This new "Day in the Life of San Francisco" can serve as a kind of counterpoint to this 1955 city travelogue we showed you. It's the work of the city tourism bureau, and yes, it's hard to make this town look bad in any light, but this is a particularly blue-skied example. Doesn't much look like this today! more ›

A young teen, who got lost from her tourist group, was assaulted behind some bushes in Fishermen's Wharf Tuesday night. According to reports, the victim got separated from her tourist group at around 2 a.m. During a search, police found the girl with the suspect on North Point between Taylor and Mason. more ›

We don't know who the Kaplans are, but we sure do like their style. Lauren and Michael Kaplan used edited footage from a recent trip to San Francisco to re-creating the intro to Full House, the greatest Friday night sitcom in ABC history. While it starts off with an eyebrow-cocking "San Fran" (forgive them for they know not what they do, commenters), the entire thing is delightful, humorous and well-produced. more ›

"Tourist" by Travis Jensen. more ›

Using traveler ratings for cleanliness, TripAdvisor named the 10 dirtiest hotels in the country. Oakland's Jack London Inn was honored as the second most rank hotel, following behind the Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. more ›

The news of how charmingly our local denizens treat tourists around the Wharf just keeps getting better: Mr. Aldax at the Examiner brings word today of an incident outside a local grocery store (could it have been the Safeway over there?), in which a man walked up to another man who was standing outside the store snacking, asked for directions to the nearest liquor store, and got "slugged" in the head with a bottle of salad dressing. more ›

In a new endorsement for S.F. as America's number-one tourist destination (18th year in a row, boyeee), two "transients" attacked a tourist couple near Fisherman's Wharf last week. As Mike Aldax reports in the Examiner, the male transient challenged the man to a fight while the female transient pressed a lit cigarette into the man's wife's cheek. more ›

A proposed "upscale hostel" at 7th and Market with a restaurant, basement nightclub, and two large rooftop terraces was approved by the Planning Commission last week, and once completed in 2012 it will nearly double the number of hostel beds in San Francisco from 620 to 1,106. The Grant Building at 1095 Market was originally built for office uses in 1904, and currently still has a few office and non-profit tenants who will have to vacate. The street-level facade of the building, long since altered from the original, will be restored. "This is an excellent example of adaptive re-use," said Commissioner Christina Olague. "It's always nice to see a building preserved." more ›

Two baby sea lions, whose mother gave birth to them at Pier 39 and abandoned them there for reasons unknown, have settled into their new home at Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago. They don't have names yet, but they were born in June and subsequently picked up by the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito where they were nursed for a bit and then sent to SIx Flags in Vallejo for a month before making the trip to Chicago. more ›

2010 has proven a far better year for tourism in San Francisco than the dismal year that was 2009, but tourists on average seem to be spending less. According to the Chron, hotel occupancy was up over last year for the first six months of the year, and the number of international tourists landing at SFO rose 13% in June, compared to last year -- though that big jump has a bit to do with the Great Swine Flu Scare, and several new carriers coming to town. more ›

Unbeknown to them, a gaggle of tourists went through the city's Street of San Francisco live-action experience on Sunday. See, according to ABC 7, their double-decker bus collided with a vehicle in North Beach, which rattled the wide-eyed crew. more ›

SFPD Chief George Gascon will announce today the identities and arrests of the suspects in the fatal Union Square shooting of German tourist Mechthild Schroeer, reports BCN (via SF Appeal). more ›

Just a few days after German tourist Mechthild Schroeer was killed by stray gunfire near Union Square, 21-year-old Nils Linke, who was also a tourist from Germany, was struck and killed on his bike on Masonic Avenue near Turk on Friday night. The driver fled the scene, but police were able to track him down thanks to eye witness descriptions. more ›

S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom condemned Sunday night's theater district shooting, one that killed Mechthild Schroeer, a 50-year-old German tourist. more ›

The woman who was shot and killed a little before 9 a.m. p.m. last night on Mason and Geary has been identified as Mechthild Schröer, 50, of Minden, Germany. According to SFGate, she was killed in front of her husband. Horrifying. Two other people were also injured during the gunfire, a 15-year-old boy and a 19-year-old woman, whose name have yet to be released. Police have yet to make an arrest. more ›

After spotting this "Bareback In Brazil" travel ad seen throughout San Francisco, SFist contacted LAN Airline for their side of the story. Much to our surprise, that said they had nothing to do with the double-entendre advertising campaign. Megan Haney, a spokesperson for LAN, explains: "The advertisements were published without our approval and the point of view, choice of wording and use of the LAN Airlines logo was done without our consent. We have asked that the advertisements be removed immediately." more ›

Pointy actress Gwyneth Paltrow has a lifestyle newsletter called GOOP. Why does she call it GOOP? Because she's an actress, and thus crazy. Her most recent newsletter is about San Francisco. Some of her favorite things to do while visiting Baghdad by the Bay? The Chicken Joy at Jollibee and fellatio at the Powerhouse. No, not really. Predictably, the pristine Oscar winner enjoys Slanted Door ("emphasis is on fresh and organic ingredients"), Yank Sing ("authentic Dim Sum with every dumpling choice you can imagine"), Four Barrell Coffee ("all the rage") and Four Seasons ("hit or miss"). She's also best pals with SF native and bone structure warrior, Christy Turlington. Of course. [Eater, Eye On Blogs] more ›

The USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) and the Japanese and Russian navies are in town for the week. Jim Herd at SF Citizen snapped this shot of the Bunker Hill wading in the Bay. (Be sure to visit his site to see more.) The Chronicle reports, "San Francisco will host sailors from three different navies this weekend, including a port call by a U.S. cruiser, a Japanese training squadron and a rare visit by a Russian guided missile cruiser." more ›

If a double-decker bus crashes into (audio) a curb, it gets stuck. (We realize it didn't actually "crash" into the curb, but we'll go to great lengths to make a Smiths reference.) more ›

Protesters gathered at Pier 33 yesterday to draw attention to the firing of longtime Alcatraz Cruises employee Vincent Atos, who was suspended last year over a sexual harassment complaint for being "too gay." Atos was, at the time, trying to organize a union for cruise workers and suspects this had something to do with his punishment. more ›

A NYT piece this weekend discusses the efforts to make the Tenderloin more tourist-friendly. Because, you know, T-loin residents are so welcoming. more ›

Scott Kleinberg with the Red Eye posted about the 10 dirtiest hotels in the nation as ranked by TripAdvisor, slamming San Francisco's Heritage Marina Hotel California as the filthiest of them all. more ›

"Surrounded by so many boob and beer joke tee shirts that you could almost miss it," this classic-comedy (albeit hateful) t-shirt is for sale right now at Wharf T Shirts (on Jefferson between Leavenworth and Jones) in Fisherman's Wharf. Charming, no? No. more ›

Gay.com named the winners of their annual Travel Awards. To no one's surprise, San Francisco was named Favorite Domestic Destination. Woo hoo! Gavin, of course, was equally elated. Because this means more much-needed tourist dollars. "On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, it is a great honor to be recognized as the 'Best Domestic Destination' in the US in the 2009 Gay.com Travel Awards," said Newsom. "I am proud to represent a city with so many historic firsts for the gay and lesbian community -- including the birth of the rainbow flag, home to the first openly gay men's chorus and the first LGBT chamber of commerce. We look forward to the readers of Gay.com creating their own 'only in San Francisco' experience." (Speaking of which, what's your own 'only in SF' experience, readers?) The winners (which includes the W winning Favorite Hotel Chain and London, England being named Favorite International Destination) were chosen by thousands of Gay.com's readers over the last two months. more ›

Last year's ballot measure to change the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility's name in honor of George W. Bush is undoubtedly partially responsible for the influx of tourists checking out the inner-workings of the San Francisco sewage system. Newsweek reports that offbeat (and free) destinations are increasing in popularity, as we're all becoming more budget-conscious. A commenter on Newsweek also credits Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" for demonstrating that weird and nitty-gritty places can be fun. Our most memorable field trip in middle school was when our environmental science class visited the local waste facility in the mid-80s. We were so ahead of our time! more ›

With the swine flu almost reaching pandemic levels, cruise ships that were scheduled to head down south to Mexico will instead dock at the Port of San Francisco, as well as Victoria, British Columbia, and Seattle. According to SF Chron, "there were nine ship calls scheduled in May before the flu kept the ships out of Mexico. Now 18 are scheduled" to make appearances on the waterfront. San Francisco, it seems, sees "50 to 60 cruise ship calls a year"; this year, however, we'll have 70. What does this mean? An extra $500,000 in city revenue. "It's excellent," squealed Port of San Francisco marketing director Michael Nerney. Also, in related mixed-message news, SF health officials would like you to stop overreacting to the pig sniffles, please. more ›

Casting a spell at a Qantas A380 Press Event today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom talked about Australians tourism, Summer Heights High, and Kylie Minogue. Or whatever. Needless to say, he looked smashing. As usual. more ›

Before rolling out budget cuts later this week, Mayor Newsom is helping out the local economy by asking you to do all of your holiday shopping here in San Francisco. To tempt you to get off l'internet and into the stores, a new city-wide incentive program called Shop SF, Get More will encourage SF residents to "visit, shop, and stay" in San Francisco during December and January. more ›

Oh, sure, you've seen all the coverage of Jan Gehl's plan to turn Fisherman's Wharf into something tolerable. But wouldn't you like to know more? The excellent SPUR is holding a forum TODAY about the city's plan to alleviate pedestrian-congestion by updating the neighborhood's 1950s-style freeway-inspired urban design: widening sidewalks, installing benches, and adding bike lanes, injunction be damned. After all, be honest: when's the last time you went to Fisherman's Wharf? Probably when you had out-of-town guests. more ›

Yesterday we mentioned the delightful work trip/vacation San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty and city treasurer Jose Cisneros took to Australia for Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras. Trannyshack founder Heklina was there, too. And many readers fretted about whether or not city tax dollars went to pay for this trip down under -- an excursion, it should be mentioned, that will reportedly bring in much-needed tourist dollars to SF. Anyway, according to Dufty's office: more ›