Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [261]
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Newspapers & Magazines The city’s main daily (and getting thinner and crappier by the week) is the San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com), which is distributed throughout the city. Check out the Chronicle’s Sunday edition, which includes a pink “Datebook” section—a preview of the week’s upcoming events. The free San Francisco Examiner (www.sfexaminer.com) is published Monday through Friday with a weekend edition. The free weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian (www.sfbg.com) and San Francisco Weekly (www.sfweekly.com), tabloids of news and listings, are indispensable for nightlife information; they’re widely distributed through street-corner kiosks and at city cafes and restaurants.
Of the many free tourist-oriented publications, the most widely read are San Francisco Guide (www.sfguide.com), a handbook-size weekly containing maps and information on current events, and Where San Francisco (www.wheremagazine.com), a glossy regular format monthly magazine. You can find them in most hotels, shops, and restaurants in the major tourist areas.
Packing Dress warm, even in the summer. As the saying goes in San Francisco, if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes. Because of offshore breezes, microclimates, and the prevalence of fog in the summer, the temperature changes constantly in San Francisco, particularly if you’re on the move. Even if it’s sunny and warm at noon, bring a sweater or light jacket just in case—when the fog rolls in its gets chilly fast. For more helpful information on packing for your trip, download our convenient Travel Tools app for your mobile device. Go to www.frommers.com/go/mobile and click on the Travel Tools icon.
Passports Virtually every air traveler entering the U.S. is required to show a passport. All persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport. Note: U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the U. S. at land and sea ports of entry from within the western hemisphere must now also present a passport or other documents compliant with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI; see www.getyouhome.gov for details). Children 15 and under may continue entering with only a U.S. birth certificate, or other proof of U.S. citizenship.
Australia Australian Passport Information Service ( 131-232; www.passports.gov.au).
Canada Passport Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G3 ( 800/567-6868; www.ppt.gc.ca).
Ireland Passport Office, Setanta Centre, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 ( 01/671-1633; www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie).
New Zealand Passports Office, Department of Internal Affairs, 47 Boulcott St., Wellington, 6011 ( 0800/225-050 in New Zealand or 04/474-8100; www.passports.govt.nz).
United Kingdom Visit your nearest passport office, major post office, or travel agency or contact the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), 89 Eccleston Sq., London, SW1V 1PN ( 0300/222-0000; www.ips.gov.uk).
United States To find your regional passport office, check the U.S. State Department website (travel.state.gov/passport) or call the National Passport Information Center ( 877/487-2778) for automated information.
Police In an emergency, dial 911. For nonemergency police matters, call 415/553-0123.
Safety For a big city, San Francisco is relatively safe and requires only that you use common sense (for example, don’t leave your new video camera on the seat of your parked car). However, in neighborhoods such as Lower Haight, the Mission, the Tenderloin (a few blocks west of Union Square), and Fisherman’s Wharf (at night