San Francisco has been built up by some significant districts that that have helped build the city up to be a vibrant place to both live and to visit. It is more bohemian than its relative next door neighbour Los Angeles, and conveniently less sprawled out. You can walk through the different districts with ease; from China Town to Little Italy and Haight-Ashbury.

China Town dominates much of the city, and is a good first stop. The gates are located by Union Square, a huge area surrounded by giant department stores, restaurants and looming sky scraper buildings. The first Chinese settlers arrived in 1848, and gold was discovered in 1849. Since then, this community has built itself up to become an entire town within a city and is now the largest Chinese Town outside Asia. Browse through the stalls and shops selling jade elephants, fans, umbrellas, strings of semi-precious stones and slippers. There are sushi restaurants and even a Chinese MacDonald’s, with Chinese menus, and signs. Your walk will bring you past the Old St. Mary's Church, which was set up in 1853 by Father Henry Ignatius Stark as a mission. The purpose was to teach the Chinese community about the Catholic faith and it’s a historical landmark to the city. The Far East Cafe sits right across the church and is a good to stop if you want to sample traditional Schezwan food that’s been going strong since 1920.

You know Little Italy as soon as you hit it because you start to see avenues of Italian restaurants and may notice the slightly seedy change in atmosphere. This could be because there are a line of strip joints taking over a whole street, but don’t let it put you off. Little Italy also has some old and established bookshops, in particular City Lights. The famous bookshop sits on the corner of Columbus Avenue and was the focal landmark in the city for Beatnik writers and poets, like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who still runs the shop today. It’s definitely worth checking out, because it represent s a core part of 60s San Francisco, particularly its poetry room upstairs.

A bus ride away is Haight Ashbury and since 1967 – the summer of love – it has earned itself a reputation as the hangout for hippies, bohemians and musicians. Janis Joplin and The Grateful Dead were just some of its famous inhabitants. Today it is a hub of punks, fashionistas and skaters, who all congregate around the bars near Golden Gate Park, and the vintage stores that line Haight Street. The shops are worth exploring because you can get your hands on anything from top hats to rodeo cowboy boots; Haight produces endless one-offs for the wardrobe.
Try The Wasteland and Aardvark for a great selection of vintage clothing. The district has some great places to eat; you’ll find Cuban, Chinese and Mexican on offer. Try Cha Cha Cha and sample the potent Sangria and strips of plantain served at the bar. It’s a popular choice for locals and gets full quickly, so try and get there before the office crowd descends on the area.

You can fly to San Francisco’s airport and get a shuttle bus to the city, where you’ll find hotels and hostels all over Union Square. For airline tickets look at Cheapflights.com, who pool together flights and deals from the internet. There is also the Caltrain, a reliable train service that rides through the city and its outskirts.