Grand History Tour of San Francisco
This is the walking tour and history lover's dream tour. It is all the stories on the regular tour – 'San Francisco' – expanded to cover Union Square and parts of Chinatown not on the San Francisco tour.

Length	3 hours	Regular	$
Departs	The clock in the lobby of the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square on Powell Street at Geary Boulevard.	Internet	$
Distance: 2.2 miles, 3.6 km, 17 blocks Concludes: Near Columbus and Broadway in North Beach Parking: Union Square garage; entrance on Geary Street, between Stockton and Powell. Public Transit: 2 Clement Transit 3 Jackson - 4 Sutter - 15 Kearny 30 Stockton - 45 Union Powell Street cable cars 3 blocks north of the Montgomery Street BART station		Save	$
		Child	$

Starting at the historic St. Francis Hotel, we explore elegant Union Square, Maiden Lane, exotic Chinatown, our birthplace at Portsmouth Square, the Jackson Square Historic District (the wicked 19th Century Barbary Coast), concluding in North Beach of the Italians, fishermen and Beat Generation that changed America in the 1950s

We'll hear all these stories of the San Francisco tour and more:
The origins of the district at the beginnings of San Francisco
The Dewey Monument, the Spanish American War, and the figure "Victory"
Union Square architectural changes over time
Remembrances of elegant shops gone by
The building of the great bridges
Beginnings, successes (and failure) of the architectural preservation movement
Morton Street "cribs" of the Barbary Coast
A major Frank Lloyd Wright building and it's connection to a major New York City art museum
The origins of the photographic entrance of Chinatown
Japanese Americans and African Americans in World War
San Francisco's first Catholic archdiocese built in 1852.
Much, much more.

San Francisco Walking Tour
Your storyteller/guide weaves a historical narrative of Spanish exploration, Mexican independence, American conquest; discoveries of gold and silver; railroads and a century of maritime dominance on the Barbary Coast; fires and earthquakes; wars, technology, social and political revolution into an entertaining blend of stories and legends, both real and myth.

Length	2 hours	Regular	$
Departs	The tour starts at the flagpole on the upper half of Portsmouth Square (facing elevators to parking garage) nearest the Washington Street and Walter Lum Place entrance.	Internet	$
Distance: 1.5 miles, 2.4 km, 11 blocks Concludes: Portsmouth Square Parking: Portsmouth Square garage; entrance on Kearny Street between Clay and Sacramento. Public Transit: 1 California Transit 15 Kearny - 30 Stockton		Save	$
		Child	$

These are the exciting and humorous tales of the larger-than-life characters and fascinating events that not only created the San Francisco of today, but profoundly affected American history. Starting and concluding at Portsmouth Square (the City's birthplace), we explore the Jackson Square Historic District (the wicked 19th Century Barbary Coast), North Beach of the Italians, fishermen and Beat Generation, and exotic Chinatown

We'll hear all these stories and more on our tour:
Story of the first cable car
The true story behind the greatest myth in San Francisco
The San Franciscan whose name was selected for the title character of one of America's greatest novels
The theater that premiered one of the beat generation's greatest plays
Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope studio
A bookstore that planted the seeds of two decades of cultural revolution
Location of San Francisco's first street and home
Narrow alleys of tongs, cribs, cowyards, opium dens in Chinatown
Much, much more

Chinatown Walking Tours
Some Chinese came for the Gold Rush, some for a better life as merchants, building a business, raising a family. They endured a century of violent discrimination and worked hard to build a community and the railroads of the American West, including the Central Pacific, the Western half of the Transcontinental Railroad, the greatest engineering feat of the 19th Century.

Length	1 hour	Regular	$
Departs	The tour starts at the flagpole on the upper half of Portsmouth Square (facing elevators to parking garage) nearest the Washington Street and Walter Lum Place entrance.	Internet	$
Distance: 1.5 miles, 2.4 km, 10 blocks Concludes: Portsmouth Square Parking: Portsmouth Square garage; entrance on Kearny Street between Clay and Sacramento. Public Transit: 1 California Transit 15 Kearny - 30 Stockton - Powell Street cable cars		Save	$
		Child	$

They created organizations that held the community together and fought all the way to the Supreme Court for their rights as citizens and maintained the Chinese culture of food, music, and art. They cleverly created an architectural style unique to America that overcame attempts to force them out of 12 square blocks of San Francisco that we today call Chinatown.

They survived a neighborhood of hoodlums, hatchetmen, brothels, slavery, poverty and crowding and converted it into the heart of the Chinese Diaspora in America, the cultural link to their ancestral homeland of China.

