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Our Favorite California Travel - San Francisco Bay Area Websites
Few places in the world can boast of the natural beauty and great attractions that the San Francisco Bay Area offers. Tourists flock to the Bay Area for sightseeing at such famous places as Fisherman's Wharf, to walk or drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, and to hike through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

But the Bay Area is more than San Francisco, as almost six million residents will tell you. From historic Benicia in the north to Silicon Valley's San Jose in the south, from Mount Tamalpais in the west to Mount Diablo in the east, the San Francisco Bay Area is a wonderland of parks and shores, museums and culture, quaint neighborhoods and dynamic commercial centers, and of recreational activities and big-league sports.

Get The Whole Picture
The best place to get your bearings on the Bay Area is at Gateway Oak, Guide to the Greater Bay Area. The site is split into four segments (north, east, and south bays and San Francisco), and it offers links to county and city convention and visitors bureaus around the Bay.

At this one site you can find information about attractions, accommodations, restaurants, weather -- all the basics. Once you have visited here, you'll know how much more you can do on, in and around the Bay.
Avg. visitor rating 50 star

San Francisco: Wet and Dry
Fisherman's Wharf is the busiest attraction in San Francisco. In fact, it is the third busiest attraction in the world! From Pier 39 to Fort Mason, the Wharf offers visitors great dining, shopping, entertaining and educating museums on land and in port, and ferry sightseeing rides and travel to Alcatraz and Angel Islands. The sites and the sights will overwhelm you. And the best place to find out what is at Fisherman's Wharf is at Fishermanswharf.org, and this link will take you there.
Avg. visitor rating 40 star
Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Once a sleepy valley town surrounded by fruit orchards, San Jose woke up one day to find itself the capital of Silicon Valley and the largest city in the Bay Area. In the past twenty years, the city has transformed itself into a center of culture and multiculture. With its own theatre, opera and ballet companies, a National Hockey League Team, art, technology and history museums, and a calendar of ethnic festivals that reflect the diversity of its population, San Jose has gone from chip to hip. The place to find out what is happening in this great town is at the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau web site, and I bet you know the way there...
Avg. visitor rating 4.5 star
There is a "There" in Oakland
While Gertrude Stein may have been right in her time that there was no "there, there" in Oakland, that saying isn't true anymore. "There" across the Bay Bridge from its famous neighbor is a major league city just waiting to be discovered. From the arts of the Oakland Museum to the bats of the Oakland Athletics, from the plies of the Oakland Ballet to the victory dance of the Oakland Raiders, "There" is alive with a spirit of comeback and come on! Oakland is the Gateway to the East Bay and is waiting for you.
Avg. visitor rating 4.5 star
Hiking Around the Bay
Seeing the natural wonders of the San Francisco Bay Area is becoming easier by the establishment of the 400-mile multiuse Bay Area Ridge Trail. About half of the route is ready and open to hikers, bikers, and other visitors. Eventually, the Bay Area Ridge Trail will circle the Bay, but for now you need to check with the Ridge Trail Council to know where to go. Here is their web site.
Avg. visitor rating 10 star
San Francisco Bay Area Travel--Ezines & Enews Sites of Interest
Find out about the lifestyles of Bay Area residents, the happenings on and around the Bay and other helpful information through local online magazines and newspapers. Here are the websites of most importance. I will search for articles of interest and let you know about them through my regular ezine.
Sunset Magazine
The elegance of California life is an important reason people visit here. If there is one magazine that epitomizes the California lifestyle, it is Sunset Magazine. Articles on places to visit, stay, and dine mix with recipes, gardening and decor. Even if you can't make it to the Bay Area, you can feel like you know it through the pages of this online version of the popular monthly.
Avg. visitor rating 4.5 star
San Francisco Gate
The most significant newspaper in the Bay Area is the San Francisco Chronicle. Its online website is called San Francisco Gate, and you can read all about San Francisco and the surrounding area here everyday. Its travel section, "Bay Area Traveler,"offers articles on popular and not-so-familiar sights to see throughout northern California. There also are reviews of restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and access to KRON-TV's famous series, "Bay Area Backroads."
Avg. visitor rating 4.5 star
Best Weekly: SF Bay Guardian
There are a number of weekly papers, most of them free, available on the streets of San Francisco and the Bay Area. But the best by far is the San Francisco Bay Guardian. And their online site is also the best your money can't buy. Check it out!
Avg. visitor rating 4.5 star
Your guide's Take on "Driving San Francisco"
San Francisco can be a tourist heaven and, sometimes, quite the opposite. There's plenty to see, but figuring out a way to find it all can be confusing and exhausting. But the city of San Francisco has an answer to your problem: the 49-Mile Scenic Drive. Follow the blue-and-white seagull signs around the city and you will see just about everything there is to see. And guess what? I co-wrote a book that helps you follow the Drive and know what you are seeing! Yes, and you can find out about it on my web site. Just give me a little click...
Avg. visitor rating 10 star
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