Do you like to walk? San Francisco is a terrific city for walking around, down any of its great streets. Top favorites: * Valencia Street in the Mission (hipsterish), * Mission Street (you're in Mexico), * Polk Street north from, say, California (eat at Swan Oyster Depot, it's ridiculously fun to sit at their counter and watch them filet fish while you slurp oysters or chowder), or * Clement Street west of Arguello (Green Apple is the best bookstore in the city). These are all local commercial strips full of interesting shops and people.

Or prowl around the old commercial district (east of Montgomery, north of Market) looking for art deco bank buildings. Keep heading up the hill through Jackson Square (old red-brick heart of the pre-earthquake city) towards North Beach and the joy that is Caffe Trieste, on Vallejo just east of Columbus -- best coffeehouse in America, IMHO. Pizza's pretty good, too.

If you are into music, go to Amoeba at the very end of Haight Street. Biggest and best record store you've ever seen. Be careful; it's pretty easy to blow a thousand bucks in there before you know what's happening to you. The rest of the Haight no longer has much appeal, but it's interesting if you've never been there before. If you make it as far east as Masonic, you can check out Recycled Records too -- also great.

Skip Alcatraz. Take the bus all the way down Geary instead, to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths (ruins). Very atmospheric, looking out over the infinite beach below.