SAN FRANCISCO — Some people go to San Francisco for the museums, the gay culture, the restaurants, the shopping.

I go to walk.

Since I was a teenager, I've been an avid urban walker. It's my favorite way to see a city's buildings and people, its street life and moods. And San Francisco is one of the most walkable cities, anywhere.

The city has lively neighborhoods of century-old mansions and bay-windowed buildings. Many streets are narrow and intimate, not car-clogged. There are miles of in-city waterfront boulevards and beaches to stroll. When you need a break, there's always a cafe, museum or shop nearby.

Yes, the hills can be dauntingly steep. But they give walkers some great views — and a good workout.

So if you're going to San Francisco, pack your walking shoes and check out some of these places. These walks are north of Market Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and are easily reached by foot or public transport from downtown or Fisherman's Wharf hotels. You can walk for a half-hour on these routes, or roam for hours.

Begin with the icon of the city — the Golden Gate Bridge. Go to the city's Marina District, then walk west through the waterfront parkland of Crissy Field. Share its mile-plus path with joggers and lovers, and watch kids frolic on the beach and seals play in the water. The path dead-ends near the southern base of the bridge at Fort Point, an old Civil War-era military fort (open on weekends).

Hungry? Get lunch or a snack at the Warming Hut, a trendy cafe/bookshop by the south base of the bridge (www.parkscon servancy.org/visit/parkcafes.php or (415) 561-3040). Then drink in the view of the Golden Gate Bridge, especially stunning in the evening, when it's framed by the setting sun and billowing fog.

Pet lovers could detour to the Presidio Pet Cemetery, a plot tucked under the approach road to the bridge. Hundreds of pets that belonged to families stationed at the Presidio (a former military base that's now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area) were buried in the half-acre plot over the past 50 years. Little gravestones are lovingly inscribed with the names of hamsters, birds, cats and dogs, some including their owners' military rank (www.nps.gov/prsf /planyourvisit/pet-cemetery .htm).

Locals often sneer at Fisherman's Wharf, and the bustling waterfront on the city's north shore does have an overflow of T-shirt shops and tourists. But it also has ferries to cities and islands around San Francisco Bay, lots of restaurants, and it's a turnaround point for the city's beloved cable cars and its vintage F-line streetcars.

BEAT THE CROWDS

Walk it early in the morning, before the crowds come. Get breakfast or coffee at Oakville Grocery, a brick-walled gourmet grocery/shop (www.oakville grocery.com; (415) 614-1600). Keep going west to Hyde Street Pier (www.nps.gov/safr; (415) 447-5000), part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Walk the long wood pier and climb aboard some of the half-dozen historic ships, from a sailing schooner to steam tug.

For a different view, and a boat ride, hop a passenger ferry from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito, a small town across the bay. Stroll for a half-mile along its waterfront lined with shops, restaurants and mini-parks with views of the San Francisco skyline.

To see how the rich and famous live in San Francisco, head to Pacific Heights, where the air is rarefied on this big-view hilltop of Victorian mansions.

Start at Haas-Lilienthal House, a lovingly preserved and furnished 19th-century family home-turned museum (www.sfheri tage.org/house.html; (415) 441-3000). Puff westward up a steep hill to Lafayette Park, and ogle the gleaming white mansion of romance novelist Danielle Steel on the north side of the park.

Keep walking the streets, past gorgeously restored, century-old houses and fantasize about living in one; you'd need multimillions, since San Francisco real-estate prices make Seattle look like a bargain. For cafes and trendy boutiques, continue west from Lafayette Park about six blocks to Fillmore Street (around the 2200 block).

For a shorter high-society walk, go to Nob Hill, the old-money heart of San Francisco just north of Union Square, the city's main shopping area. Admire the mansions. Find some tranquility (and perhaps a concert) at Grace Cathedral on the top of Nob Hill. The Episcopal church is a soaring century-old building of stone work and stained glass, ornate doors and labyrinths that visitors can walk (www.gracecathedral .org; (415) 749-6300).

For secular indulgence, head to the Top Of The Mark bar at the nearby Mark Hopkins Hotel. It's more faded than in its heyday — it opened in 1939 — but it has the same breathtaking, 360-degree views of the city and live jazz and dancing in the evening (www.topofthemark.com; (415) 616-6916).

Even if you hate shopping, this is a good sightseeing and people-watching walk.

gotta shop?

If you love shopping, you'll be even happier. Start at Union Square, the downtown shopping district (www.unionsquareshop .com) where throngs of shoppers head to the big department stores. (Really serious shoppers should head to nearby Market Street to the sprawling Westfield San Francisco Centre, where Bloomingdale's opened last month along with dozens of other stores in a major expansion; www.westfield .com/sfc).

