The San Francisco Bay Area is known as the home for America’s free spirits, alongside the thriving Silicon Valley. It’s comprised of a number of cities and counties, housing around 7.68 million people, and is also one of the most ecologically important habitats in California, boasting a diverse array of marine wildlife and birds.
San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge and Cityscape
The Bay Area is rich in culture (namely art, music and theatre), and also offers lots of opportunities to get involved in the local sports teams and enjoy delicious food in local eateries, so makes a perfect place to visit — no matter what you are there for.
Haight Ashbury road signs.
Officially known as the City and County of San Francisco, it is known for being the counterculture capital of the US. The city is also the financial, commercial and cultural centre of Northern California, alongside being a centre of liberal activism in the United States.
Musée Mécanique, San Francisco. Picture credit: Allison Meier
The city is a popular tourist destination, offering a wide range of things to do. We recommend trying some of the following mainstream and more alternative things in San Francisco:
Tommy's Joynt, San Francisco. Picture credit: Flickr user binkle_28
Saison, San Francisco. Picture credit: City Foodsters
Taking up the majority of the East Bay area, Alameda County’s largest city is Oakland. It is also home to Berkeley, Fremont, and Livermore.
University of California, Berkeley. Picture credit: Charlie Nguyen
Fentons Creamery, Oakland.
The beautiful Marin County can be found north of San Francisco and is known as one of the richest counties in the US. Despite this, there are lots of free and cheap activities to enjoy in the area.
Scoma's restaurant, Sausalito. Photo credit: Gary Stevens
Home to Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County is one of the most affluent places in America. The largest city in Santa Clara County is San Jose, which itself is a tech lovers paradise and home to major global technology companies such as eBay, Paypal, Adobe Systems, Western Digital, and Cisco Systems.
Android building, Googleplex, Mountain View
Jelly Belly Factory, Fairfield. Photo credit: Flickr user m01229
Apart from the main counties and cities of the Bay Area, there are lots of other things to do and enjoy, including:
Bodega Head Beach, Bodega Bay. Photo credit: Don DeBold
There are a number of airports in the San Francisco Bay Area; the largest being San Francisco International (SFO), followed by Oakland International Airport (OAK).
The majority of the Bay Area is accessible from both airports by public transport, as the area is very well served, but there are also airports at San Jose Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and Santa Rosa (Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport).
You can find domestic flights to the San Francisco Bay Area with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Sun Country Airlines, Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and more.
A wide range of international airlines fly to airports in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Norwegian, Volaris, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, and Philippine Airlines.
TAP Air Portugal will be flying between Lisbon and San Francisco International Airport from June 2019.
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