Cable Cars

San Francisco's cable cars are the last manually operated cable car system in the world, and they're a genuine piece of living history rather than a tourist gimmick. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 — the only moving landmark in the United States — they've been threading through the city's hills since Andrew Hallidie launched the first line on Clay Street in 1873. The system runs three lines today: the Powell-Hyde, the Powell-Mason, and the California Street line, each offering a different slice of the city.

Riding one is a fully physical experience. You stand on the running boards and hang off the side as the car climbs and descends grades that would make most transit systems nervous — Powell-Hyde in particular crests Russian Hill and drops toward Aquatic Park with views that genuinely stop people mid-conversation. Inside the wooden cars, gripmen work a mechanical grip that physically grabs an underground cable moving at a constant 9.5 mph, requiring real skill and muscle. The turntable at Powell and Market is its own small spectacle, where staff and sometimes enthusiastic visitors physically push the car around by hand before it heads back up the hill.

The address near Taylor Street puts you close to the northern terminus at Aquatic Park, which is a great place to board — lines here are typically shorter than at Powell and Market. A single ride costs $8 and is covered by Muni day passes, which makes the economics easy if you're planning to use public transit anyway. Go early morning on weekdays to avoid the worst queues, and consider the California Street line if the Powell lines are backed up — it's less famous but equally charming and runs through the quieter Financial District and Nob Hill.