For trendier, smaller-scale stores, veer off Union Square to Post Street, with its relatively low-priced Zara and H&M, two European women's clothing stores, or to the pedestrian-only Maiden Lane with its ultra-pricey shops, including Chanel.

For souvenirs and budget shopping, walk eastward to Grant Avenue in Chinatown. It is six crowded blocks of little shops — knick-knacks, souvenirs, clothing and more. For good eats, I've had good luck at the Chinese restaurants along Jackson Street (it crosses Grant), most recently at the sprawling Great Eastern Restaurant (649 Jackson St.; (415) 986-2500), with seafood/Cantonese specialties.

CULTURE CORNER

For a look at Chinese-American culture, detour a few blocks to the Chinese Historical Center of America. It is housed in the old Chinatown YWCA, a 1932 landmark building designed by Julia Morgan, who was the architect for California's Hearst Castle. You'll find exhibits on San Francisco's historic Chinatown and beyond (www.chsa.org; (415) 391-1188).

Back on Grant, keep going north into the North Beach neighborhood. Poke around City Lights Bookstore on Columbus Avenue (www.citylights.com; (415) 362-8193), the 53-year-old bookstore where the Beat poets once lurked.

For more offbeat shopping, keep going north to the 1400 block of Grant Avenue for local designers' clothing and more.

The renovation of the 19th-century Ferry Building, on the waterfront Embarcadero boulevard near the Bay Bridge, has helped turn what was a forlorn stretch of aging piers and shipping buildings into a bustling destination. While still a terminus for some commuter ferries, the Ferry Building is packed with trendy food and cookware shops, restaurants and a farmers' market. Try for a table at the Slanted Door, a popular Vietnamese restaurant. (For details on shops, restaurants and more, see www.ferrybuilding marketplace.com; (415) 693-0996.)

Stroll south from the Ferry Building on a waterfront walkway to the giant steel sculpture, Cupid's Span, a 60-foot-high bow and arrow that frames a view of the Bay Bridge. Walk north from the Ferry Building, past the piers and industrial buildings that are being refurbished, and you'll end up at Fisherman's Wharf in about a half-hour.

If you're tired of walking, the "F" line vintage streetcars shuttle from downtown's Market Street along the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. It's a good, and often less-crowded, alternative to the cable cars.

Ready for a hill climb? Telegraph Hill, which rises steeply above the Embarcadero and North Beach neighborhood, is topped by Coit Tower, (no Web site; (415) 362-0808) an iconic white shaft. Inside are 1930s social-realist murals; outside on its rooftop, reached by a creaky elevator, is a viewing platform with a stunning 360-degree panorama.

Getting to Coit Tower is half the fun. If you're coming from North Beach, fortify yourself for the climb with an espresso at Caffe Trieste, an old-fashioned Italian coffee bar that celebrated its 50th anniversary in August (www.caffetrieste.com; (415) 392-6739).

Stairways wind up Telegraph Hill's upper reaches, past cozy cottages and a grove of fragrant eucalyptus trees. Keep an eye out for the Telegraph Hill parrots — the feral flock of more than 100 green-and-red birds wheels around the hillside and has been the subject of a book and documentary film (www.wildparrots film.com).

GOLDEN GATE GETAWAY

If you need a break from the urban life, plus a little culture, head to Golden Gate Park on the city's western edge. Paths wind for more than 3 miles through the park to the ocean. But focus on the east half — the park is 1,000 acres, and you can't see it all — where there are lush botanical gardens and a world-class art museum.

The de Young Museum, which reopened last year in an architecturally bold new building, focuses on American art from the 17th century into the 21st century. Other galleries showcase traditional artwork from Africa, Oceania and the Americas (www.thinker.org/deyoung or (415) 863-3330).

Just south of the museum is the Japanese Tea Garden. Paths meander through its 5 acres, along ponds; over mini-bridges; past a pagoda; and among artfully placed stones and flowering cherry trees, dwarf pines and other plantings. (No Web site; (415) 752-4227.)

For a world view of plants, head to the nearby Strybing Arboretum. The 55-acre botanical garden has more than 7,500 species of trees and shrubs, ferns and flowers from around the world. (www.sfbotanicalgarden .org; (415) 661-1316). Take a free guided walk of the garden, daily at 1:30 p.m.

Need fuel for more walking? There's a cafeteria at the de Young museum, with outdoor and indoor seating, and a teahouse for light snacks in the Japanese garden.