Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5
A thoroughly charming pedestrian way tucked onto the southeast side of Russian Hill, paved with brick and cobblestone and lined with gardens and Victorian houses that have been home to many writers—indeed, Macondray was recast as Barbary Lane in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.
Macondray Lane is a small pedestrian lane on the southeastern side of Russian Hill in San Francisco, California. It forms a wooded enclave that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as the Russian Hill–Macondray Lane District.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
At a 31.5% grade, this is one of the very steepest streets in the entire Western Hemisphere. Like many of the steeper streets in the city, it has steps along the sidewalk and its own special set of parking rules, so that people and cars don't all come tumbling down!
Do see the "crookedest street in the world", a one-block portion of Lombard Street that contains eight hairpin turns, created to reduce the hill's natural steep slope. The best time to see and photograph the winding street from the bottom (from Leavenworth St) is in the morning because Lombard Street runs east-west and slopes eastward. The best time to see and photograph the view from the top (from Hyde St) is in the afternoon. At night there are great views of Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower. The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill frequently fly over head in the morning.
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Small park and recreation center that has some interesting public art like the Five Carved Stones by Marcia Donahue and Tectonic Melange by Lampo Leong. Its name translates to "Garden of Peace and Joy".
Here you can see the mechanisms that drive San Francisco's famed cable cars, as well as plenty of cable car memorabilia and information on the history of the cable cars.
This block contains twelve spectacular mansions in a variety of styles. It is very close to the crooked section of Lombard Street and is worth the minor detour on the way.
These five blocks form the heart of the Russian Hill neighborhood district. There are over 20 restaurants, 10 bars and cafes, and 20 shops. Dinner at many of the restaurants typically require reservations.