Little Italy..!

North Beach is another fascinating area that you have to visit in San Francisco as a tourist or resident, is also known as the little Italy because the strong influence from Italians in the 1800’s. It’s located between Fisherman’s Wharf and China Town, starting on Grant Ave., continuing on Columbus Ave, and finishing in Fisherman’s Wharf. With lot restaurants, shops and bars, North beach also has interesting places to visit.

Before start planning your day, I will recommend you to take public transportation to get into this amazing area of San Francisco because there’s not much street parking over there and parking garages are not as expensive as in Downtown, you can find parking rates for $3 the hour, but still sometimes it can be complicated because usually car spaces in garages are crowded. The most recommendable route to take is the 30 bus that can takes you from China Town to North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf and Marina, or you can also play to be a tourist in your city and take the cable car to get there, which I don’t really recommend because is $6 one way, so it won’t be the cheapest and fastest way to get there.

The Coit Tower is really famous in North Beach because it has an amazing view of San Francisco and great murals but unfortunately it’s not free, it’s $7.00 per person. I won’t say it’s worth that but I think is a basic experience from San Francisco and a good place to appreciate the city.

Another thing that you can do in North Beach is visit the Saints Peter and Paul Church, which is really amazing just be there, just the sensation that gives you when you walk into the church. It is an elegant church and has an impressive architecture; I would say that is the perfect church where most of the Catholics brides want to be married.

If by this time of your day you are tired, you can walk on Washington Square Park and relax, seat on the grass and observe the local people walking their dogs or tourists taking pictures.

Now can be time for lunch or dinner, don’t worry, North Beach has lots of places where to eat. Some good places that I can recommend you are Trattoria Contadina Restaurant. It has really good food but is not cheap, the size of the portions are really good and enough for one person; and  Calzone  which is a good pizza place where you can have a good lunch or dinner and relax, enjoy drinks and food on outside tables.

Time for a bar? Well, North Beach has lot of bars to choose but one that you definitely can't miss is the Columbus Bar, which has cheap drinks, good music and friendly staff. What else you can ask for? You just need good friends to have good time with. However, there is also the Gino and Carlo bar, I haven’t been there but I have really good references about this place, so I’ll definitely check it out or otherwise, I accept comments if anyone reading this had been there.

If you are looking for something funnier, there is also the Cobb’s Comedy Club that offers comedy shows, drinks and food, everything together. How fun..!

In general I think North beach is a good place to spend your day after noon; there is nothing really happening in the morning but be prepared to stay there until late night and enjoy.