Neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco that roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street

General Information

Hours:

OPen daily 10am to 10pm

Fees:

No entrance fees

Pet Policy:

Pets allowed but are prohibited in buildings

Closest cities with hotels:

San Francisco

Seasons:

Seasons: All year

Location:

Website:

Rating:

★ 5.0

How to Get There

Head northeast on Market St toward S Van Ness Ave. Turn right onto 11th St. Turn right onto Mission St. Turn right onto S Van Ness Ave. Turn right onto Filbert St. Turn left onto Hyde St. Turn right onto Beach St.

Overview

Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street.

History

San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf gets its name and neighborhood characteristics from the city's early days of the mid to later 1800s when Italian immigrant fishermen came to the city to take advantage of the influx of population due to the gold rush. Most of the Italian immigrant fishermen settled in the North Beach area close to the wharf and fished for the local delicacies and dungeness crab. From then until the present day the wharf remained the center of operations for San Francisco's fishing fleet. Despite its redevelopment into a tourist attraction during the 1970s and 1980s, the area is still home to many active fishermen and their fleets.

Attractions and characteristics

One of the busiest and well known tourist attractions in the western United States, Fisherman's Wharf is best known for being the location of Pier 39, the Cannery Shopping Center, Ghirardelli Square, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, the Musée Mécanique, Wax Museum at Fishermans Wharf, and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Seafood restaurants are plentiful in the area, including the floating Forbes Island restaurant at Pier 39 to stands that serve fresh seafood. Some of the restaurants, including Fishermen's Grotto, Pompei's Grotto and Alioto's, go back for three generations of the same family ownership. Other restaurants include chains like Applebee's and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Other attractions in Fisherman's Wharf area are the Hyde Street Pier (part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park), the USS Pampanito, a decommissioned World War II era submarine, and the Balclutha, a 19th-century cargo ship. Nearby Pier 45 has a chapel in memory of the "Lost Fishermen" of San Francisco and Northern California.

There is a sea lion colony next to Pier 39. They "took-up" residence months before the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. The sea lions lie on wooden docks that were originally used for docking boats.

Fisherman's Wharf plays host to many San Francisco events, including a fireworks display on the Fourth of July and some of the best views of the Fleet Week air shows featuring The Blue Angels.

Pier 45

The USS Pampanito (SS-383) and SS Jeremiah O'Brien are National Historic Landmarks, preserved as a memorial and museum ships as part of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association located at the Wharf.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0