If California is a state of mind, San Francisco is chaotic euphoria. Welcome to the city that will take you to new highs, leaving your mind spinning, your tastebuds tingling, and your calves aching. Though it’s smaller than most “big” cities, the City by the Bay more than compensates for its size with personality that simply won’t quit. The dazzling views; daunting hills; one-of-a-kind neighborhoods; and laid-back, friendly people create a kind of charisma that continues to fascinate visitors and residents. The city manages to pack an incredible amount of vitality into its 47 square miles, running from its thriving art communities and bustling shops to the pulsing beats in some of the country’s hippest nightclubs and bars. Everyone finds something to love here and a reason to return.By California standards, San Francisco is steeped in history—but it’s a history of oddballs and eccentrics that resonates more strongly today in street culture than in museums and galleries. The lineage of free spirits and troublemakers dates back to the 19th century, with the smugglers and pirates of the Barbary Coast and the 49ers who flocked here during the mad boom of the California Gold Rush. As the last stop in America’s voracious westward expansion, San Francisco has always attracted artists, dreamers, and outsiders. In the 1950s came the Beats—brilliant, angry young writers who captured the rhythms of be-bop jazz in their poetry and discontent. The late 60s ushered in the most famous of SF rabble rousers—hippies and flower children, who turned on one generation and freaked out another by making love, not war.

The tradition of free spirit and subversion persists in the city’s memory. Anti-establishment politics have almost become establishment here, as rallies and movements continue to fill the streets and newspapers. The queer community became undeniably visible in the 70s as one of the city’s most visible and powerful groups. In addition, Mexican, Central American, and Asian immigrants have made San Francisco one of the most racially diverse cities in the United States. And then in a wave of mid-90s, computer-crazed prosperity, young computer workers ditched the bland suburbs of Silicon Valley for the cooler breezes of San Francisco, with upstart Internet companies infiltrating the forgotten spaces of lower-rent neighborhoods. For a while, the Frisco fight was old-timers and hippies vs. dot-commers, but when the Clinton-era and the national surplus went the way of the dodo, high-end yuppification collapsed, leaving neighborhoods to reassess their futures. Like so many chameleons, San Francisco is changing with the times, but fortunately, some things stay the same: the Bay is foggy, the hills are steep, and tourists are the only ones wearing shorts.

If you are a first timer in San Francisco maybe you will appretiate or best places suggestions:

BEST DESSERTS: Stella Pasticceria e Caffé in North Beach.

BEST MEAL FOR UNDER $7: Kate’s Kitchen in the Haight.

BEST PLACE TO MOURN YOUR POVERTY: Top of the Mark in Nob Hill.

BEST PLACE TO AMUSE YOURSELF: Good Vibrations in the Mission.

BEST PLACE TO BUY A PIPE: Pipe Dreams in the Haight.

BEST WAY TO SPEND A RAINY AFTERNOON: Picnic in the Public Art Space in SoMa.

BEST PLACES TO SEE A DRAG SHOW: Marlena’s in Hayes Valley and Asia SF in SoMA. Or your local laundromat, of course.

BEST BAR IN WHICH TO PASS OUT: The Royal Oak in Russian Hill.

BEST PLACE TO GET HOT AND SWEATY: Funky Door Yoga.

BEST PLACES TO RELIVE YOUR CHILDHOOD: Zeum in SoMa and the Exploratorium in the Marina.

BEST PLACE TO FEEL LIKE A PRUDE: Folsom Street Fair.

BEST PLACES TO REMEMBER YOUR SUNSCREEN: The Presidio and the Amphitheater in Stern Grove.

BEST PLACE TO HAGGLE: Stockton Street in Chinatown.

BEST PLACES TO COLLAPSE FOR A NAP: Alta Plaza in Pacific Heights and Limantour Beach.

BEST PLACE TO BE MEDITATIVELY INTELLECTUAL (OR AT LEAST PRETEND): Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park.

BEST PLACE TO WAIT FOR THE NIGHT OWL: The Mission.

BEST STREET FOR TONING YOUR CALVES (OR ASS): Gough St., between Union and Sacramento.

BEST PLACE TO NURSE A HANGOVER: Lori’s Diner in Union Square.

BEST PLACE TO MEET SMOKERS: any bar with an outdoor patio or out on the street after dark.

BEST PLACE TO LOVE MEAT: Tommy’s Joynt in the Tenderloin.

BEST PLACE TO FEEL NOSTALGIC: Pet Cemetery in the Presidio.

BEST PLACE TO GET STUCK IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC: Golden Gate Bridge.

BEST PLACES TO CRUISE: SF Badlands in the Castro and Bambuddha Lounge in the Tenderloin.