San Francisco Tour Guy (2025)

07/07/2023

You all know I'm a huge fan of aerial photos, right? 😍 ✈️ 📸⁠
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In this photo, we're basically hovering right above Twin Peaks looking down Market Street all the way to the Embarcadero waterfront. It's such a cool view! You can see all different parts of the city from here.⁠
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From the absolute fortress-looking building of the US Mint in the lower left, up through the Mid-Market area, and out to the massive buildings in the Financial District and SoMa, and of course (my favorite) Ferry Building at the veeery end of the street, Market Street connects some of the main parts of San Francisco all on one street.⁠
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I like going through the picture and seeing all the various spots and hidden sights around the city. It's a great way to think up ideas of things to do while exploring the city!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

06/07/2023

I love all the colors of this photo! ⁠
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On the left side, you get the bright white Bay Bridge and Coit Tower, under the dim yellow of the moon, with the intense blue of the Salesforce Tower, all with the deep red Golden Gate Bridge in front. It makes for a great collection of colors!⁠
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(And even Fort Mason on the waterfront almost looks like a rainbow!)⁠
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With the moon just baaarely peeking out behind the clouds, this reminds me of scenes in movies where something eerie is about to happen. Maybe someone is about to turn into a werewolf? ⁠
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Either way, it's no wonder that so many people call the Golden Gate Bridge the most beautiful bridge in the world! What a great scene to look out upon.⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: A lot of people on my tours have asked me why the top of the Salesforce Tower is decorated with lights. And it's because San Francisco requires art!⁠
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Every new office building is required to spend 1% of their construction money on some kind of city beautification--architecture, sculpture, murals, some kind of art. So the designers of this tower decided to spend that money on this awesome light display that shows off for the city every night! It's a great law that has added a lot to the city. ⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

05/07/2023

Alright, friends, brace yourselves for an Independence Day photo extravaganza! 🎇🎆 Because when SF does the 4th of July, we do it BIG!

1️⃣ First up: shooting fireworks over the Bay Bridge! Just when you thought this iconic structure couldn't get any cooler, right?
2️⃣ Meanwhile, over in Marin County, they're putting on a pyrotechnic party that'll knock your socks off!
3️⃣ Our own SF City Hall is strutting its stuff, flaunting the ol' red, white, and blue with a gusto Uncle Sam would applaud.
4️⃣ And can we just appreciate the drama of that American flag fluttering over Alcatraz?

So, raise your glasses to freedom, folks. Here's to those wide-open skies, our brave hearts, and an Independence Day that shines as brightly as our city! 🌟🌉🥂🇺🇸

Tour Guy Tip: Want a pro tip for next year's fireworks? Slip away to Treasure Island. It's less crowded, the views are incredible, and you might just feel like you've discovered SF's best-kept secret.

Awesome photo📸 credits: , Reddit user ericgtr12, and (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

04/07/2023

So...who wore it better? 🏘 🤣 🤣 🤣 🏘⁠
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(By the way, I love how the cyclist has the helmet color of the left house and the bike color of the right house! What amazing timing! 💙 💕)⁠
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It is so cool walking through the streets of our city and seeing the amazing Victorian houses and the colors they are decorated with!⁠
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After the Great Earthquake of 1906, a huge number of houses had to be built, and we got some phenomenal housing architecture from that era. And one of the wonderful things about this architecture is that everybody paints their houses in different colors. So while there are some streets where every house is architecturally identical, they all look unique due to the paint colors. It's so cool!⁠
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So if you're interested at all in architecture, you've just got to come to SF to check these places out!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: .sf (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

03/07/2023

What a beautiful day for an aerial photo of San Francisco! ✈️ 📸⁠
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Look, I'll be the first to tell you--we do not always have the clearest days in this city. There's a reason that has so many followers! But June (and May and September and October) are fantastic months to come to this city, because you can get views like this!⁠
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One of the great parts of San Francisco is that it never gets hot in the city, and it never gets cold. The hottest summer days don't get more than about 85 degrees (30 C) and the coldest winter days aren't typically below 50 degrees (10 C). So whatever month you come here, you can be comfortable and have a great trip! As long as you have multiple layers of clothing to put on and take off, you'll be fine all year long!⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: Especially on bright sunny days like this, I like to visit the best parks in San Francisco. My favorite is Dolores Park, with all the restaurants, bars, cafes, ice cream stands, and cheese shops around there--you can get some great food to enjoy in the park! But you can also go to Golden Gate Park or the Presidio, which are incredible areas. But just promise me: if you come to San Francisco and the weather looks like this, don't spend your time inside! Enjoy the outdoors!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

