Golden Gate

Humans have a strong affinity with water and cities with watery views tend to be more attractive than those without. San Francisco is firmly in the former category. It's also a cool (temperature wise) city so you can explore it on foot or using it's effective public transport system even in summer without becoming exhausted as you might do in Singapore, Bangkok or Brisbane.

The city is on a peninsula so many of it's more interesting sights are near the water: for example the sea lions on Fisherman's wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and Ocean Beach. The cable cars with their element of risk are great fun and the cheap theatre tickets you can buy at Union Square can lead you to an unexpectedly satisfying evening of musical enrichment (we saw The Fantasticks). In spite of my mistrust for big cities and crowds, San Francisco was rewarding on many levels - culturally, aesthetically, gastronomically (go to Chinatown)... and we also met a celebrity (see previous entry).