We'll hear all these stories and more on our tour:
Christian churches that played a major role in Chinatown
Shops with authentic Chinese goods
The origin of kites
Exotic musical instruments from around the world
The oldest Buddhist temple in America
Hideouts of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, leader of the Chinese Revolution of 1911
Chinese fortune cookie factory
Origins of the Chinese laundry
Chinatown's exotic shopping district
Alleys of opium dens and slave girls

Barbary Coast Walking Tours
Please note that we are in the process of finalizing this tour for you enjoyment. We will be offering the tour by March 1, 2004.

Length	1 hour	Regular	$
Departs	The tour starts at the Transamerica Pyramid, corner of Clay and Montgomery.	Internet	$
Distance: TBD Parking: Portsmouth Square garage; entrance on Kearny Street between Clay and Sacramento. Public Transit: 1 California Transit 15 Kearny - 30 Stockton - Powell Street cable cars - 45 Union		Save	$
		Child	$

For 100 years, it was the greatest port on the Pacific Coast; the haunt of the low and vile -prostitutes, conmen, gamblers, thieves, murders, crimps and runners; the birthplace of shanghaiing, mickey finns, billy clubs, and hoodlums; jazz clubs, dance halls and bawdy houses; and the wackiest personalities ­ including America's only "Emperor."

They survived a neighborhood of hoodlums, hatchetmen, brothels, slavery, poverty and crowding and converted it into the heart of the Chinese Diaspora in America, the cultural link to their ancestral homeland of China.

We'll hear all these stories and more on our tour:
A great natural harbor for the great sailing ships of the 19th century, now the 20th Century Financial District
Burial place of hundreds of gold rush ships
Melvin Belli, the King of Torts and flamboyant barrister, and Welldone Rumproast
Offices of the Golden Era Literary Magazine, where Mark Twain and Bret Harte wrote
The story of America's only Emperor and mascots Bummer and Lazarus
"Terrific Street" of bawdy houses and the International Settlement
Deadman's Alley and Murderer's Lane
The Old Ship Saloon, Shanghaii Kelly's and Mrs. Piggot's Place

Union Square Walking Tours
It has been so many things: a pile of sand on which a preacher changed the course of American history and a baseball term was coined; a wealthy residential area with Barbary Coast haunts in its shadow; a grand theater and nightclub district, a focal point of the 1906 earthquake and the rebirth of the city with nationally renowned architecture; and San Francisco's elegant shopping, theater and hotel district for more than a century.

Length	1 hour	Regular	$
Departs	We meet at the Dewey Monument in Union Square and explore Maiden Lane, Grant Avenue, Post Street, Mason Street, Geary Building, the St. Francis Hotel and return to Union Square	Internet	$
Distance: 1.2 miles, 1.9 km, 8 blocks Concludes: Union Square Parking: Union Square garage; entrance on Geary Street, between Stockton and Powell. Public Transit: 2 Clement Transit: 3 Jackson - 4 Sutter - 15 Kearny 30 Stockton - 45 Union Powell Street cable cars 3 blocks north of the Montgomery Street BART station		Save	$
		Child	$

We'll hear all these stories and more on our tour:
The origins of the district at the beginnings of San Francisco
The Dewey Monument, the Spanish American War, and the figure "Victory"
The history of the St. Francis Hotel, it's guests and major events
Union Square architectural changes over time
Remembrances of elegant shops gone by
Beginnings, successes (and failure) of the architectural preservation movement
Morton Street "cribs" of the Barbary Coast
A major Frank Lloyd Wright building and it's connection to a major New York City art museum
Locations in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo"
Great 19th Century social clubs
Much, much more

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San Francisco walking tours are ideal for:

•An individual, family, or group looking for great walking tours to show you San Francisco and to help you make the most of your time in the city;

• A San Francisco Bay Area resident looking to learn why you love this city;

• A convention or meeting planner looking for an introduction to all that San Francisco offers in:
- A luncheon presentation,
- Breakout session,
- Spousal event, or
- Step-on guide for bus or van tours

• A business looking to reward your employees with a few hours of fun away from the office, while learning about the City in which the employees live and work; and

• Civic or senior organizations looking to add something unique to an existing program, or to benefit from group rates for educational and entertainment events.
Schools looking for a great, fun field trip to inspire in the kids a desire to learn more about history, community, and the contributions of peoples from all over the world to building America.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION We are advocates of public transportation. The following buses and transit come within a block of the St. Francis and Union Square:

2 Clement | 3 Jackson
4 Sutter | 30 Stockton
38 Geary | 45 Union

PARKING – If you MUST drive, to the St. Francis, the best place to park is in the Union Square Parking Garage, under the Square. It is the cheapest and closest parking available.

We are committed to providing the most comprehensive and accurate tours, talks and presentations on San Francisco history and the City of today. We have spent many hours looking beyond the conventional wisdom, the urban legends and myths. History is not easy. History is written from many different perspectives, and we try our best to weave those complexities in our tours and talks in a way that is easy to understand.