Walk from Union Square to Ghirardelli square through Ferry Building, Pier 39 & Fishermen Warf || California Diaries
In San Francisco, we were staying in Hilton which is very well located at Union Square. Union Square is well placed in the city and close of some of popular places like Pier-39, Ferry Building, Fishermen's Warf, China Town, Ghirardelli square, Explotarium, Bay bridge etc. During one of the days, we planned to walked down to Ferry building and then moved across the piers to hit Fishermen's warf. This Photo Journey shares more about this interesting walk and few tips, if you plan to do so.
We walked to cable car station of Union Square and from here you can see the Ferry building. We planned to walk down to Ferry building. One can also take Muni or bus which costs $2.25. It was 10-15 minutes walk.
This whole walk is through some of the highest buildings in San Francisco city. This street has some interesting restaurants if you are someone who like exploring different types of food. We also noticed a Chai kiosk. We wanted to stop for a sip of chai, but skipped.
We hit this beautiful Ferry building at the end of this street. The Ferry building has some interesting shops inside. As we headed towards the building, we came across a group of 20-25 kids doing various stunts on skateboards. We paused for a while, watched them and moved ahead. For a while the famous show 'Science of Stupids' came to my mind :).
Just behind the Ferry building, there is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. There are quite a few benches around this place and folks can be seen reading books or spending peaceful time on bay side. During some specific days, farmer's market is organized at the same space.
A ferry starts from Ferry building to Sausalito and we noticed lot of folks taking this ferry. The other day we went towards Sausalito & Sonoma, which are very beautiful neighborhoods overlooking the bay and some parts of San Francisco.
After spending some time on the back side of Ferry building, we went inside and checked some shops. They were selling some interesting stuff. Also this building has some popular restaurants.
Now we headed towards Explotarium, which is another interesting place. This is a must go place, especially when kids are accompanying you. We also visited the Explotarium shop, which has some interesting stuff. I bough spy glasses for my nephew. Through these you can see things behind you :). And a submarine which does some action in water when you put soda powder in it's chamber.
We headed towards Peir-39, which was full of private and club boats parked across the pier.
The famous Aquarium of the Bay is situated on Peir-39 and there is a good market around the same. I didn't go inside the Aquarium as per feedback from other folks. It seems that aquarium is smaller as compared to the one in monterey. Probably I will visit it next time :)
Pier-39 is most happening pier in San Francisco. Lot of street shows keep happening along the road in front of Pier-39. There is a place on Pier-39 from where sea lions can be seen.
Someone told me that Hard Rock cafe at Pier-39 is the first one, but it's not. (ref - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Rock_Cafe)
There were few performances happening outside Hard Rock cafe. We headed towards the deck from where sea lions can be seen. This part of is usually very crowded although these sea lions are very lazy and there is hardly any action there :).
It's just 2 minutes walk from Hard Rock cafe to the place where Sea lions can be seen. These sea lions are usually very lazy, so don't expect any action out there.
Sea lions can mostly be seen on these wooden decks floating in water. It was a perfect day in San Francisco to try my favorite star-effect shot :).
From this deck, you can enter into the Pier-39 market from where you can buy some souvenirs although I found this market a bit expensive, because same stuff was available in Union Square at relatively cheaper rates. There is another market across the Peir-39 which didn't seem to be a trusted place to buy anything. I asked the cost of Nikon D750 and I was told the 1/2 price which I was getting on Union Square. For a moment I was extremely happy but then I had doubts about the deal, and moved on.
We also took Golden Gate Ferry and then continued the walk.
In the middle of Pier-39 market, there is place for kids and a magic show was going on when we visited this market.
We spent some time in this market and then headed towards Fishermen Warf and to Ghirardelli square.
At Ghirardelli square, there is a nice green space where you can sit and enjoy beautiful views of bay and Golden Gate bridge. After grabbing some chocolates, we took cable car to go to out hotel at Union Square. We enjoyed every bit of this walk.
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