Vertigo. Alfred Hitchcock, in the title of his famous movie, formulated the main sensation that grips a person in San Francisco. An experienced guide will tell you that the city is built on forty-two hills (a far cry from the capitals of the Old World) and that Lombard Street is recognized as the most winding street in the world. An ordinary ride on the local aerial tramway becomes an attraction that brings the term "roller coaster" to mind. On a tour of San Francisco and its environs, the vertigo continues from the height of the hills, the beauty of the bay views, and the hustle and bustle of city life.
As the years of rapid development and population influx have been replaced by epidemics of plague and cholera, and as incredible construction projects have come to fruition after devastating earthquakes, the topography that has saved San Francisco from many ups and downs is transferred into history. Tours allow you to see the city from the inside, through the eyes of people who have lived there for a significant part of their lives. The city of millionaires and fashionable hotels on Snob Hill and the capital of beatniks and hippies, which began with the mission of pious Franciscans and grew thanks to thousands of thirsty immigrants from the Gold Rush era – San Francisco tours show it from completely different angles, because every area here has its own face.
Even for those who are not visiting San Francisco for the first time, the author's itineraries will open up a whole new side of the city, taking you to the movie locations, secret beaches and iconic sites that the guide will show you. San Francisco never lets you catch your breath and never tires of making your head spin; it's not for nothing that William Saroyan wrote about it: «If you're alive, San Francisco never lets you get bored. If you're dead, San Francisco will bring you back to life».