North Beach: the old Italian quarter
City Lights and the Beats, an espresso on Columbus, Washington Square, and the climb to Coit Tower. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. City Lights Booksellers
Start where the Beats started. Ferlinghetti's bookstore published Ginsberg's Howl in 1956 and stood trial for it; the shop is still independent, still open late, the poetry room still upstairs. Buy something thin and read it across the street.

2. Vesuvio Cafe
The bar next door, across Jack Kerouac Alley, where the writers drank. The alley itself is set with their lines in the pavement. You don't have to drink; just read the ground and look up at the painted facade.

3. Columbus Avenue cafes
Walk the diagonal spine. Caffe Trieste, a block up Vallejo, was the first espresso house on the West Coast and is the one to stop in. Sit, order a cappuccino, and watch the neighbourhood do its slow Italian morning.

4. Liguria Bakery
On the corner of Washington Square, focaccia only, sold until it runs out — usually by late morning. Cash, a paper bag, no seating. Get there early and eat it on a bench in the square.

5. Washington Square
The green heart of the quarter, with the white twin spires of Saints Peter and Paul Church closing one side. Locals do tai chi here in the morning. Sit with the focaccia before the climb.

6. Filbert Street toward Coit Tower
Leave the square east and start up. Filbert pitches hard toward Telegraph Hill and the tower at the top. Take it slowly, or catch the 39 Coit bus if the grade's too much; the bay opens behind you either way.

North Beach: the old Italian quarter