Until we discover how to travel to El Dorado, the lost city of gold, we can help you visit another Golden City: San Francisco. 

Known for the Golden Gate Bridge, golden hills and golden sunsets, Kelowna International Airport (YLW) has a golden opportunity for you to experience the history and modern culture of San Francisco. 

The nickname, the Golden City, originates back to the gold rush of 1848-1849, which is where the football team also got its name. From the impact of this rich history, San Francisco has changed a lot since those days. Some of the more recent historical implications took place in the 1950s when writers of the Beat Generation influenced the 1960s hippie counterculture, which may have inspired the entrepreneurial independence that evolved into the dot-com revolution and today’s Silicon Valley. 

Over the years, these cultural movements have pulled people across the Golden Gate Bridge to make the Golden City their home, enveloping the city with culture. 

Starting with the Beat Generation, a literary movement that was started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced culture in the post-war era, people started moving to the beat of their own lifestyle, championing non-conformity and spontaneous creativity. This generation had a profound impact on the 1960s hippie counterculture, shaping San Francisco’s revolutionary future. 

The Beat movement grew out from the bay’s epicentre at City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Café — both of which are still open today.

Today, people come from around the world to follow in the steps of Kerouac and the rest of the Beats. Wandering through the North Beach neighbourhood is one of the top things to do in San Francisco for travellers of every generation. 

Once you’ve gone on the road, take a cultural trip on one of the Love Bus Tours. This cultural journey will take you to see iconic locations and homes of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix while the soundtrack of the ’60s propels this sonic journey.

Next, you can go frolicking through the culturally rich area of Haight-Ashbury, which is the birthplace of the 1960s movement. The area is totally far-out with things to do with iconic coffee shops, pubs and bookstores. You can even see the house where the Grateful Dead’s founders lived during the ’60s.

Along your culture tour, you may want to see Castro district, which is one of America’s first pride neighbourhoods. To this day, Castro is a magnet for travellers and it hosts walking tours and bus rides throughout the neighbourhood.

Here, you can support others or be yourself while you experience the history made by the brave people who stood up for equality and love. 

After you’ve taken to the streets, go on the water to Alcatraz. A trip to San Francisco wouldn’t be complete without cruising the confining halls where notorious criminals such as Al Capone were imprisoned. 

The federal prison may have closed its bars in 1963, but there is an assortment of cruises that keep it alive. So if you plan to go to prison, just make sure you find a cruise that gets you where you want to go. There are several day or night boat tour companies that offer guided commentary about Alcatraz as they cruise past it. Private boats and most tour boats are prevented from docking at the island though. 

If you want to get on the island, you must book through Alcatraz cruises. They’re the only cruise company that’s permitted on the National Park. 

After a day of shopping and sightseeing, you would likely be hungry, so go see the famous neon sign at Mr. Holmes Bakehouse and “get baked in San Fransisco.” 

Whatever you’re in the mood for, you can locate where the locals like to eat by using the hashtags #hiddensf and #igerssf.

Will you see something that drives you to the ocean in search of seafood and scenery or will you check out Chinatown? San Francisco is known for some of the best dim sum in North America. Wherever you go and whatever you plan to do, San Francisco is worth the visit. 

To depart from Kelowna to the Golden City, San Francisco, book with WestJet, Air Canada or Alaska Airlines out of Kelowna International Airport. 

As the 10th busiest airport in Canada, YLW’s total economic impact is 4,545 jobs and $789 million in total economic output to the province of British Columbia. Serving over 2 million passengers in 2019, YLW offers more than 70 daily non-stop commercial flights with nine airline partners. For more information, visit ylw.kelowna.ca.

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