San Francisco is famous for offering shopping possibilities for every budget. It features some of the best shopping centers in the world, so it's no wonder that tourists and serious shopaholics want to spend some time and money in San Francisco. Take this walking tour to enjoy the pleasures of shopping in some of the most famous districts in San Francisco, like North Beach, Russian Hill, Union Square and Telegraph Hill.
1) North Beach
North Beach is considered to be The Little Italy of San Francisco. Of all the districts in San Francisco, this one seems to be the most lively and spectacular, being full of specialty and unique gift shops, European inspired boutiques, and Italian restaurants and cafes.
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2) Chestnut Street
Chestnut Street is composed of a diverse mix of shops, restaurants, coffee houses and services. Here visitors will find amazing shoe boutiques like Rabat, that features trendy but functional footwear, and specialty shops like Blue Bird, a gift shop carrying kitschy gifts like porcelain dolls and over-sized potato heads.
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3) Polk Street
The history of Polk Street is almost as old as San Francisco itself. This street is one of the most diverse shopping neighborhoods in San Francisco. It features hundreds of shops selling books, videos, lingerie, clothes, shoes, gifts, and nearly everything imaginable.
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4) Chinatown
San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia and the oldest Chinatown in North America. It provides a large assortment of authentic markets, an astounding abundance of varied merchandise at consistently surprising prices. The fun part of shopping in Chinatown is that, along with what visitors would expect to find, there are always some pleasant surprises.
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5) Union Square
Union Square, a 32-block area, is home to approximately 6 million square feet of the city's finest retail space, a premier shopping destination in San Francisco and the third largest shopping area in the United States. In addition to the great number of shops, it features many amazing restaurants, theaters and a wonderful concentration of fine art galleries.
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6) Metreon
Metreon is a state of the art technology and entertainment marketplace covering over 350,000 square feet on four levels. It claims to cover all the entertainment bases in one super-sized, color-intensive megalopolis of distractions. Shopping at Metreon is unique to anywhere else in the world, because every store has a high-tech, multimedia, or futuristic theme.
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