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Visitors guide to The Embarcadero

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One of the world’s best waterfront walks, you will love San Francisco’s bayside promenade, The Embarcadero.

If you have a short time in town, be sure to drive, bike, walk or take a street car along The Embarcadero, a broad boulevard along the bay, connecting the Giants’ baseball park at China Basin with touristy Fisherman’s Wharf, going under the Bay Bridge and past the Ferry Building along the way. It’s a one-hour walk, or four hours if you stop for a lot of pics and coffee.

If you’re entering the city from San Francisco International Airport (locals know it as SFO) and heading to a hotel in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, ask your driver to go along The Embarcadero. It’s a great way to begin your stay, and their transmission won’t have to battle San Francisco’s famous hills.

We can thank the big 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake for this great street. An elevated highway was there, cutting off the waterfront from the city. That was destroyed in the quake and, wisely, never rebuilt.

The Ferry Building, where Market Street intersects with The Embarcadero, is a must-see, especially if you need to stop at the public bathrooms inside (not many of those along The Embarcadero).

The Ferry Building is 120 years old, but freshly renovated in 2003. The back side of the building is on the bay, with the beautiful views you would expect, right beside the Bay Bridge, looking out toward Treasure Island and Oakland. There are plenty of good eats and places for a tourist to rest their tired feet at the Ferry Building. Locals go there in droves for the farmers market (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). Try the expensive liquids at Blue Bottle Coffee.

The clock tower on the Ferry Building holds the largest wind-up, mechanical dial clock in the world. Built in 1898, it became Instagramable some time later.

Just outside of the Ferry Building, enjoy splendid views of the Bay Bridge. Walk a few blocks to take a rest alongside the bridge at Rincon Park. Have a seat in front of the big bow-and-arrow sculpture called Cupid’s Span. It is an eye-catching monument to love. The monument to divorce is probably across town.

The Embarcadero is gorgeous, but if you’re not used to walking a lot, your feet could file for divorce after you do a six-mile loop between Oracle Park and Aquatic Park beyond Fisherman’s Wharf.

Grab some Advil and head one mile farther down The Embarcadero, around the corner from the Bay Bridge, and check out South Beach and Oracle Park, one of the prettiest baseball stadiums anywhere. Maybe catch a home run ball beyond the right field wall.

On that side of the ballpark, at McCovey Cove, enjoy views of the bay from a picturesque pedestrian pier that goes out into the bay at the South Beach Marina. You can catch as many as three innings of a Giants game for free from here, standing just feet from the right fielder behind a fence under the bleachers. The Giants have a “peephole” space there that allows about 100 people standing-room-only spaces. If the space is not filled, they might let you stay the whole game.

South Beach Park, along the bayfront beginning at Pier 40, offers great views of the Bay Bridge and is an excellent place to stop for a rest. At Pier 40, you can rent a kayak and try your luck at catching that home run ball from the water at McCovey Cove. 

Back down The Embarcadero, across the street from the Ferry Building, is the shopping mecca known as Embarcadero Center. The complex of five high-rises adjacent to the Financial District has about 125 stores and a plethora of bars and restaurants.

Relax and unwind just outside of the high-rise buildings at Sue Bierman Park and check out the industrial strength of Vaillancourt Fountain. It gets a lot of looks along the edge of the former Justin Herman Plaza, which separates Embarcadero Center from the Ferry Building. The name of the plaza is up for debate these days. Apparently Herman was a jerk. On the edge of the plaza, vendors set up shop daily where Market Street connects with The Embarcadero. It’s a great place to find art and unique crafts, as well as the normal souvenir stuff, perhaps a Giants beanie.

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Grab some chow at the Ferry Building and eat on a bench under the Bay Bridge, or eat out ON the bay at the end of Pier 14.  

Head north from Embarcadero Center to Pier 15 and Pier 17 for the Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum that is one of the most popular museums in San Francisco. It’s a scientific funhouse, a great place for kids with inquisitive minds.

Beware: Thinking of walking the whole Embarcadero? The 6 miles could become 10 miles if you walk out onto many piers, around marinas and into shops. Or maybe 12 miles if you find yourself stumbling on the way back.

Hot tip: Walk out onto Pier 14 and turn around for wondrous views of the city skyline. The views are even more delightful at night with the glow of the skyscrapers’ lights.

Oddly: Rock band U2 once gave its fans a free concert at Justin Herman Plaza, and it nearly got lead singer Bono arrested. He spray-painted “Rock and roll stops traffic” onto the large, metal Vaillancourt Fountain and then-mayor Dianne Feinstein (the U.S. senator) called for his arrest. The rocker said he was sorry, thus Feinstein found what she was looking for and relented.

Nearby: At the northern end of The Embarcadero, just past Fisherman’s Wharf, continue a few blocks past the cable car turnaround to Aquatic Park. Walk onto the Municipal Pier for the best views of Alcatraz you can get without a boat. The pigeons make good props.

Good eats: The Slanted Door, at the Ferry Building, is excellent for nouveau Vietnamese. Nouveau means new and good. It’s likely to be crowded. Also highly recommended: the casual vibes and California cuisine at the legendary Fog City Diner, on the corner of Battery and Embarcadero. The iconic spot overlooking The Embarcadero has been renovated and a new menu beckons.

Getting around: The F Line street cars that run along Market Street continue onto The Embarcadero and can be a cool way to get between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf. The cars are fully restored remnants from bygone days; it’s a large and dazzling fleet of cars imported from other U.S. cities and many cities around the world.

Photo op: The clock tower on the Ferry Building. It rises nearly 250 feet high with four clock faces that are 22 feet in diameter. Get a shot with the Bay Bridge behind it, or a shot from a few blocks up Market Street.