Coit Tower

After 13 years of living in the Bay Area I finally made my way up to Coit Tower today. I’ve driven up to the parking lot atop Telegraph Hill, but I had never gone inside the tower. Taking advantage of the great sunny weather, I made the trek up to the iconic landmark. This time I went walking. I didn’t want the hassle of trying to find a parking space.

Filbert Street in North Beach takes you right up to Coit Tower. If you’re in decent shape, the steep hill shouldn’t be too bad. The walk is short and they have steps to make it a little easier. About halfway up the hill I saw a young guy out of breath, sweating bullets, sitting on the sidewalk. Maybe he should have taken a taxi.

Once I got to the base of the tower, the views were amazing! I then went inside the small circular building. The first floor walls are covered with beautiful murals depicting life in San Francisco from the perspective of different communities in the city.

There is a little gift shop where I bought my $5.00 ticket for the elevator ride to the top of the tower. About 13 of us packed into the old and noisy elevator. When I got off the elevator, I still had to walk two short flights of stairs before I reached the top.




The views from the top were breathtaking! I had a 360 degree view of the city. As I walked around I could see from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge and to the Transamerica building.

Coit Tower was built in 1933. Lillie Hitchcock Coit donated the money for the tower. It was her way of honoring San Francisco firefighters.