Rapidly approaching gentrification, the once hippified Haight, of 1960s “Summer of Love” fame, is chockablock with vintage clothing stores, internet cafes, trendy galleries and shops. Some of the larger Victorian mansions are now luxurious bed-and-breakfast inns, notably the Archbishop’s Mansion Inn, crowned by a 16-foot-tall stained-glass dome; and the Victorian Inn on the Park, a Queen Anne beauty built in 1897.
Site
of the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair in June, the Upper Haight, from
Stanyan to Masonic, is upscale, where everything from fishnet bodysuits
to stiletto heels and all-the-rage Babyphat accessories can be found.
The Lower Haight, Divisidero to Webster, remains a diverse, alternative-style
neighborhood with music shops and nightclubs, tattoo parlors and tie-dyed
T-shirt and retro punk shops.
The shop called Costumes on Haight is the best place in town to rent Halloween getups and outfits for Mardi Gras and Carnival. Movie fans love the Red Vic Movie House where they can lounge on sofas, munch on organic snacks and watch cult and independent films. All you need is a giant veggie burrito at All You Knead diner; or fish tapas at Cha! Cha! Cha!, a wildly colorful Caribbean restaurant famous for barbecued pork quesadillas. On a hill near the panhandle of Golden Gate Park, the high vantage point of Buena Vista Park gives great views of the Haight and the city.
| The article on this page is adapted from guidebooks written by Karen Misuraca, the author of Our San Francisco, Fun With the Family in Northern California, and other travel books. Available for purchase on Amazon. |  |