Golden Gate, San Francisco: neighborhood guide

This is the northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula: the Presidio and Fort Mason, two former military posts turned national historic landmarks, plus the residential districts of Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow and the Marina. The Golden Gate Bridge connects it to Marin County across the bay.

Pacific Heights sits about 370 ft above sea level and is mostly quiet and residential, with consulates, mansions and views over the bay and the Presidio. The three blocks of Broadway between Lyon St and Divisadero St are known as the Gold Coast for their outlook. Cow Hollow is the transition zone between Pacific Heights and the Marina, with Union St as its main street of shops, bars and restaurants. The Marina was built on landfill for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition; it is affluent and busy, with Marina Green running along the bay and Chestnut St for shopping and coffee.

Fort Mason is the smaller of the two former posts, with museums, theatres and converted piers. The Presidio is large — about 1,480 acres of hills, forest, trails, beaches and marsh — and is the reason many visitors come to this side of the city.

Stay here if your trip is about the outdoors and views: you can walk or cycle to Crissy Field and the bridge, run on Marina Green, and eat well on Chestnut St and Union St without crossing town. It is a good base for families and for travellers who value quiet evenings.

Do not stay here if you want nightlife, hostels or cheap eats within a few steps, or if you plan to spend most of your time downtown, in SoMa or in the Mission. Buses are frequent but the trip is 20–35 minutes, and parking is scarce — on-street spaces around Chestnut St can take an hour to find.

Two practical notes. First, the name: locals do not call this district "Golden Gate" — say Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights or the Presidio, or people will think you mean Golden Gate Park. Second, the Marina is built on landfill and was the focus of damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake; this is background, not a reason to avoid it.

Chestnut St in the Marina and Union St in Cow Hollow carry most of the restaurants, cafés and bars, with a mix of Italian, seafood, brunch places and small kitchens. Fillmore St is the Pacific Heights equivalent, quieter and more upscale.

Fort Mason has a cluster of food trucks and casual spots near the waterfront, useful before or after a walk along the bay. For a wider choice at lower prices, head east to Chinatown–North Beach or south to the Mission.

By car, the main entries are Van Ness Ave from the south and Bay St from the east; from the north and west, Highway 101 runs through the Presidio to Lombard St. Parking is the weak point: Chestnut St spaces can take up to an hour to find, and the free lot at Fort Mason (Beach and Buchanan Sts) is a common fallback, about four short blocks north of Chestnut.

By bus, Muni serves the district along Van Ness Ave, Lombard St and Union St; downtown trips run roughly 20–35 minutes depending on traffic. Cable cars do not reach the Marina — the Powell lines end near Fisherman's Wharf, which is a 15–20 minute walk east along the waterfront.

On foot and by bike is where the area works best. Crissy Field and the Presidio have flat paths to the bridge; the walk from the Marina to the bridge is roughly 4–5 km.