San Francisco is easily one of the most unique cities in the states with it’s iconic hills, architecture, and colorful buildings. These factors also make San Francisco a very Instagrammable city to visit. There are photo opp’s around every corner! I’ve been to San Francisco four times now, so I have a pretty good grasp on the different areas around San Fran. So I thought I would make a guide with the most Instagrammable areas AND restaurants around the city!

Places

Russian Hill

There are several hills around the city, but the Russian Hill area has some of the prettiest views. I love these street shots with all the buildings going up the hill in the background. This was actually taken at the bottom of Lombard Street which is technically closer to the Little Italy area, but you can find views like this all over the Russian Hill area.

Little Italy

These photos were taken in the Little Italy area of San Francisco. We only had a little bit of time here, but there are a ton of cool spots in this neighborhood. Lots of flowers and pretty buildings to shoot photos with! It’s also very close to Coit Tower, Washington Square Park, and the beautiful Saints Peter and Paul Church.

Lombard Street

Lombard Street is an iconic spot to for tourists to visit. It’s a street that zig zags down a hill into downtown with pretty homes lining both sides. There are a ton of tourists walking around and taking photos in the area but it’s definitely still worth visiting. We were lucky enough to visit in the summer while all the flowers were still in bloom! It was SO pretty. I took tons of different shots from several areas on Lombard Street.

Golden Gate Bridge

Another iconic San Francisco spot! There is just something about the Golden Gate Bridge that just looks amazing on camera. There are tons of areas to take cool photos of the Golden Gate from. I shot the first couple photos from the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point on the Sausalito side of the bridge. Then we walked onto the bridge for a few photos and drove up to the top of Conzelman Road for the sunset.

Chinatown at night in the first two photos!

Chinatown

When I visited San Francisco with my family for the first time, I was really young and I remember visiting Chinatown and thinking it was so cool and colorful! My parents bought me a kimono and slippers at one of the shops and ever since I have always loved visiting Chinatown in every city. Chinatown was really close to our hotel so we got to walk around at night and see all the lights which was really cool! We also visited during the day time for a little photo shoot. I love the graffiti art in the neighborhood too!

Alamo Square

Yet another iconic San Francisco spot! This strip of houses is famous for being in the intro of the TV show Full House. There are a lot of spots to shoot photos from here. The lighting was kind of weird when we visited so we didn’t get a ton of photos, but I did get some shots on the sidewalk right next to the houses. The hill is another area to shoot from!

Outer Sunset Neighborhood

The Outer Sunset area has a ton of really cute colorful homes for photos. We visited two different days because it was perfect for blog/Instagram photos. It’s a really big neighborhood with a few different styles of homes depending on which area you are in. You can walk or drive around the neighborhood!

Marina District

The Marina District is another pretty neighborhood to explore. There are a ton of colorful, Victorian style homes and beautiful flowers to admire. We were walking around the residential area of the Marina District, but it’s close to the Pier, Giradelli Square and more!

Restaurants

Sightglass Coffee

We stopped by the Mission District Sightglass Coffee location for a late afternoon pick me up. It’s a really cute spot with pretty interiors and good coffee!

NOTE: Be careful if you visit the Mission District, my blogger friend Tonya got her car broken into and my backpack and laptop were stolen. We were told after the fact that cars are broken into pretty much anywhere in San Francisco. I guess it’s a really big problem that the city is not making tourists aware of. Of course this is a risk in any city you visit so please, if you are driving while visiting a city, don’t leave anything in your car!!

The Riddler

The Riddler is a cute champagne bar in Hayes Valley. They serve really yummy small dishes too! I loved the chic, classy interiors too; beautiful wood furniture, marble table tops, and a gorgeous black and white print on the wall. We had a tasty champagne flight and several small dishes like the one pictured above.

Flores

We had the most amazing meal at this beautiful restaurant! Flores serves traditional Mexican dishes with delicious flavors that taste incredibly fresh. My favorite dishes were the Flautas and the Mexican street corn (you have to try that one!). I love the unique interiors of the restaurant as well. The whole vibe is really cool! Our waiter was amazing as well. If you like photographing food and restaurant interiors, Flores is perfect!

Le Colonial

Le Colonial is a very unique restaurant in the Financial District. I loved eating on the beautiful outdoor patio! There is a ton of seating inside the main restaurant as well but I loved getting the chance to eat outside. Our appetizers were delicious and the main course was great as well. For dessert, we had a flight of several different options which I really enjoyed! We got to try a little bit of everything. They have a really cool bar and balcony are upstairs too.

Le Marais

Le Marias is a beautiful cafe in the Castro District neighborhood of San Francisco. It’s a really cute spot for coffee and brunch, both of which were amazing! I love the Parisian look of the front of the building, the beautiful bar, and cute interiors. It’s the perfect spot for cute photos for Instagram! They have several other locations as well but we really wanted to visit this spot because of the beautiful store front.

I hope you found this blog post helpful! There are so many other spots and restaurants but these are some of my favorites. If you are looking for a hotel to stay at, check out my review of the Tilden Hotel in dowtown San Francisco. It’s very instagammable as well 😉

HOTEL

The Clift Hotel

We stayed at the Clift Hotel in downtown San Francisco. The location of the hotel is perfect! It’s close to so many of the main tourist sites in San Francisco. Our room had a ton of natural lighting and minimalistic decor which is perfect for photos.

XOXO