center of Presideo Park.

The follower will see buildings in the Greek or Roman style at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the Marina district. Visitors will find here a hands-on style science museum called the “Exploratorium”. Inside the museum, there are science projects that visitors can try out for themselves and see what happens, how it happens, and why. This is an excellent place for children.

The driving route eventually leads the follower to the beach of the Pacific Ocean. On the beach, there are families to play kite, walk the dog, run with small children. The visitor can take a lunch break at “Cliff House”. This “Cliff House” was the guest house of the US President and other famous VIPs. The original Cliff House burned down twice, and is now a restaurant and souvenir shop.

The path now leads the follower to the southern part of the city. The visitor drives along the ocean side “Great America Parkway”, enjoying the view of the Pacific Ocean on their right. Passing the San Francisco Zoo on your left, you drive to Lake Merced. You might be surprised to learn that San Francisco has plenty of places to relax. This lake has fun boating, fishing and rifle shooting. You can just relax your eyes like local people do.

After driving to the south side of Lake Merced, Scenic Drive now turns north onto Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard runs north-south and is one of the main thoroughfares in West San Francisco. In the South Part of the Boulevard, is the UC San Francisco campus. San Francisco – Bay Area residents are undoubtedly very education-oriented and are surrounded by famous universities like Stanford, Barkley, UCSF, UCSJ, and UC East Bay.

The path now leads the follower back to the northern part of the city. Taking Sunset Boulevard North, the visitor will return to the northern part of San Francisco. Sunset Boulevard will cross Lincoln and enter Golden Gate Park. This park may be similar to Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London. The park is full of green trees and beautiful flowers. Golden Gate Park is the favorite recreation and relaxation area for residents. There are museums, Japanese garden, open air theater. People can enjoy the events here. On the weekend, a visitor will be able to meet people jogging or biking. Driving in the park surrounded by green makes the driver feel happy. You can feel better by freeing yourself from the fears, anxieties or anger of everyday life.

After leaving the east gate of Golden Gate Park, the path heads south again. Driving uphill, the unit follower will reach the residential area at the top of the hill. This is Twin Peaks. One can stop the car at the top of the hill and enjoy the view of downtown San Francisco. Driving southeast of the city along Castro Street, take Interstate 280, the road will take you to the Business District and finally to your starting point, the San Francisco Civic Center.