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San Francisco Hyde Street Cable Car Turnaround

Just north of the intersection of Hyde and Beach streets, you'll find the turnaround for the Powell-Hyde San Francisco Cable Car line. If you catch one of the cable cars at they Hyde turnaround, you can ride it up Hyde Street, past the crooked block of Lombard Street, over Russian and Nob hills, passed Union Square to Powell and Market Streets. However, the lines here are often as long as the lines at the Powell and Market turnaround.

If you stand at the northwest corner of the intersection and look east, you'll see a brick building that is the corner of The Cannery. Built in 1907, the Cannery was once the world's largest peach cannery. Today, it has been converted into restaurants, shops, and a comedy club.

Also at the corner of Hyda and Beach streets, you'll find San Francisco's Buena Vista Café, which has become famous for being the first establishment in the U.S. to serve "Irish Coffee." The drink, which was first served in the café in 1952, is a mixture of whisky and coffee with a cream floater. The bartenders are very adept at making these drinks and when they have to make several at a time, they can really put on a show, so its worth stopping in for a drink. The Buena Vista Café also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

On Beach Street, there are often several street merchants displaying jewelry, San Francisco photographs and paintings, caricatures and other San Francisco souvenirs. If you stroll along these street venders, you'll also stroll along San Francisco Victorian Park, which is on your right. The part of the San Francisco Bay enclosed by the Municipal Pier and Hyde Street Pier is called the San Francisco Aquatic park. From Victorian Park, you'll have an excellent vantage point to watch sea kayakers and open water swimmers making use of the Aquatic Park.

If you continue walking along Beach Street, at the end of the block on your left is Ghirardelli Square. San Francisco Ghirardelli Square was once a chocolate factory for the Ghirardelli family. It has been converted into a small open air shopping center. Be sure to stop by the the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop (next to the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain). As you enter the chocolate shop, you'll be handed a free Ghirardelli chocolate sample, featured on the Free To Dos page.

Other nearby attractions include the Hyde Street Pier and the National Maritime Museum, also featured on the Free To Dos page. The Maritime National Park is located at the Hyde Street pier. You can walk along the pier and view the historical ships for free. For a small fee, you can purchase a pass that allows you to board some of the ships. You'll see a scooner and a steam ferry boat from the 1800s as well as several ships from the early 1900s. After your walk along the pier, stroll over to the ship shaped building and enter the Maritime Museum (also free).