Page 44 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

INSIDER’S TIP
The Bay Area’s renowned food
can be sampled best at FARMERS’ MARKETS and food truck gatherings. SAN FRANCISCO’S FERRY BUILDING is arguably the area’s top market. Other awesome markets are held in Berkeley, Healdsburg, Mountain View and at Marin Civic Center. FOOD TRUCKS serve up a mouth-watering array of choices all around the bay, including dinner on Fridays at the Oakland Museum of California and around the clock 24/7 at Levi's Plaza.
FAMOUS ILLUMINATED SIGNAGE SHOWS Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francsico, below.
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 California academic prestige and coffeehouse intel- lectualism. Berkeley is almost synonymous 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, a booming downtown and lovely Lake Merritt, whose three-mile path draws joggers and walkers.
City & Town
Even though it was surpassed in population by San Jose long ago, San Francisco remains the region’s cultural hub. The city draws more than 25 million travelers each year to its dense 49 square miles containing its famously steep hills, thousands of restau- rants offering an astonishing variety of cuisines, fascinating neighborhoods, parks, Victorian-era houses and world-class museums and cultural activities.
The city is easy to explore on foot, with the waterfront Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown and Union Square all within a short walk of each other. Colorful vintage streetcars rumble down the Embar- cadero and Market Street, connecting to public transportation that carries visitors to the city’s many diverse neighborhoods and to Golden Gate Park, the large green- belt 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 Museum of California, bayfront Jack London Square and a trendy dining scene. Its college town neighbor, Berkeley, is home to the striking Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
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 vast open spaces to savor the Bay Area’s varied natural beauty. Among the highlights are the majestic Marin Headlands and San Francisco’s Presidio and Crissy Field, a pop- ular walking area and restored wetlands that also draws kiteboarders to the white- capped waters at the Golden Gate.
Rolling green hillsides dotted with Cali- fornia 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
42 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
TRAVELVIEW/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: JELLY BELLY