Alamo Square - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Along the eastern side of Alamo Square Park is one of the most iconic and most photographed sights in San Francisco. These pastel-colored homes, standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the gentle slope of Steiner Street, are called the Painted Ladies. Also known as "postcard row" for their scenic beauty, these Victorian homes are a beautiful reminder of the San Francisco of old, while the gleaming downtown skyline of new San Francisco shimmers in the distance.

The War Memorial Opera House was built as a monument to San Francisco's dead from World War I. It has been the home of the San Francisco Opera since opening night in 1932. It was the site of the San Francisco Conference, the first assembly of the newly organized the United Nations in April 1945. The artists who have performed on its stage are as legendary as the building itself. The theater hosts more than sixty performances of nine operas annually.

Children's Fairyland is America's first storybook theme park, located on the shores of Lake Merritt in the heart of Oakland. It includes 10 acres of play sets, small rides, and animals. The park is also home to the Open Storybook Puppet Theater, the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States.

Buena Vista Park is a centralized public space in San Francisco that stretches across 36 acres of land, which especially provides residents in the Haight-Ashbury and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods with a place to enjoy the great outdoors, spend quality time with the family, stay active. The park is on a steep hill that peaks at 575 feet, and covers 37 acres. The lowest section is the north end along Haight.

The majestic seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. It is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is taller than that of the United States Capitol by 42 feet.

Corona Heights Park is a craggy outcropping located along Roosevelt Way. It has some of the best views in San Francisco, but don’t overlook the wonderful wildflower display that carpets the grasslands each spring.The steps leading up to the peak are not supported by handrails. The peak of the hill is windy, but it offers an unobstructed panoramic view of the city of San Francisco from downtown to the Twin Peaks.