02/07/2023

How steep are the hills in SF? THIS steep! 😳⁠
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And how better to celebrate a steep hill than to go upside down on one of them! 🤸🏼‍♀️🧘🏼‍♀️⁠
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The slope of our streets is one of those things that visitors are always shocked by. You certainly get some exercise around these parts! That's why people around here are in such great shape. If you walk to work, walk home, maybe walk to the store, all of a sudden you have leg muscles for days! 🏋🏼‍♀️⁠
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Thankfully, if you walk your way through the city, it also means you get to eat all the food you want, and you can still lose weight. Talk about a win-win! (As if you needed another reason to visit us 😎)⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: People often ask me what the steepest street in the city is. For that, you'll have to go a bit south of the main downtown SF to the Bernal Heights neighborhood. There, you'll find Bradford Street, above the intersection with Tomkins. That street has a slope of 41%!! There's just nothing quite like it anywhere. Go check it out!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: .meets.world (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

30/06/2023

I love this quiet, early morning snapshot of the Bay Bridge. ⛅️ 🌇 🌁⁠
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I'll tell you right now, it would be extremely difficult to find downtown San Francisco as empty as it is right here in this shot. You'd have to get up pretty darn early in the morning, but if you do, you're sometimes rewarded with a beautiful view!⁠
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I really love the thin layer of soft fog hovering a bit over the water. If you are an early riser (or if you're suffering from jet lag), this is a fantastic place to visit in the early morning. Very little traffic, great sights, and a wonderful walking path on the Embarcadero waterfront at the end of this street. ⁠
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You rarely get to see the city like this, so it's quite a treat!⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: This picture was taken in the SoMa (South of Market) neighborhood. This was once the industrial zone of the city, with factories all over the area. In fact, just to the left of the Bay Bridge, you can see the edge of the old "Hills Bros" sign. That company roasted coffee beans, so when you drove over the bridge, the whole city smelled like coffee! How cool is that? ☕️ ☕️ ☕️⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: .frames (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

27/06/2023

Raise your hand if you've ever seen the Golden Gate Bridge from this angle! 🙋⁠
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I love this because most of the GGB photos you'll see are taken from the San Francisco side or from the SF Bay. But here we get to see exactly how the bridge was built! ⁠
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I love walking around the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge because you get some amazing views of the engineering of the bridge! ⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: I know that most people want the pictures of the huge bridge with the city skyline or the ocean behind it. But if you're a nerd like me and you love the way the bridge is designed and you want to get an up close view, you can come to this location! If you go across the GGB to the Marin County side, there's a great viewing area from that side. But then you can take a walking trail over to the other side, and you can go underneath the bridge to see the engineering of the bridge!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at https://buff.ly/3NszluR or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

26/06/2023

⁠I loooove this picture of California Street! 🤩 🤩 🤩⁠
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Even on a normal day, this location offers one of my favorite views of San Francisco. Looking down the street, you'll see beautiful Chinatown pagoda-style buildings, the massive Financial District skyscrapers, the historic brick Southern Pacific Railway headquarters, and of course the lovely Bay Bridge in the background. You get so much in one spot!⁠
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So this is one of the most common places to take photos downtown--I see hundreds of them cross my feed. And so when I see a new and innovative composition of this spot, it just makes me say "wow!" And this one certainly did. ⁠
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I love how the photographer composed this--adding the (huge!) moon above the bridge is a fantastic addition. Well done!⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: The location where you can take this photo is the corner of California Street & Stockton Street. It's a bit of a hike up a (steep!) 🧗🏽🧗🏽🧗🏽 hill towards Nob Hill. But it's totally worth the trip! There's a stoplight at that intersection, so if you wait for the red light, you'll have some time without traffic to snap the photo. And feel free to do it a few times to get the perfect snapshot!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to get a $100 discount on a private tour of the city with me, send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

23/06/2023

If you ever drive out of the Robin Williams Tunnel, you know about the absurdly beautiful view. And when the fog rolls in, sometimes it gets even more amazing!

Summer in most of the country means heat and humidity. But if you live here, you know that summer days look more like this!

In this photo, you see two of our most famous residents: our Golden Gate Bridge, and who moderates our climate all year!

TOUR GUY TIP: If you want to take a great photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, the locals know that you should head across the bridge to the Marin Headlands. From here, you can set up with your camera and get the best shot of Goldie!

For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!

Awesome photo📸 credit:

22/06/2023

How perfect is this full moon over San Francisco!! 😍 🌕 🧡

I love the colors in the sky (and in the water)--the timing has to be just right for this to happen. You have to appreciate the dedication of the photographer () to go out in the middle of the night to capture this beauty! ESPECIALLY when it involves venturing out into the Oakland hills.

You can also see the San Francisco signature weather coming in--the gentle waves of slipping in over the coastal hills.

Such a lovely shot!

For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!

Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

21/06/2023

On a beautiful sunny day like this, Dolores Park is the place to be! 😎😎😎

Sitting right in the Mission District, Dolores Park is definitely the best park to hang out when the weather heats up. You have an amazing view of the city, as well as restaurants, cafes, and snack shops galore!

This is one of the most popular outdoor locations for visiting during sunny days. When you go to the park, you'll find people playing sports, playing music and dancing, eating, drinking, and just generally having a great time.

If you get a chance while you're in our city, definitely check it out!

