Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bunker Rd, which leads to the headlands through a one-way tunnel. It's also a snap to
reach these roads from the bridge via bicycle.
buses 2, 4 and 92 service Sausalito ($4.75) and the eastern Headlands. On Saturday,
San Francisco's Financial District to the Marin Headlands Visitors Center and Rodeo
Beach. Both lines are equipped with bicycle racks.
Sausalito
Perfectly arranged on a secure little harbor on the bay, Sausalito is undeniably lovely.
Named for the tiny willows that once populated the banks of its creeks, it's a small settle-
ment of pretty houses that tumble neatly down a green hillside into a well-heeled down-
town. Much of the town affords the visitor uninterrupted views of San Francisco and An-
gel Island, and due to the ridgeline at its back, fog generally skips past it.
Sausalito began as a 19,000-acre land grant to an army captain in 1838. When it became
the terminus of the train line down the Pacific Coast, it entered a new stage as a busy lum-
ber port with a racy waterfront. Dramatic changes came in WWII when Sausalito became
the site of Marinship, a huge shipbuilding yard. After the war a new bohemian period
began, with a resident artists' colony living in 'arks' (houseboats moored along the bay).
Hundreds of these floating abodes remain.
Sausalito today is a major tourist haven, jam-packed with souvenir shops and costly
boutiques. It's the first town you encounter after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge from
San Francisco, so daytime crowds turn up in droves and make parking difficult. Ferrying
over from San Francisco makes a more relaxing excursion.
Sights
Sausalito is actually on Richardson Bay, a smaller bay within San Francisco Bay. The
commercial district is mainly one street, Bridgeway Blvd, on the waterfront.
Sausalito Houseboats
ARCHITECTURE
