The Financial District: the towers and Jackson Square
The downtown towers, the Transamerica Pyramid and its redwood grove, and the brick alleys of Jackson Square. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Montgomery Street canyon
Start at the foot of the financial canyon, where the towers close over the street. Montgomery was once the city's waterfront — the bay has been filled in half a mile east since the Gold Rush. The ground you're on used to be water.

2. Transamerica Pyramid and the redwood grove
Walk north to the white spire that defined the skyline for fifty years. Round the east side is a half-acre grove of coast redwoods, planted on the block where Mark Twain once worked. The grove is open to the public; sit under the trees with the tower above you.

3. Columbus and the gateway to Jackson Square
Cross Columbus to where the towers stop and the brick begins. This corner is the seam between the modern downtown and the oldest surviving district in the city — one block changes everything underfoot.

4. Jackson Square historic district
The low brick blocks of Jackson and Hotaling streets survived the 1906 fire when the fire crews saved the whiskey warehouses. Now antique dealers and design showrooms fill the old ground floors. Walk slowly and read the cast-iron shopfronts.

5. Hotaling Place
A narrow cobbled alley off Jackson, the gas lamps and iron tie-rings still in place. The quietest lane in the district; you'll likely have it to yourself in the afternoon. Look for the plaque about the whiskey that survived the fire.

6. California Street cable-car line
Walk south to California Street, where the cable car climbs the hill toward Nob Hill. The line crosses the financial district here; catch it east toward the end, or just watch it haul up the grade. The car stops at California and Kearny.

The Financial District: the towers and Jackson Square