NORTH BEACH/TELEGRAPH HILL

North Beach/Telegraph Hill

The heart of the city's legendary Italian district is now a diverse place where you can watch Chinese residents practice their morning tai chi in Washington Square Park; take in a strip show in a club along Broadway, for the hedonistically inclined; or just sit drinking caffe latte and watching the world bustle by.

North Beach, which novelist and resident Herbert Gold calls a "glorious American bohemian operetta," is the birthplace of the beat movement. Poets and writers including Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsburg colonized this corner of San Francisco in the early '50s, and Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore (261 Columbus, at Broadway) continues to sell and publish works by little-known alternative authors.

Like Chinatown a few blocks to the south, North Beach is all about good eating. From the touristy splendor of The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant (325 Columbus Ave.) to the pleasures of piping hot focaccia bread from the Liguria Bakery (1700 Stockton St.), there are enough restaurants, bars and coffee houses here to awaken the most jaded palate.

Try a glass of wine at the legendary Vesuvio, a bar just across the alley from City Lights, or a serious cup of coffee at Caffe Trieste (609 Vallejo St.), where every Saturday Papa Gianni and Mamma Ida Giotta sing opera and Kurt Weill classics.

North Beach is one of the city's most photogenic spots, with the skyscrapers of the financial district looming to the south, the neon lights of the nightclubs along Broadway and nearby Chinatown close at hand. Day and night, weather permitting, restaurants set up tables on the sidewalks, adding to the cosmopolitan flavor of the neighborhood.

Must-see sights include the double-turreted cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (at Washington Square); San Francisco's oldest Italian restaurant, Fior d' Italia (601 Union St.); and the witty, hip Quantity Postcards (1441 Grant Ave.).

After soaking up the North Beach ambience, head up Telegraph Hill for breathtaking views of the city and the bay. Coit Tower awaits at the top of the hill; on the other side of the tower, the Greenwich Steps take you down the hill's eastern side, with still more beautiful views. High up Telegraph Hill lies the romantic Julius' Castle (1541 Montgomery St.), a restaurant with dazzling views and contemporary Italian food, perfect for a romantic evening.

To best experience North Beach and Telegraph Hill, set aside a few hours to stroll the streets and check out the galleries, creative clothing shops and second-hand bookstores. Enjoying a picnic in sunny Washington Square or a leisurely coffee in a sidewalk café is another way to get into the local spirit.