CityPASS San Francisco articles

San Francisco and Monterey, California are only 110 miles apart. Hardly much of a drive, a little under two hours is all. Winter months are some of the best for venturing up and down this stretch of the California coastline. Here are just a few events and places you might want to check out when you find yourself visiting San Francisco attractions or in the smaller hamlets of Pacifica, Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz.

With the upcoming Hanukkah holiday in mind, we would like to show you some of the biggest, brightest, and most festive menorah lighting ceremonies around the U.S. Whether you're Jewish by faith, by birth, or not at all, the cultural significance of these ceremonies is something that can be enjoyed by all. Happy Hanukkah!

Do you know the difference between a cable car and a trolley. Which one runs on the overhead wire and which one runs on the track? Which one is the Rice-A-Roni mobile? Here is some expert advice from our friends at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (or “Muni” as it’s known).

Just an hour north of San Francisco’s main attractions, a world away from clanging streetcars, sightseeing hordes and traffic jams, there’s Point Reyes National Seashore, where visitors can wander in solitude, view wildlife, feel the ocean’s spray, and get back to nature. Here, guests can spot migrating gray whales in the winter or hear the bugling of mating tule elk in the late summer. Plus, there’s no entry fee.

One of the world's most notorious and best known prisons, over the years, Alcatraz housed some 1,545 of America's most ruthless criminals including Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. "Doc" Barker, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate).

Born and bred in the Bay Area usually means growing up ignoring San Francisco’s cable cars. Read about one woman’s reasons for changing her mind about these charming transit vehicles as she sheds some light on the most misunderstood of SF icons, the trolley.