San Francisco is renowned for its ups and downs and elegant residential neighborhoods on the hills, from which you can enjoy excellent views across the bay and the urban scenery. Lombard Street on Russian Hill is one of the most famous viewpoints, and Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill is another. Its location makes it one of the places to visit in San Francisco.
Coit Tower is 210 ft tall and has stood above the city since its inauguration in 1934. The Art-deco style tower is surrounded by a nearly 5-acre park, Pioneer Park, and offers a 360-degree view of the entire city, the bay, the Golden Gate, and Alcatraz. What can you expect? A remarkable view, a tower that documents stories of protests and art, green staircases inhabited by parrots, gardens, and glimpses of San Francisco that, from up here, looks more beautiful than ever!
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Where Is It?
The Coit Tower is located at 1 Telegraph Hill Boulevard, in the northern part of San Francisco, between North Beach and the Embarcadero. It is only a 20-minute walk from Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. Because it is located on a hill, it means that the tower is clearly visible in the San Francisco skyline, which is why it is now one of the city’s top attractions and one of the most visited places in the city.
How to Get to Coit Tower
You can get to Coit Tower by car, bus, or on foot:
- Bus: Coit Tower is easily accessible by bus. You can take the Muni’s 39 Coit bus from Fisherman’s Wharf or Washington Square Park.
- Walk: If the idea of doing a bit of walking doesn’t scare you, this is the solution I recommend! You can take a scenic uphill walk along the east side of the hill and then go up the stairs on Filbert Street and past Grace Marchant Garden, or climb the stairs on Greenwich Street. Both routes, both the Filbert Street and Greenwich Street stairs, offer interesting views of the well-kept private gardens, so if you’re planning your walking route, you could consider going up one side and down the other. If you want to take it easy, on the west side of the same 2 streets (from the North Beach area) there are 2 more comfortable and less demanding entrances. Here are the details:
- The Filbert Steps start at the intersection of Sansome Street and Filbert Street, near Levi’s Plaza.
- The Greenwich Steps start from Greenwich Street, one block further north, also at the intersection with Sansome Street.
- Access from the west on Filbert Street: Located at the intersection of Filbert Street and Kearny Street. This way you will be spared much of the climb.
- Access from the west on Greenwich Street: Located at the end of Greenwich Street. It is the quickest way up to Coit Tower.
- Car: Although getting around San Francisco by car is never a good idea, I would like to point out that the winding Telegraph Hill Boulevard leads to the top of the hill. Personally I don’t advise you to drive up Telegraph Hill, because the parking spaces in the square in front of the tower are limited.
Coit Tower Murals: History
The tower is named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an eclectic lady who lived between 1843 and 1929. Famous for her disguising as a man, gambling, and for her passion and respect for firefighters, she left $125,000 in donations to beautify the city she loved so much. Lillie Hitchcock Coit is now the patroness of the San Francisco Fire Department and there are two monuments dedicated to her. One is a statue in which three firemen save a woman, and the other is Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.
The construction of the tower lasted 5 years and its inauguration took place in the autumn of 1934, a few months later than expected. When the tower became open to the public, there was quite a lot of controversy, and not only because the financier was an eccentric character, to say the least. The US Government Public Works of Art Project and the director of the Legion of Honor Museum, Dr. Walter Heil decided to commission 26 artists and their assistants to create frescoes to embellish the interior of the tower.
However, when, at the beginning of 1934, the strikes of the San Francisco dockworkers began and the commission that sponsored the Rockefeller Center censored and destroyed the work of Diego Rivera Man at the Crossroads because it was considered too ‘leftist’, even the murals of the Coit Tower became the subject of political controversy. Some of them were even repainted, while others retained elements considered at the time as opposition and protest.
Most of the murals you can admire in the Coit Tower depict scenes from the Great Depression, a time of poverty and social differences. There was animosity towards the government, especially from the poorer classes. Therefore, Coit Tower and its ‘subversive’ murals are not only a city monument but also an important historical testimony of the period in which the tower was built.
Coit Tower View
Useful Information
Below are operating hours and ticket prices for Coit Tower.
Coit Tower Hours
The operating hours of the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill are:
- 10:00 am-6:00 pm from April to October
- 10:00 am- 5:00 pm from November to March
The only way to climb the tower is by elevator, but remember that the last ride up the tower is at 5:30 pm in the summer and at 4:30 pm in the winter, so I suggest you arrive at least one hour before closing time. On Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, Coit Tower is not open to the public.
Coit Tower Tickets
Here’s the price of the tower tickets:
- $9 for adults
- $7 for seniors over 62 and for children between 12 and 17 years old
- $3 for children from 5 to 11 years old
- Free admission for children under 5 years of age
You can book a 30-40 minute tour to learn more about the 1930s murals that adorn the tower. The full tour costs $8 per person, while the limited tour of the second floor of the tower costs $5.
Where to Stay in the Area
There are plenty of accommodations on this side of San Francisco. You can choose to stay in the residential neighborhoods around Lombard Street or find a hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. Alternatively, you can choose to save some money by staying at a hotel in Chinatown. Below you’ll find an article about the best neighborhoods to find accommodations in San Francisco.
Tips on where to stay in San Francisco
