10 San Francisco Guidebooks: Explore SF’s Hidden Corners

1. Lonely Planet San Francisco

Lonely Planet guides began by targeting the budget traveler and they have remained pretty true to their original mission. SF is an expensive city, so I appreciate Lonely Planet’s tips for saving money, suggestions for varied itineraries and their willingness to recommend offbeat attractions (like the Mission Murals, which celebrate the Mission’s multi-cultural history).

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101 Places in San Francisco that You Must Not Miss

by Floriana Petersen

This book thankfully ignores overhyped places like Pier 39 in favor of what they call the “B-side story of the city once romantically known as the Paris of the West”. Get full color pictures and the backstory on cool places like the Lefty O’Doul Bridge, the Leroy King Carousel, the Tenderloin National Forest and the oft overlooked, but awesome Pier 24 Photography Gallery.

This book is perfect for people who want to get way off the beaten path.

The 500 Hidden Secrets of San Francisco

by Leslie Santarina

Author Leslie Santarina is a freelance photographer and her work has taken her all over the city. Her food-centric San Francisco travel guide is informed by her daily discoveries and a local’s eye for the delicious. She calls out Tartine’s Bakery’s morning buns (which I eat nearly every time I visit the Mission, whether or not it’s morning), the best Mission burritos and why it’s worth visiting the Ferry Building.

This book is great for foodies and people who are hangry.

Citix60 San Francisco

Sixty designers, architects, chefs artists and other creatives show you their side of San Francisco. The guide includes a well-curated selection of museums, notable architecture and sculpture, cultural icons, museums and shops with beautiful photography.

This book is great for people who are into design and urban art.

Michelin Guide to San Francisco

Michelin guides have been around since 1900 and they are far more professional and reliable than Yelp and Google ratings. The San Francisco guide reviews and rates over 280 restaurants in the city, the wider bay area, and even wine country. The restaurants that they cover span a wide range of budgets, cuisines and culinary experiences.

This guide is great for people who are into elevated food experiences.

Walking San Francisco on the Barbary Coast

by Daniel Bacon

This fun little San Francisco travel guide is perfect for history buffs. It offers a detailed self-guided walking tour of the Barbary Coast, which connects twenty of SF’s most important historic sites. You can learn about San Francisco’s gold rush history, the great fire of 1906, the literary culture of North Beach, the first Asian temple in North America and much more about SF’s unique place in American history.

This book is great for people who want to explore San Francisco’s downtown core.

Infinite City

by Rebecca Solnit

Solnit is better known for her books Men Explain Things to Me and A Field Guide to Getting Lost, but this reinvention of the traditional atlas is a revelation. She visually maps the city using a series of themes such as “shipyards and sounds” or “monarchs and queens” to tie together butterfly habitats, queer sites, WWII shipyards and The Tower of Power (which bytheway played my husband’s school prom). Solnit pierces the heart of San Francisco with maps and well written text that will inspire you to think about San Francisco’s cultural make up in a fresh and foggy light.

This book is great for map nerds and people who like a sideways take on culture.

Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco

by Gary Kamiya

Kamiya’s love letter to San Francisco takes him to interesting and unexplored corners of the city. He combines in-depth reporting, city history and his own personal observations into a rambling walking tour. The book is useful as a guide to the culture and history of San Francisco, and it will also encourage you to explore more deeply into the neighborhoods that make SF so interesting.

This book is perfect for flaneurs (ie: urban strollers).

Urban Trails: San Francisco

by Alexandra Kenin

Kenin was an urbanite from New York who, upon moving to San Francisco, was shocked and delighted by the diversity of urban hiking opportunities. She now runs a hiking tour service, and this book covers her 50 favorite hikes in and around the city. I’m partial to the Land’s End hike, which has epic coastal views and a lot of San Francisco history. But this book also covers some off the radar spots like the Visitacion Valley greenway, secret stairways and Angel Island.

This book is great for people who’d rather being outside than in.

Kid’s Travel Guide: San Francisco

by Kelsey Fox and Shiela H. Leon

This San Francisco guidebook is specifically designed for kids. Parents love it as a fun way to introduce school aged kids to San Francisco. Keep the kids busy in the car or on the plane to San Francisco with trivia, quizzes, coloring pages and challenging tasks.

Perfect for harried parents.