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(CNN) -- You'll forget the fog, the chilly summer days and the exhausting hills. What will lure you back to San Francisco, again and again, is the alluring mystique that makes it one of the world's most popular travel destinations.
The beloved "City by the Bay" covers a compact area on the tip of a 30-mile peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay on the northern California coast.
San Francisco's reputation as a dining, sight-seeing and cultural mecca is well-deserved. The city purportedly has more restaurants than any other in the United States, featuring almost every cuisine imaginable. A renowned opera house, symphony and ballet, along with a multitude of bars and clubs, make up its diverse night life.
The city is divided into distinct districts, making it fairly easy for visitors to learn their way around. Haight-Ashbury, SoMa (South of Market), Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach are a few notable micro-cities among the maze of one-way streets. San Francisco boasts three great parks in relatively close proximity -- the Presidio, Lincoln Park and Golden Gate Park.
San Francisco is famous for its two Bay bridges. The Golden Gate Bridge, opened in 1937, links San Francisco to Marin County. The almost two-mile span was built to withstand winds of up to 100 mph. The six-mile San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was completed in November 1936.
San Francisco is easy to explore on foot, despite its steep hills. Three world-famous cable car lines cost just $2 one-way on the Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde or California routes. Trying to navigate the city by car can be a nightmare due to traffic, more than 40 steep hills and a lack of parking spaces.
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