Take a ride on a cable car

One of the most popular things to do as a visiting tourist to SF is to ride the world famous cable cars.  Even though I have lived in the Bay Area my entire life, I have never ridden one until recently.  I must admit, it was pretty cool.  But at $6 a one-way ride, it is not an economical option to get around the city.  There are special 1 day, 3 day and even 7 day passes available for buses and cable cars if one plans to ride public transportation during their visit.

A long line of people waiting to board.  This is the turnaround in downtown San Francisco, which is probably the most popular place to board.  It is located at Powell Street and located near the shopping district plus an underground subway / train station.  We waited in line about 40 minutes and it was a Wednesday morning.  Who knows how long the wait is on the weekend.

Once the cable car arrives, it has to be pushed manually from one set of tracks to the other.  Then it stops in front of the loading point and riders are allowed to board.  There are actually two separate lines that originate from the Powell Street turnaround.  One is the Powell-Mason line and the other is the Powell-Hyde line.   Both stop near Fisherman's Wharf but at different places and take different routes.  We decided to take the Powell-Hyde line because it travels down the very steep hill on Hyde Street.

The view of  Union Square from aboard the cable car.  

The famous St. Francis Drake Hotel in downtown San Francisco.

One of the reasons we chose to ride the Hyde Street line is because it passes the top of Lombard Street.  

Looking down Hyde Street from inside the cable car.  

These two photos were taken on the street, not from inside the cable car and from two different angles, but they show how steep the hills are in parts of San Francisco.  Yes, we walked up that hill!  

The end of the line, at the bottom of Hyde Street.