TOUR GUY TIP: Here's how I do a Dolores Park day. Start by going to Tartine Bakery for some of their fresh, delicious bread (and maybe some pastries too). Then just down the road you can stop in at Bi Rite Grocery for some great cheese from the dairies around here. And you might as well pick up some local beer, wine or soda. Then pick a spot on the slope of the park where you can lay down and take in the sun and the views with some awesome conversation with friends. Finally, when you're finished, you can stop by Bi Rite Creamery for some of the best ice cream in the city. It just doesn't get better than that for a lazy afternoon in San Francisco!

For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!

Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

19/06/2023

One of the things that makes us so fortunate here in San Francisco is our plentiful open spaces. And the biggest of them is the Presidio.

The Presidio, founded by Spanish explorers in 1776, offers some of the best walks and most beautiful views of the area. And this "tree tunnel" is an incredible place for a walk (and maybe a quick insta!) through the area.

This walk is actually an artistic piece called Wood Line, created by Andy Goldsworthy, a British artist who has been commissioned to create many pieces around San Francisco, including multiple installations in the Presidio.

Beginning at the corner of Presidio Blvd. & W. Pacific Ave, you can walk all the way through the artistic path, about a quarter of a mile. It's one of the best looking spots in the Presidio.

TOUR GUY TIP: If you have some more free time, you can take a three-mile art walk through the Presidio. This walk will take you through all of Andy Goldsworthy's works in the area. Visiting these works, called Spire, Tree Fall, and Earth Wall, along with Wood Line, will ensure you'll have a great visit!

For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a tour of the city with me, visit me at sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!

Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

18/06/2023

The Painted Ladies are one of the most iconic sights in San Francisco. But I've rarely seen them at night, and they look beautiful!

Normally during the day when you walk through Alamo Square Park, you'll see the brilliant colors of these Victrian-era houses. But at night, you get to see the amazing colors of the city behind it. I especially like the tower with the "❤️ SF" lights on it!

So when you're enjoying the non-rainy weather these days, why not take a stroll around some local parks at night? You'll be able to see the city in a whole new light!

For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!

Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

17/06/2023

How cool is this image! I love the composition here.⁠
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This photographer did a great job of combining these two images. It totally looks like you're looking right through the pavement down California Street.⁠
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Thankfully it hasn't been possible to recreate this image lately, since we have gotten through all of that winter rain!
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TOUR GUY TIP: You can take the California Street Cable Car to get up to the top of this hill. You can get some really cool views up here on this street. If you head up to the corner of California & Stockton, the cable cars will be clanging right along past you. And you can get a great photo shot right down the middle of the road--it's perfect because cars aren't allowed on that part of the road so you get a little bit of extra time to set up your shoot.⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

15/06/2023

Do you know how much time and effort would have gone into getting this amazing capture??⁠
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Somehow the exact right timing to get the moon in he exact space between the cables, and also to get the color of the sky exactly right--I love it!⁠
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I also think it's cool how the purple sky matches so perfectly with the color of the bridge. Kind of just a soft gradient from 💜💙 to 🧡❤️.⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: If you'd like to try your hand at grabbing this photo, take a little trip out to the Marin Headlands for the capture. And enjoy the amazing nature area while you're there!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit me at https://sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

14/06/2023

Isn't this a stunning view? Not many places in the world are like this!⁠
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Right along the California coast, we are lucky enough to have some of the tallest trees in the entire world! At over 1,500 years old, these trees grow to be over 250 feet high--the size of a skyscraper! ⁠
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The closest redwood park to San Francisco is a bit outside the city. If you hop in the car, you'll get to Muir Woods in under an hour, where you can take an amazing (and quick) hike through some of these giants.⁠
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So when you arrive in the area and you want to take a bit of an adventure outside the city, this is a fantastic one!⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: If you want to visit Muir Woods, remember that you have to make a reservation to visit here. You don't want to make the trip and then get turned away at the last minute!⁠ (And there is no absolutely zero cell phone reception in the park, so if you're expecting to get an Uber or Lyft home, make sure to schedule it ahead of time)
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, visit me at sftourguy.com, or send me a direct message anytime!⁠
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Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

13/06/2023

I love awesome shots of the 🌉Golden Gate Bridge🌉. And this is a great one! ⁠
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Just yesterday I posted a photo of a really interesting and unique view of the GGB. And today I feel like it's time to step it up a notch. I've seen the bridge from pretty much every angle on the ground and the water. But never from a trick plane flying sideways overhead! 😳 😳 😳⁠
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If you spend enough time around the GGB, you'll see plenty of these planes and helicopters flying around. But I've never seen the photos from way up here. And now it makes me want to take a flight! ⁠
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Who's with me! 🙋🙋🙋⁠
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TOUR GUY TIP: You can actually get your own pictures flying low over the bridge! Local seaplane and helicopter tour companies will take you all around the Bay Area, over the city, and right over the Golden Gate Bridge. They're a fantastic way to bring home some amazing memories of your trip to the Bay!⁠
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For more information and tips about San Francisco, or to take a private tour of the city with me, visit sftourguy.com or send me a direct message anytime!⁠

Awesome photo📸 credit: (And remember, if you love their photo, visit their page and follow them!)

San Francisco Tour Guy