San Francisco is one of the largest cities in the state of California, San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States of America. A popular city holiday break across America and Europe there are close airline links with the rest of the world, allowing most people to easily access a holiday here through the San Francisco airport. San Francisco is famous for a number of landmarks and tourist attractions including the famous Golden Gate Bridge, the Waterfront, Alcatraz, Golden Gate park, China town and The Exploratorium. This gives the tourist the opportunity to explore the typical touristy days out or simply delve into the city and look at what the local culture is, the shops and the food. Car hire when travelling around this city is definately something to consider, if you are going to explore all it has to offer it will mean easy transport from the airport and little need to rely on public transport or directions from locals. The are a number of companies offering hire cars directly from the airport at a range of budgets.
San Francisco Airport information
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is thirteen miles to the south in San Mateo County. The airport resides in both the city and county jurisdictions. The airport is in closer proximity to San Bruno and Millbrae than the heart of San Francisco. The largest airline to use San Francisco's port is United Airlines. SFO has the largest international terminal in all of North America. It was built on a landfill in the San Francisco Bay. Delays were a severe problem in the 1990's when SFO was the sixth busiest airport in the world and there was a need for an additional landing strip, but traffic declined after the turn of the century. SFO is now approximately the 26th busiest airport in the world, servicing over thirty-three million passengers per year. As with any busy and thriving airport, you can find cheap car hire in San Francisco when you land for a visit. The present airport has four terminals and seven concourses, and in 2008 was rated as the best airport in North America. There are constant improvements administered to the sprawling airport area, and SFO offers visitors places to shop, eat, and bank all within the confines of the terminal area.
Places to visit around San Francisco
No visitor to San Francisco should miss seeing the Golden Gate Bridge in person. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world on its completion in 1937, and it connects San Francisco on the peninsula to Marin County. One of the best ways to see the bridge is to get a car hire in San Francisco and drive across it. Another must do experience is a ride on one of San Francisco's famous cable cars. Some people come to San Francisco for sporting events such as those highlighting the San Francisco 49ers football team. In the 1980's and 90's, this long running NFL franchise earned five Super Bowl wins. Since 1958, the Giants have been the major league baseball team of the city, and they obtained their first World Series victory in 2010. No other city can boast anything comparable to the performing arts inner structure of San Francisco, sometimes referred to as "The Paris of the West." Bill Graham was instrumental in the 1960's in bringing many of the pop culture musicians to The Fillmore, which is enjoying a revival at this time. One of the bay area's primary sources of income is the tourist trade generated by the many appearances of San Francisco in television and film. Some people come to the bay for business because San Francisco is the center of banking on the west coast; it is currently ranked 15th among the top 20 Global Financial Centers. The bay area's Alcatraz Island, also referred to as "The Rock," is something many people associate with "Frisco." It has served as a lighthouse, a military fort and prison, and then a federal prison, closing in 1963 due to the expense to operate the facility, the building erosion caused by the bay's salt water, and the sewage pollution created by the island's inhabitants. Alcatraz is now a national recreation area operated by the NPS (National Park Service) with a ferry providing transportation from San Fran's Fisherman's Wharf.
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