Nearly everyone who comes to San Francisco falls in love with it. A city of hills, parks, cable cars, a bustling waterfront, and bridges that span mighty spaces-all freshened by clean Pacific breezes and warmed by a cooperative sun and a romantic fog—San Francisco is alive and lovely. The heart of a great Pacific empire, it is the true capital of the West.

This city of precipitous hills stretches 7 miles across in each direction, rimmed on three sides by water. Its awe-inspiring bay, 500 square miles, constitutes one of the most nearly perfect natural harbors on Earth. Rome has its seven hills; San Francisco was built on 43 hills. The city encompasses a total of 129.4 square miles, of which only 46.6 square miles are land. Within its boundaries are islands-Yerba Buena, Treasure Island, and Alcatraz-plus the Farallon group 32 miles west, part of the city since 1872.

San Francisco is one of nature's few "air-conditioned cities"-relatively warm in winter and cool in summer. Weather Bureau statistics show sunshine on 66 of every 100 possible hours. The average mean temperatures for San Francisco are 50°F in winter, 55°F in spring, 62°F in summer, and 60°F in fall.

Gateway to the Orient, San Francisco is a melting pot of cultures. Its population descends from peoples of almost every nation of the world and every state of the Union. The leading national groups are Italian, German, Irish, Chinese, English, Russian, Latin American, Japanese, Korean, and Filipino. More than 500 churches, temples, and meeting houses conduct services in 23 different tongues. Fifty periodicals are published in 13 languages.

San Francisco is an important financial center and the headquarters of Bank of America, one of the largest banks in the world. Although no longer considered the air hub of the West (Los Angeles now holds that title), the city still plays a major role in the nation's air travel: San Francisco International Airport, a $250-million air gateway to the world, is located 14 1/2 miles south off Bayshore Freeway and Highway 101. The San Francisco Bay Area ranks second on the West Coast in waterborne commerce. The Port of San Francisco is a $100-million public utility with a 7 1/2-mile stretch of ship-berthing space, 229 acres of covered and open wharf area, and a total of 43 piers. More than 1,500 San Francisco firms engage in international trade.

Hellenic in its setting and climate, European in its intellectual and cultural scope, American in its vigor and informality, and Asian in its tranquility, San Francisco is indeed an exciting city. Author and raconteur Gene Fowler said, "Every man should be allowed to love two cities-his own and San Francisco."

San Francisco's lusty history began with early Portuguese, English, and Spanish explorers penetrating the Bay. In 1775, the Spanish ship San Carlos sailed through the Golden Gate to drop the first anchor off San Francisco. On March 28, 1776, a mission site was selected and dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. The little village of Yerba Buena developed near the mission but slumbered until 1836, when the port grew into an important trading post.

In 1846, the USS Portsmouth dropped anchor in the cove; Captain John B. Montgomery and 70 men came ashore and hoisted the Stars and Stripes, marking the end of Mexican rule. The next year, the village changed its name to San Francisco, taking its cue from the mission.

A year later, gold was discovered in Sutter's millrace on the American River at Coloma. This discovery had a tremendous impact on San Francisco; few of the inhabitants remained, and, as the news spread around the world, a torrent of people and ships descended on the city. A year later, 6,000 miners were digging, and San Francisco was a wild tent city of 20,000 rough, tough transients. An average of 50 sailing ships a month anchored in San Francisco Bay; many were deserted by crews eager for gold.

A few farsighted men realized that fortunes could be made in San Francisco as well as in the gold camps. Their foresight is reflected today in many of the city's distinguished stores.

Meanwhile, thirsty for gold, Easterners were migrating to California. With the aid of imported Chinese labor, 2,000 miles of railroad track crossed the nation's two greatest mountain ranges to join East and West. Shipping to Asia flourished, and small industries prospered.

