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If you only do one thing: Explore the waterfront: from the seal rocks to Golden Gate Bridge, from the Presidio to Fisherman's Wharf. You can do much of it on foot.

What's new: The Children's Center at Yerba Buena Gardens opens on Sept. 19. The highlight is Zeum, a $56 million high-tech arts and production facility for kids ages 7 to 17.

Old-faithful restaurant: The Tadich Grill, acclaimed for its seafood, has been around since Gold Rush days and is frequented at lunch by San Francisco's power crowd, who get the enclosed booths. A newer old standby lies across the bay in Berkeley, but definitely worth a visit: famed chef Alice Water's Chez Panisse. The food is seasonal, healthy and inventive. If you can't get a reservation at the restaurant, don't sweat it – the upstairs café is fabulous, and much cheaper.

Of-the-moment restaurant: This city's restaurant scene is so lively and ever-changing that it's hard to pick just one new arrival. Nancy Oakes's beautiful restaurant, Boulevard, is right on the waterfront at the Embarcadero, and the food is tasty and original. What this woman does with a fava bean could make you cry. South of Market, the lowercased asia sf is staffed by drag queens who serve you from the California-Asian menu and then get up on the bar and sing. Some nights, after 10, the restaurant becomes a gay/straight dance club.

With the kids: Kids always get a kick out of Alcatraz, a short ferry ride from Pier 41, near Fisherman's Wharf. Park rangers give entertaining tours filled with anecdotes of the former prison.

Side trip: Drive 50 miles north to visit the wineries of Napa Valley. While you're there, stop off in Calistoga for a mud bath or a swim in one of the pools filled from the town's healing hot springs.

Off-the-beaten track: Every Sunday at 11 a.m., swing bands play on the bandstand at Golden Gate Park, and swing dancers storm the dance floor. All are welcome to join in, and it's free.

Average per-night lodging rate: $205

Distance from airport to city center: From San Francisco International Airport to downtown: 15 miles; from Oakland Airport to downtown: 20 miles

Information: 800/220-5747 or 415/391-2000, http://www.sfvisitor.org

"Missing Links Alive." The California Academy of Sciences offers visitors the chance to unravel mysteries of human origin in this show, through Sept. 6. Information: 415/750-7145. "Rent." The Golden Gate Theatre's production of the hit Broadway musical loosely based on the opera "La Boheme." Through Aug. 1. Information: 415/776-1999.
• Uncabled Cars: Trolleys Offer Postcard Views Without the Tourists • Urban B&Bs: Recommended Inns in Five North American Cities • The West Restaurants; The Post's Critic Samples San Francisco • The Autumn of Love?: Looking Back 30 Years Later • To Appreciate the City, Head for the Hills on a Bicycle		• San Francisco International Airport • Public Transportation • Live Cameras • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art • Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
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