Walking Tour of Nob Hill - Cable Cars Luxury Hotels French-Gothic Cathedral

Walking Tour of Nob Hill - Cable Cars Luxury Hotels French-Gothic Cathedral

When Robert Louis Stevenson visited San Francisco in 1879, he declared, "Nob Hill, the Hill of Palaces, must certainly be counted the best part of San Francisco. It is here that millionaires gathered together, vying with each other in display". My Nob Hill tour is a 2-hour walking photo-shoot tour that starts with a Cable Car ride and a visit to a French Gothic Cathedral and ends at the Top of the Mark on the 19th floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel for photographs and beverages at sunset.
Some of the historic hotels we’ll see include the Ritz-Carlton, the Stanford Court, the Fairmont Hotel, the Huntington Hotel and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. All hotels have amazing seasonal decorations but we'll only go inside of the Fairmont and the Mark Hopkins hotels. Due to seasonal events and Christmas parties there may be some restrictions but I try to find out in advance and communicate about them before I accept the tour.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Cable Car Museum, 1201 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94108-1071

We'll ride a cable car (not go to the museum!) on the California Street Cable Car Line. If everyone is on time we'll take some photos with parked cable cars. Each ride is $7.00 but a MUNI Mobile all-day pass is $12.00. We ride up California Street to Nob Hill.

Duration: 20 minutes

Pass By: Financial District, Financial District, San Francisco, California

Beaux Arts Architecture, the oldest restaurant in San Francisco, Wells Fargo Bank, 555 California, much more.

Pass By: Chinatown, Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108

Grant Street is the oldest street in San Francisco, Chinese lanterns, Edwardian buildings with Pagoda enhancements, Old Saint Mary's Cathedral

Stop At: Huntington Park, California St - Cushman St Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA 94108

The holiday lights on all the trees are red and green. The Fountain of the Turtles is a copy of 16th century Fontana delle Tartarughe located in Piazza Matteo in the Sant'Angelo district of Rome. Architect Giacomo Della Porta and sculptor Taddeo Landini built the original between 1580 and 1588. The replica was made in the early 1900s and donated to Huntington Park by the Crocker heirs in 1955.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108-2244

Grace Cathedral is the 3rd largest Episcopal Church in the United States. The French Gothic Architecture, Ghiberti Doors, ecumenically themed murals and stained-glass windows call for dramatic or pensive expressions. The vaulted ceilings may transport you to another side of the globe. For myself, different aspects of Grace Cathedral remind me of the Cologne Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris and Reims Cathedral. With a little help from my friend, Archivist Michael Lampen, I’ve had the privilege of photographing a number of fascinating areas in the Cathedral including the Bell Tower, the sacristy and the Columbarium.

Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA 94109

The Fairmont Hotel
The Fairmont Hotel was built between 1902 and 1907 in honor of James Graham Fair who made a fortune mining silver and gold in Nevada’s Comstock Lode during the 1860s. After we pass by the statue of Tony Bennett and enter the magnificent ‘beaux arts” lobby of the Fairmont Hotel we will walk over to the Roof Garden looking out over North Beach onto San Francisco and Suisun Bay. We then work our way back to the lobby and the “Christmas Gingerbread House”. We’ll see the 1933, Timothy Ludwig Pflueger designed Cirque Bar which was the first bar to open in the City following the repeal of Prohibition. I always enjoy stopping in on proprietor and “master product presenter”, Sultan, at Charisma Crafts where you’ll be amazed at the exquisitely beautiful detail on fabrics that take years to handcraft into garments. If we’re lucky we’ll get to spend a minute with the “First Concierge in America” and Fairmont Hotel historian, Tom Wolfe.
Top of the Mark
Our tour ends on the 19th floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, “Top of the Mark” for "no host" beverages and photos at sunset. The Mark Hopkins Hotel guests have included leading statesmen, royalty, and celebrities, such as, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson (who required a personal chef to prepare his vegetarian meals) and The Rolling Stones (who took two entire floors for themselves and their entourage). As much as I love history, it’s the view at Top of the Mark that keeps me coming back to try to get the perfect photo at sundown and early “blue hour".

Duration: 45 minutes