Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the 1
Powell St Cable Car Turnaround
, you'll see operators turn the car atop a
revolving wooden platform and a vintage kiosk where you can buy an all-day Muni
Passport for $14, instead of paying $6 per ride. Board the red-signed Powell-Hyde
cable car, and begin your 338ft ascent up Nob Hill.
As your cable car lurches uphill, you can imagine horses struggling up this slippery
crag. Nineteenth-century city planners were skeptical of inventor Andrew Hallidie's
'wire-rope railway' - but after more than a century of near-continuous operation, his
wire-and-hemp cables have seldom broken. Hallidie's cable cars even survived the
1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed 'Snob Hill' mansions, returning the faithful to
rebuilt 2
Grace Cathedral
- hop off to say hello to SF's gentle patron St Francis by
sculptor Beniamino Bufano.
Back on the Powell-Hyde car, enjoy Bay views as you careen past crooked, flower-
lined 3
Lombard Street
toward 4
Fisherman's Wharf
.
The waterfront terminus is
named for Friedel Klussman, who saved cable cars from mayoral modernization
plans in 1947. She did the math: cable cars brought in more tourism dollars than they
cost in upkeep. The mayor demanded a vote - and lost to 'the Cable Car Lady' by a
landslide. For her funeral in 1986, cable cars citywide were draped in black.
At the wharf you can see SF as sailors did as they emerged from the submarine 5
USS Pampanito
. Witness Western saloon brawls in vintage arcade games at the 6
Musée Mécanique
before hitching the Powell-Mason cable car to North Beach.
Hop off to see Diego Rivera's 1934 cityscape at the 7
San Francisco Art institute
,
or follow your rumbling stomach directly to 8
Liguria Bakery
.
Stroll through North
Beach and Chinatown alleyways, or take the Powell-Mason line to time-travel
through the 9
Chinese Historical Society of America
. Nearby, catch a ride on the
city's oldest line: the California St cable car. The terminus is near the 10
Ferry Build-
ing
, where champagne-and-oyster happy hour awaits.
