Page 76 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

INSIDER’S
»
TIP
For some of the best views in
the entire Bay Area, take a
ferry from Tiburon or San
Francisco to ANGEL ISLAND, the
largest island in the bay. Tour by
segway or tram, or rent a bike or
hike the trails that circle the
island, known as the “Ellis
Island of the West” because
of its historic role as a U.S.
Immigration Station for Chinese
immigrants from 1910 to 1940.
East Bay: Berkeley & Oakland
On the eastern side of the bay lies the col-
lege town of Berkeley, with its history
of political idealism, University of Cali-
fornia academic prestige and coffeehouse
intellectualism. Berkeley is almost syn-
onymous with Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse
and the movement to organic, local and
seasonal food. Berkeley’s larger neighbor,
Oakland, is a culturally diverse city with
vibrant neighborhoods and lovely Lake
Merritt, whose three-mile path draws jog-
gers and walkers.
The city is easy to explore on foot, with
the waterfront Embarcadero, Fisherman’s
Wharf, Chinatown and Union Square (the
largest shopping area in the western U.S.)
all within a short walk of each other. Col-
orful vintage streetcars rumble down the
Embarcadero and Market Street, con-
necting to public transportation that carries
visitors to the city’s many diverse neighbor-
hoods and to Golden Gate Park, the large
greenbelt that extends to the Pacific Ocean.
The region’s other major cities are San
Jose, where revitalization has brought an
urban vibe, restaurants and museums
downtown, and Oakland, which attracts
visitors with the renovated Museum of
California, bay-front Jack London Square
and a trendy dining scene it shares with its
college-town neighbor, Berkeley.
City & Town
Even though it was surpassed in popula-
tion by San Jose long ago, San Francisco
remains the region’s cultural hub. The city
draws more than 16 million travelers each
year to its dense 49 square miles con-
taining its famously steep hills, thousands
of restaurants offering an astonishing
variety of cuisines, different groups of
people, fascinating neighborhoods, parks,
Victorian-era houses and world-class
museums and cultural activities.
The Great Outdoors
One of the world’s largest urban parks—the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area—
stretches over 60 miles of Bay Area
coastline. The area encompasses beaches,
historic sites, biking and hiking trails and
74 2014 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
vast open spaces to savor the Bay Area’s
varied natural beauty. Among the high-
lights are the majestic Marin Headlands
and San Francisco’s Presidio and Crissy
Field, a popular walking area and restored
wetlands that also draws kite boarders to
the white-capped waters at the Golden Gate.
Rolling green hillsides dotted with Cal-
ifornia golden poppies make spring an
especially ideal time to explore Mount
Tamalpais and Muir Woods in Marin
County. Point Reyes National Seashore’s
beautiful coastal terrain contains an abun-
dance of wildlife, including migrating
shorebirds and ducks, whales that are
easily seen off the coast in migration
season (mid-January to mid-March) and a
herd of tule elk.
There also is no lack of wide open
spaces in the East Bay, where the regional
park district includes 65 parks covering
113,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa
counties. In the Santa Cruz Mountains,
amid several vast open space preserves,
lies California’s oldest state park, Big Basin
Redwoods, established in 1902.
SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL ASSOCIATION/SCOTT CHERNIS