Category Archives: travel

Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower

Before continuing with our Hop-On/Hop-Off tour of San Francisco, I’m going to start today’s article with some more views from atop Coit Tower.  The 210-foot/64-meter Coit Tower sits atop the 275-foot/84-meter Telegraph Hill.  As you can imagine, being some 485 feet/148 meters above San Francisco Bay will grant some spectacular views.  Here is the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which connects the financial district of San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island:

San Francisco Financial District and the Oakland Bay Bridge

Beyond Yerba Buena Island is the newly constructed eastern portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which opened in September, 2013:

New eastern portion of the Oakland Bay Bridge

This next photograph captures Pier 39 and a marina in the foreground with Alcatraz Island beyond.  Past Alcatraz is Angel Island:

Pier 39 and the Alcatraz and Angel Islands

And, finally, as you can see below the combined height of both Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower compares somewhat favorably with the highest building dominating the San Francisco skyline, the Transamerica Pyramid (853 feet/260 meters):

Transamerica Pyramid

The trek up Telegraph Hill from the west will take you by Saint Peter and Paul Church:

Saint Peter and Paul Church

Jumping back on the H-O/H-O we come to the San Francisco City Hall:

San Francisco City Hall

China Town:

Chinatown

Columbus Avenue:

Shops along Columbus Avenue

If you stay on the bus long enough you’ll even find yourself across the bay with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge:

The Golden Gate Bridge