Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39San Francisco's northern waterfront — Pier 39's barking sea lions, clam chowder in sourdough, bay cruises, and Ghirardelli Square

Fisherman's Wharf grew up around the Italian fishing fleet that worked these waters in the late 1800s, and the trade still shows: sidewalk crab pots steaming Dungeness, the smell of sourdough from Boudin's century-old bakery, and the fishing boats still tied up at the inner lagoon. It's unapologetically touristy — but the clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, eaten on a foggy bench with the bay in front of you, is a genuine San Francisco rite.

The headline act is the sea lions. Hundreds of California sea lions hauled out onto the K-Dock floats at Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake and never left — barking, jostling, and basking in numbers that swell into the hundreds in winter. The Marine Mammal Center runs free interpretive talks at the dock. Around them, Pier 39 packs a hundred-plus shops, a double-decker Venetian carousel, the Aquarium of the Bay's walk-through tunnels, and the Musée Mécanique's collection of antique penny-arcade machines.

The wharf is also the jumping-off point for the water: bay cruises slip under the Golden Gate and past Alcatraz, the Alcatraz ferry leaves from nearby Pier 33, and the Hyde Street Pier's historic ships and the Powell-Hyde cable car turntable are at the western end by Ghirardelli Square. Come hungry, dress for wind and fog even in summer, and arrive earlier in the day to beat the crowds.