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San Francisco is situated at the northern end of the San Francisco peninsula, in San Francisco County. It is the fourth largest city in California, after Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. The islands in San Francisco bay, including Alcatraz, Treasure Island and Red Rock Island are also considered part of the city.

San Francisco is well known for it's hills, whose steep gradients and sharp summits have been the backdrop to many a Hollywood car chase. There are 42 hills in the urban area, some of which have given their names to areas such as Nob Hill, Pacific Heights and Telegraph Hill. It is one of the most beautiful American cities and has been named the world's top city twice by Conde Nast.

The city's proximity to both the San Andreas and Howard faults results in fairly frequent seismic activity in the area. The strongest earthquakes to hit the area were in 1906 (estimated 7.8 on the Richter scale) and in 1989 (7.1 on the Richter scale). Strict building controls are enforced throughout the region to ensure a minimum standard of earthquake-resistance in all new buildings and older buildings are retro-fitted with modern equipment to improve their ability to withstand earthquakes. The districts most at risk are those that are built on reclaimed land; this type of ground can become extremely unstable, to the point of liquefaction, during an earthquake, resulting in considerable structural damage.

San Francisco has a mediterranean climate, with dry, warm summers and the majority of annual rainfall in the winter. Average top daytime temperatures during the summer are between 15 and 24C and between 10 and 15C in the winter. Frost and snow fall are extremely unusual. September is generally held to be the best month of the year, with fine weather and pleasantly warm temperatures. The city can be severely affected by fog, caused when the warm air from inland California meets the cold ocean - parts of the city can be blanketed in fog for days at a time. For more information on San Francisco weather, contact (415) 936-1212 or view http://www.nws.mbay.net/home.htm or http://www.nws.mbay.net/marine.htm

The best known aspects of the city, recognisable the world over, are the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the famous cable cars. San Francisco is also well known for it's many Victorian houses.