Practical Slow Living: Lessons from San Francisco for a Longer, Better Life

A city of steps

There are so many ways to explore San Francisco depending on your interests. Over the years, we’ve done it all with the kids—science museums, amazing food spots, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Lands End, and more. But this time, we wanted something a little different. In our Practical Slow Living mentality, we like to combine some of our pillars where possible. In this case we're combining exercise (Move It) with a new look at San Francisco (Explore It).

With clear winter skies (and less fog!), we decided to take on an urban hiking adventure— climbing as many of San Francisco’s hidden stairways as we could in one day. It turned out to be the perfect mix of a great workout, stunning views, and unexpected discoveries. We started out a bit late so we were limited by daylight. But honestly, even if we had a few more hours of daylight, I don't think we had a few more hours of stamina!

What a great way to explore the city and enjoy some of its best views! You will, of course, be doing some climbing. It is a city built on hills. Don't get us wrong, you can drive or ride without having to do too much walking. But don't count on it. When you go to cities you go walking. San Francisco is a very walkable city...just be prepared to climb a bit.

Tompkins Stairs

We kicked things off at the Tompkins Stairs, conveniently located right off the freeway with easy street parking nearby.Once a trash-strewn eyesore on a "ghost street" (an unaccepted block the city refused to maintain due to substandard conditions), neighbors transformed it into a vibrant garden and tiled path in 2019—proving community power over bureaucracy. The stair has ~66 steps so its not much of a climb.

• The zigzag tile pattern is inspired by the "Steps of Peace" in Deir Atiyah (Day-r a-tee-ya), Syria, where youth painted stairs during conflict as a symbol of hope—bringing a global peace message to SF's Bernal Heights.

• It's one of SF's "rejected roads" (148 miles total in the city), where property owners must handle upkeep—leading to epic neighbor battles with the city for support.

Vulcan Street steps

Next, we headed to the Vulcan Street Steps, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood.

Walking here felt like stepping into a hidden world. The shaded stairs wind past beautifully maintained homes and gardens. It’s hard not to wonder how daily life works here—especially for delivery drivers carrying groceries, packages, and mail up and down these steps!

• Named after the Roman god of fire, it's part of a mythological street theme (near Saturn and Mars streets), a nod to ancient Rome hidden in SF's urban layout.

• The nearly two-block-long path features century-old homes and resident-maintained gardens that feel like a secret village—some houses are only accessible via these steps, making deliveries a workout.

• It's a sneaky shortcut from Castro to Haight, avoiding traffic, but locals call it one of the city's longest continuous stairways—perfect for "accidental" cardio.

• Connects Ord Ct to Levant St

• The stairs are concrete and wide enough for several people at a time.

  • Meaning, you can jog them easily without having to wait for others

  • The shade also makes them a great exercise staircase

• There are 209 steps from top to bottom. Though, in my opinion, the steps seem small to me and taking two steps at a time is easy.

On the way to the Vulcan stairs , we have to back out to make way for the Waymo as the street was narrow and there were some construction work going on making the

street narrow for two cars to pass. Watch this in our YouTube video (coming soon). These old photos are great. This one is from 1925 looking down Saturn Street to the West. The street on the left is Temple St. It took quite a while to figure this out. Which included quite a lengthy argument with AI that insisted the street heading down to the left was Saturn St. Have no fear we won the argument eventually with the help of other AI engines! Things have changed quite a bit since then. Vulcan stairs are not visible in this photo. You would have to turn 90º to the right to see them. But still fun to these old pics.

Mosaic stairs :

For our third stairways we checked out the beautiful mosaic stairs , these might be the most beautiful stairs in America and arts that you can climb and best part is that they are all within walking distances of each other.

16th Avenue Tiled Steps

• Dubbed "possibly the world's largest mosaic staircase" at 163 steps and 90 feet tall, it was a massive community project with over 300 neighbors hand-placing tiles in 2005—funded partly by sponsored tiles like personalized memorials.

• The sea-to-sky mosaic includes hidden details like sea creatures evolving into birds and stars—plus, it boosted local crime in 2016 when tourists' cars were targeted by thieves drawn to the crowds.

Built in 1927 but tiled later, it's twinned with Italy's Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte—SF's mayor even declared August 27 "16th Avenue Tiled Steps Day." These steps are very popular and often have several people traversing them throughout the day. Not as popular as Lyon Street Steps which is surprising considering the amazing views you get from these steps. In terms of the actual steps these and Hidden Garden are, in our opinion, the most beautiful.

Grandview Park

Grand View Park / Golden Gate Heights Prior to Development

Golden Gate as seen from Grandview park

After climbing the 16th Ave, proceed to the next set of stairs ( wooden) and you will end up in Grandview park , where you can see 360 view of the city. The stairs themselves may be modest, but the reward is anything but—a breathtaking 360° view of the city. We were blessed with a clear and cool day when we visited. These set of steps are great path to amazing views. Looking North / Northwest you get great views of Marin and Golden Gate Bridge on clear days.

If you pan west a bit you have sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, the Sunset District, Golden Gate Park and the windmill in the distance. AI dug up a bunch of old photos for me and check this one out. It's a view looking west-ish and I've circled the windmill in the distance. (You can click the image to enlarge). There is nothing there yet!

Another view from Grandview park

Compare that to the photo we took from Grandview Park for our video. The Sunset is fully developed. I'm not exactly sure where the original was taken from? Definitely closer to the beach than Grandview but still somewhere in the Sunset area. Amazing how things change over time!

Hidden Garden Steps

Located on Kirkham and 16th Ave, it is a short walk from the 16th ave stairs. It part of the Crosstown Trail and the Mosaic Loop both of which include 16th Ave Steps,

Grandview Park, and Hidden Steps. The Crosstown Trail is a 17 mile city wide trail that is famous with urban hikers and San Franciscans alike. We haven't braved this trail yet, but we definitely walked a few miles and a lot of steps for this blog! Hopefully we'll tally up the total steps we climbed on this day.

• This 148-step mosaic honors SF firefighters and features native California wildlife themes, completed in 2013 after raising $300,000 through community efforts—designed by the same artists as the nearby 16th Ave steps.

• Built around 1927 during Golden Gate Heights' grading, it's tucked so tightly between houses it feels like a "secret garden"—with designs shifting per flight, from flowers to wildlife.

• Lesser-known than its famous neighbor, it draws fewer crowds but inspired monthly clean-ups—plus, enter "1201 Kirkham St." in GPS to find the base, as it's easy to miss.

15th Ave Steps - Hidden Gardens 'Step brother'

Both the 15th Ave Steps and Hidden Garden Steps are within walking distances of their more famous 16th Ave Steps. So of course, we walked there. From 16th ave you end up at the top of the stairs. So we made a loop out of it and first headed down via the 15th Ave stairs. These stairs are not tiled and not nearly as pretty as the "favored child" known as Hidden Garden. But of course that means they are also less crowded and more functional.

These steps are pretty much a straight climb (or descent in our case) as you can see from our photo. If you just want some exercise or just need a quick path to get up the hill then this is your path. In our case we wanted to start Hidden Steps from the bottom. Rather than walk the same steps twice, we opted to take the 15th Ave Steps down. The steps may not be pretty, but the views still are so you can't go wrong!

Lyon Street Steps – Million Dollar Stair Master

We parked on Lyon street at the top of the stairs. The stairs here are concrete and are a serious workout—around 330 concrete steps—but the views are worth every step. You can see from the photos why this IS the popular workout spot for San Franciscans. Surrounded by stunning multi-million dollar homes and beautifully landscaped gardens, this spot is one of the most picturesque neighborhoods in the city. It also offers some of the best touristy views on our stair list. Such as this shot of Alcatraz from the top of the stairs.

Alcatraz as seen from the Lyon street stairs

One thing to keep in mind: wherever you start, you’ll have to climb back up!

• At 288-332 steps (divided into sections), it's a fave for fitness junkies and sits on "Billionaires' Row," where homes hit $35M+—peek at Senator Dianne Feinstein's

  mansion with its giant heart sculpture from the Hearts in SF project. (On the right side of photo below)

  
  

  

  The heart sculpture in front the mansion once owned by late Senator Dianne Feinstein

• Built in 1916, it cascades from Pacific Heights to the Presidio with epic bay views—but it's "the best gym in the world" per locals, once drawing crowds of runners before apps like Strava popularized it.

Hidden gem: The bottom connects to the "Princess Diaries" house and nearby Yoda fountain at Lucas film HQ—Star Wars vibes meet billionaire glamour. The lower steps are pictured below. And like the upper section are quite steep and head straight uphill. There is a reason these are known as the fitness steps!

Telegraph Hill: Filbert Street and Greenwich Steps

We saved one of the most iconic climbs for last—Telegraph Hill.

These historic steps date back to the early 1900s, long before cars and modern roads. Back then, this was simply how people got home. And speaking of which, back then many of these homes were only accessible by stairs and trails. There were no roads going to the houses. Fast forward to today, many of these homes still have no roads! That's right. There are entire sections of of this city where houses can only be accessed by foot paths. No garage to pull into and unload your groceries. You need it, you haul it. As you walk up Greenwich or Filbert steps you will be passing by some of these homes.

We started at Sansome and Filbert where we found a spot to park our car, climbed the Greenwich Steps and made our way up to Coit Tower—arriving just in time for sunset. Some of our footage may be a little dark but it was a long day and we started later then we should have. As we climbed, we

passed lush gardens and charming homes tucked into the hillside. Even in the fading light, the path was well-lit and magical. We couldn’t help but admire the people who live here—it must be quite the daily workout just carrying groceries home! We climbed about ~500 steps all the way up to Coit Tower.

Greenwich Steps

• In the 1930s, former chorus girl Valetta Heslet and her husband Desmond turned a cluster of dilapidated shacks into a bohemian compound via "bootleg architecture" (built without permits), complete with black-and-white painted buildings, scavenged-brick fireplaces, and a Steinway baby grand piano hauled down the steps for impromptu concerts by touring musicians.

• During WWII, the compound housed military personnel, including a young Byron White—who later became a U.S. Supreme Court justice—while Valetta worked as a welder and her mother Grace as a riveter in Marin shipyards, blending wartime grit with artistic living.

• Valetta created the iconic 150-foot garden in 1948 on poor, quarried soil by hauling bags of dirt up 98 steps, terracing with old pipes, and "sourcing" plants like baby's tears from Golden Gate Park under the radar—with free city water as a bonus.

• Desmond's wild backstory: Raised in Mexico's Copper Canyon, he dined with Pancho Villa as a child (who protected his family, executed a horse thief on their behalf, and gifted gold coins), and later displayed a rifle purportedly owned by the revolutionary in their home.

Coit Tower

Continuing through beautiful Greenwich Gardens we ended up on Montgomery St that connected to Filbert St via the top part of Filbert steps. We didn't actually plan it, but we somehow managed to zig-zag between the bottom and top parts of Greenwich and Filbert steps coming upand down. Filbert street is pretty steep and the final set of steps leading up to Coit Tower are pretty easy to find (pictured just above here).

Coit Tower at dusk

We climbed a lot of stairs on this little journey and we were nearing the end. At least the uphill end. We still had to work our way back down to the car. There are three sets of small stairs (small relative to the hundreds of steps we've already done) before the top. But once there you are rewarded with some amazing views! You probably noticed a theme throughout this blog...there is no short of views on these steps. Coit offers another 360º of views from the North East section of San Francisco. Though there are lots of trees that can obscure some of them.

You will get great views of the financial district, Bay Bridge and Treasure Island on the East side. On the North and West side views of the Golden Gate, Marin, the Piers, and Alcatraz. If you want great panoramic views of San Francisco's most iconic tourist spots then this is the place to visit. Don't be scared off by the steep winding stairs through gardens. You can drive right up to Coit Tower without breaking a sweat. Of course parking may be impossible, but if you loop around enough times you'll find a spot.

Filbert Street

So heading back down, we started at the top of the Greenwich steps. Then we cut across Montgomery Street and walked down the bottom half of Filbert steps. Like I said, we unintentionally managed to zigzag away up and down. But the good news is we got video footage of both sets of stairs. By the time we left it was already pretty much dark. The steps are manageable even at night, though not as easy when you're trying to film. Fortunately, we have an ISO that goes up very high. And we were able to get decent footage on the way down.

Filbert & Samsome Circa 1942

Honestly, the steps around Coit Tower can be a whole video just by themselves. There are lots of little gardens, statues, and neighborhoods to see. But at this point, we were pretty tired and ready to go home and it was dark. So maybe a future trip we can do more details just on Coit. On the way down, we seem to have picked the steepest part of both stairs. But realistically, it's all pretty steep. This is a pretty significant Hill. As you can see from this old photo. Without all the trees and foliage you can really see just how steep it is. Keep that in mind if your walking. But really, you should walk.

Some Filbert St Facts

• Over 400 steps in sections, these wooden and concrete paths date to the 1850s Gold Rush era, lined with SF's oldest surviving cottages where longshoremen once lived—many survived the 1906 earthquake.

• It's a "secret village" with homes only reachable by stairs, featuring quirky Art Deco reliefs and gardens—plus, spot the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill squawking overhead.

• Intersecting Napier Lane (a wooden boardwalk off the steps) features 1850s cottages that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire thanks to quick-thinking Italian families who soaked burlap sacks in homemade wine and draped them over roofs to fend off embers—a boozy hack that saved their homes while the city burned.

• Transformed from a literal trash dump into a floral oasis starting in 1949. Resident Grace Marchant, who single-handedly cleared debris and planted fuchsias, roses, and baby tears into the steep hillside. A labor of love that lasted 33 years until her death at 96, then continued by her protégé Gary Kray for another 33 years.

Where Are the Parakeets?

One thing we missed this time—the famous wild parakeets of Telegraph Hill.

We remember visiting years ago and hearing them chirping in the trees as we climbed. Maybe it was just too late in the day and they are already in bed !

If you’ve seen them recently, let us know in the comments! We might have to come back in spring (we did the stairs in January) when the gardens are in full bloom and during the day as the parakeets are more active during the day.

Here’s a video of all the stairways we climbed that day—views, moments, and all the steps in between. (video coming soon)

Ending the Day (Hungry & Happy)

After a full day of climbing, we were tired, hungry, and ready to call it a day.

We stopped at a Thai restaurant on the way home—nothing fancy, just a random pick that turned out to be perfect. Warm, comforting food hit the spot, and the highlight? A Thai iced tea with the cutest teddy bear-shaped ice cube.

We wrapped up dinner just as the place started filling up, with people lining up outside—a sign we picked a good one!

Until Next Time…

There are still so many stairways left to explore in San Francisco. We’ll definitely be back—maybe in spring, when the flowers are blooming and the city feels even more alive. For now, this was the perfect one-day urban hike—equal parts adventure, exercise, and discovery.