Young and raw, San Francisco spent the last half of the 19th century as an exciting mix of growing metropolis, frontier, and boomtown. Then, on April 18, 1906, came the great earthquake (8.6 on the Richter scale) and ensuing fire. Raging unchecked for three days, the fire wiped out the entire business area and burned out 497 blocks of buildings in the heart of the city. Losses amounted to some 2,500 lives and nearly $350 million. With the ashes still warm, the city started rebuilding; it was largely completed by 1915, when the city celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal with the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

The opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936, followed by the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 and the completion of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), have tied the cities of the Bay Area together.

A significant historical event took place between April 25 and June 26, 1945, when delegates from the nations of the world assembled here to found the United Nations. San Francisco became the birthplace of the UN-another facet of its cosmopolitan personality.

In sightseeing, dining, nightlife, shopping, and all other tourist adventures, San Francisco is rivaled-and perhaps not exceeded-only by New York City.

From the Twin Peaks area, the center of the city, Market Street bisects the eastern segment of San Francisco, ending at the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero. The business section, the "Wall Street of the West," is a cluster of skyscrapers extending from Kearny Street to the waterfront and south of Market Street from New Montgomery Street north to Jackson Street. Chinatown, Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, and Fisherman's Wharf fan out north of Market Street. Russian Hill gives a panoramic view of San Francisco Bay. Here is Lombard Street, known as "the crookedest street in the world"-lined by hydrangea gardens and handsome residences, it makes nine hairpin turns in a single block. The Presidio, several museums, and Golden Gate Bridge are on the northwest side of the peninsula.

One formula for a systematic exploration is to start with a guided three-and-a-half-hour "Around San Francisco" sightseeing tour. (You can book these bus tours through your hotel.) Note the places you want to visit at greater length, and then explore in detail later. Use your own car or rent one to reach outlying areas and explore across the bridges. The San Francisco hills are not for fainthearted drivers, but they're not as bad as they look. Be sure to turn your wheels toward the curb and set your brake when parking.

San Francisco also has its scenic "49-Mile Drive," marked with blue and white seagull signs. This drive begins at City Hall in the Civic Center (Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street), twisting around the entire city and leading to most of the spectacular sights. You can pick up this route and follow its signs at any point, or obtain a map of the drive from the San Francisco Visitor Information Center, lower level of Hallidie Plaza, Powell and Market streets.

San Francisco's famous cable cars, designated a National Historic Landmark, were the brainchild of Andrew Hallidie. The inaugural run was made down Clay from Jones Street on August 2, 1873. The century-old cable car system was temporarily shut down in 1982 for renovations. The $60 million project was completed in June 1984.

These cable cars offer a thrilling roller-coaster experience ($). The natives hop on and off with abandon, but visitors are advised to be more cautious. Also, avoid rush hours. There are three lines: Powell-Mason and Market streets goes up Powell, over Nob Hill, along Columbus Avenue to Taylor and down to Bay Street at Fisherman's Wharf; the Powell-Hyde cable runs from Powell and Market streets, up Powell to Jackson Street, west on Jackson to Hyde, north on Hyde over Russian Hill to Beach Street at Aquatic Park; and the California cable runs from California and Market streets to Van Ness Avenue, through the financial district, past Chinatown, and over Nob Hill.

The city's diverse restaurants number nearly 3,300. The gold of the mining camps attracted some of the finest chefs in the world to San Francisco, and this heritage persists today. Chinatown features the exotic cuisines of Asia; Fisherman's Wharf is famous for seafood. Mexican, Italian, French, Armenian, Russian, Japanese, Vietnamese, East Indian, and American are all here-you can make a culinary trip around the world without leaving San Francisco.

Nightlife in San Francisco is only partly carried on in the tradition of the "Barbary Coast" days. One of the most famous cocktail lounges in the world is "The Top of the Mark" in the Mark Hopkins InterContinental Hotel. The Fairmont, across the street, offers an equally fine view of the city, as do several other high-rise hotels and office buildings. The theaters have long, successful seasons. In sports, baseball's San Francisco Giants play in spring and summer, and the 49ers pick up in fall for professional football.