Walking San Francisco: 30 savvy tours exploring the CityAEs distinctive enclaves, colorful history, and back alley intrigues [Paperback]

Tom Downs (Author)

Book Description

Series: Walking | Publication Date: June 13, 2007

In Walking San Francisco, Tom Downs has created an exceptional guide to exploring the best of the City “on the ground,” from North Beach to Lands End, Bernal Heights to Golden Gate Park. Take one of these specially designed walking tours, and you’ll not only get great exercise but also soak up the history, culture, and vibe of the City by the Bay. It’s like having a savvy tour guide at your side, showing you where to find great mojitos, and pointing out a rare worker-owned strip joint. Two special tours sample the best bars in North Beach and the Mission District. Locals and visitors alike will appreciate insider tips and entertaining asides in the 30 walking trips. Each tour contains a clear neighborhood map and critical public transportation and parking information. Route summaries make each walk easy to follow, and a “Points of Interest” section outlines each walk’s highlights.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Travel guru Tom Downs offers a splendid...guide..." -- Inside Bay Area, December 2007

About the Author

Tom Downs grew up in the suburbs south of San Francisco and always felt the pull of the big city. From a very early age, skyscrapers, big-league baseball, Italian restaurants, darkly lit saloons, grand parks, museums, cramped little taquerías, the whistles of hotel doormen, the bells of trolleys, the smell of fish, the babble of languages, and the constant hush and hum of traffic and people held our author in thrall. As an adult, Tom divided a decade between Los Angeles and New York before finally moving to San Francisco. Researching this book gave him the excuse to dissect the city in a methodical manner. Tom has authored guidebooks to such far-flung lands as New Orleans; the Mississippi Delta; the west of Ireland; Hanoi, Vietnam; and also our beloved San Francisco. He lived in the Mission District and in Chinatown before migrating to Oakland with his wife and kids, who are all card sharks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Wilderness Press; 1 edition (June 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899974198
• ISBN-13: 978-0899974194
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thirty Options to Make the Most of Walking in San Francisco, August 19, 2007

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking San Francisco: 30 savvy tours exploring the CityAEs distinctive enclaves, colorful history, and back alley intrigues (Paperback)

Being a pedestrian in San Francisco can be adventurous enough given the wild-eyed drivers here. However, if you are not worried about making appointments, getting to work or simply too exhausted to look beyond your feet when you trudge home, this compact, well-organized book is a good reminder of what this city does offer for local and tourist alike. Bay Area travel writer and Lonely Planet contributor Tom Downs traces thirty walking routes that range from the familiar to the surprising spotlighting the key sights to be seen along the way. Like a true hiking guide, he gives the distance and difficulty level, the latter of which can be wildly variable thanks to the hills and valleys indicative of our cityscape.

For each do-it-yourself tour, Downs provides helpful public transportation information and a sense of the parking challenge, perhaps the most common logistical dilemma when starting and ending these walks. His concise descriptions of the unique sights are bulleted in helpful fashion. The areas covered are what you'd expect in a guidebook - stretching from a strenuous coastline hike from Land's End to the Golden Gate Bridge to an easy stroll along the refurbished Embarcadero Walkway. There are hidden gems to be discovered in neighborhoods as diverse as Bernal Heights, Westside Cordillera and the Presidio. Along with periodic sections to describe worthwhile detours and interesting back stories, there are also appendices that organize the information by walking themes and points of interest.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start Walkin SF, July 15, 2007

By 

Atapo Umakuri (Vallejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walking San Francisco: 30 savvy tours exploring the CityAEs distinctive enclaves, colorful history, and back alley intrigues (Paperback)

I live in the Bay Area and normally wouldn't buy a book like this, but with guests coming from out of town I gave it a shot. I started reading it and was pleasantly surprised. Well-written and entertaining beyond what I'd expect from a travel guide. Once I started walking the tours I discovered neighborhoods, parks, museums, bars, restaurants and unusual landmarks that I never knew existed. Easy to follow instructions, clear simple maps, and interesting trivia make this book a great companion. Highly recommended!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a great collection for any walker who would see the City by foot., March 5, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walking San Francisco: 30 savvy tours exploring the CityAEs distinctive enclaves, colorful history, and back alley intrigues (Paperback)

Any California collection specializing in San Francisco explorations will relish WALKING SAN FRANCISCO: 30 SAVVY TOURS EXPLORING STEEP STREETS, GRAND HOTELS, DIVE BARS, AND WATERFRONT PARKS. There have been other books on San Francisco's walking opportunities, but this comes from an insider who offers a blend of history, gossip, architectural and cultural insights and includes pubs and bars for added interest. It's a great collection for any walker who would see the City by foot.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch