Golden Gate Bridge Travel Guide

Who hasn’t heard of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge? But do you know why is it called “Golden”? Because this bridge is colored with a tinge of golden orange and the color helps the bridge to stand out on foggy days.

It’s one of the most popular tourist attraction in the Bay Area. You can certainly walk across it, and that’s FREE and one of the main highlight! Definitely do that! (Plan for about 2-3 hours)

Note: If you are crossing the bridge via car, please note that there is a “Toll” and the toll collection on the Golden Gate Bridge is entirely electronic and done by license plate recognition.

Photo: The Art of Travel Partners

WHERE TO GO

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most iconic bridges in the United States and has been called one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

The bridge spans the Golden Gate, a strait between San Francisco and Marin County to the north, and is one of the major road routes into and out of the city.

Photo: The Art of Travel Partners

• Free walking tours — during Sundays and Thursdays, free walking tours by San Francisco City Guides take place. It is an incredible way to learn about the history of the Bridge.
• Old bunker — near the Plaza just outside the Welcome Center is an old bunker with exhibits representing the science and history behind the building of the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Bike the bridge — if you are interested in biking around the area, biking the bridge is a very popular activity. There are several companies that rent bikes out to tourists by the hour or for the day.
• Golden Gate National Recreational Area — at the end of the Bridge, there are plenty of hiking and trekking trails.
• Golden Gate Park — if you’re a fan of either Fort Mason or the Presidio, why not continue your tour into the enormous Golden Gate Park, where you’ll find many more museums set in a natural park environment.
• Fisherman’s Wharf — if you like everything nautical and would like some more, you should check out the flotilla of fishing vessels at the Wharf.

Photo: The Art of Travel Partners

Golden Gate Bridge Fun Facts

• Built in 1937, it was the longest suspension Bridge till 1964.
• Now it is the second largest suspension bridge in the US and if you untangled all of its cables they would stretch around the world 3 times.
• The bridge is 8,981 ft (2,737 m) across (its main span being 4,200 ft (1,300 m)). At its tallest point, it is 746 feet, but only 90 feet across.
• The strait that passes beneath the bridge runs 400 feet deep.
• It is famously “over-engineered” — being over four times stronger than it needs to be.
• It took over four years to build and cost over $35 million in 1937 (over $575 million today).
• The bridge has over 1.2 million rivets.
• Each of its twin towers weighs more than 44,000 tons and the total weight of the bridge is almost 900,000 tons.
• It has been featured in many movies, including “Vertigo” and “Superman.”
• Before the construction started, there were thousands of lawsuits against building such a monstrous bridge as it was deemed to “ruin” the beauty of the Bay and there was significant local opposition against it ever getting built.

Photo: The Art of Travel Partners

How To Get Here

Reaching the Bridge from any part of San Francisco is easy. The Big Bus Tours and the City-Sightseeing bus companies halt at both ends of the Golden Gate Bridge.

If the bus stop at the toll plaza it gets easier to walk to the Bridge. If Biking is your thing then rent a bike from downtown and continue doing so on the bridge.

Photo: The Art of Travel Partners

Best Time To Visit

From March through October the weather is warm and beautiful sans the fog. But the best time to visit the Golden Gate Bridge is the months of August – October.

So enjoying the unhidden view of surroundings becomes easier. The East Sidewalk Hours are from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

November 30, 2018 8:25 pm Published by Staff Writer