Cable Car Museum
If you've ever wondered how cable cars work, this nifty museum explains (and demonstrates) it all. Yes, this is a museum, but the Cable Car Museum is no stuffed shirt. It's the living powerhouse, repair shop, and storage place of the cable car system and is in full operation. Built for the Ferries and Cliff House Railway in 1887, the building underwent an $18-million reconstruction to restore its original gaslight-era look, install an amazing spectators' gallery, and add a museum of San Francisco transit history.The exposed machinery, which pulls the cables under San Francisco's streets, looks like a Rube Goldberg invention. Stand in the mezzanine gallery and become mesmerized by the massive groaning and vibrating winches as they thread the cable that hauls the cars through a huge figure-eight and back into the system using slack-absorbing tension wheels. For a better view, move to the lower-level viewing room, where you can see the massive pulleys and gears operating underground.Also on display here is one of the first grip cars developed by Andrew S. Hallidie, operated for the first time on Clay Street on August 2, 1873. Other displays include an antique grip car and trailer that operated on Pacific Avenue until 1929, and dozens of exact-scale models of cars used on the various city lines. There's also a shop where you can buy a variety of cable car gifts. You can see the whole museum in about 45 minutes.

Alcatraz Island
Visible from Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz Island (aka "The Rock") has seen a checkered history. Juan Manuel Ayala was the first European to discover it in 1775 and named it after the many pelicans that nested on the island. From the 1850s to 1933, when the army vacated the island, it served as a military post, protecting the bay's shoreline. In 1934, the government converted the buildings of the military outpost into a maximum-security prison. Given the sheer cliffs, treacherous tides and currents, and frigid water temperatures, it was believed to be a totally escape-proof prison. Among the famous gangsters who occupied cell blocks A through D were Al Capone, Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz (because he was an expert in ornithological diseases), Machine Gun Kelly, and Alvin Karpis. It cost a fortune to keep them imprisoned here because all supplies, including water, had to be shipped in. In 1963, after an apparent escape in which no bodies were recovered, the government closed the prison. In 1969, a group of Native Americans chartered a boat to the island to symbolically reclaim the island for the Indian people. They occupied the island until 1971, the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to this day, when they were forcibly removed by the U.S. government (see www.nps.gov/alcatraz/indian.html for more information on the Native American occupation of Alcatraz). The next year the island became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The wildlife that was driven away during the military and prison years has begun to return -- the black-crested night heron and other seabirds are nesting here again -- and a new trail passes through the island's nature areas. Tours, including an audio tour of the prison block and a slide show, are given by the park's rangers, who entertain guests with interesting anecdotes.Allow about 2 1/2 hours for the round-trip boat ride and the tour. Wear comfortable shoes (the National Park Service notes that there are a lot of hills to climb on the tour) and take a heavy sweater or windbreaker, because even when the sun's out, it's cold out there. The excursion is popular and space is limited, so purchase tickets as far in advance as possible. Blue & Gold Fleet (tel. 415/705-5555; www.blueandgoldfleet.com) operates the tour; they accept American Express, MasterCard, and Visa, and there's a $2.25-per-ticket service charge for phone orders. You can also buy tickets in advance from the Blue & Gold ticket office on Pier 41 or online at www.telesales.com. Alcatraz night tours are also available and are a more intimate and wonderfully spooky experience. Check the Blue & Gold Fleet website for updated prices and departure times.For those who want to get a closer look at Alcatraz without going ashore, two boat-tour operators offer short circumnavigations of the island.

Coit Tower
In a city known for its great views and vantage points, Coit Tower is one of the best. Located atop Telegraph Hill, just east of North Beach, the round, stone tower offers panoramic views of the city and the bay.Completed in 1933, the tower is the legacy of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy eccentric who left San Francisco a $125,000 bequest "for the purpose of adding beauty to the city I have always loved" and as a memorial to its volunteer firemen. She had been saved from a fire as a child and held the city's firefighters in particularly high esteem.Inside the base of the tower are impressive murals titled Life in California and 1934, which were completed under the WPA during the New Deal. They are the work of more than 25 artists, many of whom had studied under Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.The only bummer: The narrow street leading to the tower is often clogged with tourist traffic. If you can, find a parking spot in North Beach and hoof it.

Castle Inn
From major attractions to fine dining, world-class shops to coffee shops, at Castle Inn you are at the center of it all! In a cheerful and safe location, we are within walking distance to Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Crookedest Street, North Beach, Cable Cars, and many local shops and excellent restaurant. Also, with public transportation close by, you have easy access to other area attractions such as Union Square, Golden Gate Park, Pac Bell Park, Palace of Fine Arts, and more. Our location ...

Nob Hill Inn
San Francisco is a city of contrasts. Resting on 40 hills, the city varies in altitude from sea level to 929 feet. It is located on a narrow peninsula, bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and the other by San Francisco Bay, one of the largest landlocked harbors in the world. In the heart of it all is Nob Hill, center of luxurious living in the last half of the 19th century, home of the railroad tycoons and sucessful gold miners. Step through the etched glass doors of the Nob Hill Inn ...

Travelodge by the Bay
Lombard Street between Van Ness and ...