San Francisco Life and Travel Tips

(San Francisco, California - CA, USA)



San Francisco is a wonderful city to visit at any time of the year and the Bay Area of the city has an unusual collection of micro climates. This is a direct result of the famous San Francisco fog, which is often redirected by the city's many steep hills.

The city's fog can be quite an attraction and watching the fog roll in through the Golden Gate bridge, headed towards the city, is a sight well worth seeing.


Panorama of San Francisco showing the Golden Gate Bridge


Tipping

Tipping is more or less compulsory, with waiters in restaurants and taxi drivers usually being given a 10 or 20 % gratuity or thereabouts. Hotel staff, such as luggage handlers and porters happily accept a tip of one or two US dollars. Generally, no other public service workers expect tips.

San Francisco at night photo

Language

English is the most commonly spoken language in America. There are countless ways to say the same thing in the English language, so, in most cases, don't worry about trying to think of an alternative.

Places of Worship

The cosmopolitan city of San Francisco is home to a large number of different cultures and most religions have a presence. Newspapers generally list times of services for the main denominations. San Francisco contains numerous cathedrals, chapels, mosques, temples and synagogues.

Pharmacies

Most pharmacies are open from at least 09:00 until 18:00. Drugstores will usually open until 21:00 and these do have a pharmacy counter for dispensing prescriptions. Drugstores are like mini-supermarkets, with a wide range of products on sale.