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Photo: Original uploader was Arnaudh at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
Telegraph Hill earned its name in the days of the Gold Rush when it was used as a signaling post to relay messages about incoming ships to the bay. Coit Tower was erected at its peak in 1933 and rewards a weary traveler with some wonderful views over the city. Over time a quiet residential neighborhood built up along the hillside, and their magnificent flowing gardens have always been something to admire on your way up or down. Other neighbors include a colony of colorful feral parrots, predominantly red-masked parakeets, which grew up as descendants of escaped domesticated pets. One can drive to the top, but it's better to take one of the narrow steps leading up and down the sides of the hill (including the Greenwich and Filbert Steps), as they offer better views over the Bay.
Telegraph Hill is a hill and surrounding neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills". The iconic Coit Tower stands at the apex of Telegraph Hill.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Visible from much of San Francisco and the Bay Area, Coit Tower stands atop Telegraph Hill and gives an excellent view of the bay and the rest of the city. The tower was built by the Federal Works Projects Administration in 1933 with money bequeathed by eccentric San Franciscan Lillie Coit. Coit was said to have chased after firefighters as a young girl, and as an older woman sponsored her favorite fire company. A fan of the volunteer city firefighters, and local legend has it that the shape of the tower is supposed to simulate the end of a fire hose — although the architects denied this claim. The first and second floors house beautiful examples of New Deal-era idealist murals, and the top floor (reached by elevator) has featured paintings or other art. Artists put in their own signatures and messages in the murals, which interpretive plaques point out.
This park sits atop Telegraph Hill and surrounds the base of Coit Tower. It has some excellent 360 degree vistas around the city and there are some coin operated binoculars to help you enjoy the view.
The Filbert Steps are the part of Filbert Street that runs between Battery Street and Telegraph Hill Boulevard in North Beach. The steps end next to Coit Tower, and offer a scenic — though somewhat strenuous — route for visitors of the tower. In fact, following the steps is at times faster than driving to Coit Tower due to the high demand for relatively few parking spots near the site. Visitors of the steps will see public gardens, stylish homes and views of North Beach and the bay; if a path is not gated or specifically signed with "No Trespassing," then it is most likely public. Also, it pays to be adventurous: some of the best gardens and views are off the stairs. Finally, there is more than one way up and down; if you make a round trip you should find a new route for the return leg. Just avoid private property.
See the monument erected in honor of this humanitarian and pioneer settler of Yerba Buena (now North Beach).
Located in front of the Levi Strauss headquarters, this immaculately kept little park is perhaps the perfect spot for a picnic... especially if you're exhausted after climbing over Telegraph Hill! It has a soothing fountain as its centerpiece. Having said that, ever present security guards at the park can bring you down from your mellow moments here... just don't dip your feet in the water!
A white statuesque, neo-Gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral situated directly in front of Washington Square. After Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe wed at City Hall in 1954, they were famously photographed afterwards at this church.