Rough Guides One of America"s most beautiful cities (and one whose locals are not afraid to harp on the claim), San Francisco sits poised on the 47-square-mile fingertip of a peninsula at the western edge of America. Indeed, the city has much to gloat about, not least the breathtaking natural beauty that surrounds it - from rugged coastline and tranquil Bay waters to rambling, fog-capped hills and dense, unspoiled woods. Along the steep streets of the city itself rest a cluster of distinct neighborhoods - by turn quaint or hip, lined by rows of preserved Victorian houses or dotted with chic clubs in converted warehouses. Residents like to think of their home as the cultured Northern counterpart to sunny Los Angeles, mass entertainment capital of Southern California, and to an extent they"re right - this was the place that gave birth to the United Nations and is forever associated in the public consciousness with the Beat literary and gay rights movements. Still, San Francisco is undeniably...