Stairway Walks in San Francisco: The Joy of Urban Exploring

I have heard for years about the Moraga Stairs which are a feature on the cover of the book. I have always wanted to see and walk them first hand. Two weeks before having a knee replacement surgery, my three vigorous and restless grandchildren came to spend their two week spring break with us. I figured before allowing this worn out yet still usable knee to go to landfill I'd give it one last blow out. We rented an AirBnB in San Francisco near the Moraga Stairs. It was a fabulous walk and from the house including the entire Moraga Stairs and back to the house we went 17,999 steps! One amazing walk!!! You gotta get this book! The second day we did the Potrero Hill walk including checking out the glass chard wall in the court yard of the old recycle building, going into the bookery and letting the kids play at the playground, walking up the 'true' crookedest street!! Adah knows how to put together an interesting walk full of beauty and features both decorative and social and historical events that help you to identify your area from the time it was just a plot of land to its development. The walks were interesting to all ages. We cannot wait till my knee surgery is healed and can start the next 29 Stairway walks!!

I love these urban hikes. They are always the perfect length for me - usually they take me around 2 hours at my rather slow pace. I'm slow to begin with, and I also spend time reading every word and appreciating every detail and more as I walk. I love getting to learn lots of interesting San Francisco history and getting to know beautiful spots in the city I might never have discovered on my own. And I absolutely love views - so these hikes are all perfect for me, as views are guaranteed, and guaranteed to be spectacular. There's lots of attention to details such as architectural details of houses built in different time periods and by different architects, as well as wonderful neighborhood gardens, benches, statues, plaques, stained glass windows, turrets and other architectural features, etc.

Wonderful detailed guide to more than 30 stairway walks plus variations. A terrific way to enjoy both famous and lesser known San Francisco neighborhoods and views while getting great cardio exercise. Best to read in advance and map out your route electronically rather than try to read the paperback while climbing stairs.However, someone needs to write a pamphlet or blog post guide to clean public bathrooms along each of the routes. There is good guidance on parking but no mention of necessary facilities: drinking fountains or bathrooms which is my only reason for less than 5 stars.

I love the walks in this book and I love being inspired to explore new areas of the city. I took 2 stars off for usability because I just so wish the walk descriptions included km/miles or time estimates - i usually have a finite amount of time and want to do the longest walk I can during that time. There descriptions are extremely detailed & I crave some practical summary info.

A wonderful guide. I've had this book and used it for many year hiking the stairways of SF. I continue to enjoy new walks whenever I have extra time in the City. I like it so much that I bought this copy for a friend. We live about 1 hr away from San Francisco, but make day trips there often. This book is a great way to fill in some spare hours between other activities. Gives you a chance to get some exercise, see great views and little known corners plus learn something about the history and culture of various neighborhoods.

It's a great book, but it would be helpful to list approximate time it takes for each walk and a level of difficulty from 1 to 5. I like how she goes by neighborhood and tells how you can connect one walk to another. I've only taken 2 so far, but am eager to try them all!

I had the 1984 edition of this book that I tried to use a few months ago when I was in "The City." Interesting how much buildings had changed in the Nob Hill area. Looking forward to going back and using the newest edition. For a walker, like I am, it's a fascinating way to explore.

Lucky us. We have a small place in Sf. We walk regularly, often just roaming, sometimes with a walk from our many books. This book has new walks in new areas but even familiar walks take you a slightly different way. Best way to enjoy Sf is get out of the tourist areas and walk.

Für unsere Reise habe ich mir die Kindle-Version aufs Handy geladen und hatte so stets alle Infos griffbereit. Außerdem kann man in der Datei noch einfacher suchen als in der Papierkopie. Wer sich die Zeit nehmen möchte, kann die Stairway Walks durch San Francisco genau so gehen wie beschrieben. Eilige können gezielt bestimmte Treppen auswählen. Die Navigation im Buch ist hervorragend: Inhaltsverzeichnis nach Stadtteilen; umfangreicher Index; Appendix mit Liste aller Treppen inkl. Rating 1 - 5 hinsichtlich Lage, Höhe, Steilheit, Schönheit und Kombination dieser Faktoren. Jede Tour ist nach der gleichen Systematik aufgebaut: ausführliche Beschreibung u. a. die historische Entwicklung des Stadtteils, eine Kurfassung der Tour, Karte, Liste der einzelnen Treppen, einige s/w-Fotos sowie Infos über Bus-Linien und Parkmöglichkeiten für die Anfahrt. Auf unseren Ausflügen durch die Stadt haben wir einige der beschriebenen Walks gestreift. Alle haben uns zu wunderschönen, grandiosen oder überraschenden Aussichten über die Stadt geführt, die wir ohne das tolle Buch von Adah Bakalinsky niemals entdeckt hätten. Ich kann es deshalb wärmstens weiterempfehlen.