The Marina: the Palace, the green, and Fort Mason
The Palace of Fine Arts and its lagoon, the Marina Green, and the old army piers. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Palace of Fine Arts
Start at the great domed rotunda and its colonnade, the one survivor of the 1915 world's fair, rebuilt in concrete to last. Walk the lagoon path all the way round; the dome doubles in the water and the swans don't care that you're there.

2. Marina Green
Cross to the long waterfront lawn, where the city flies kites, runs, and watches the bay. The Golden Gate stands off to the left, Alcatraz dead ahead. Walk the seawall path east; the Wave Organ is a short spur out on the jetty if you want it.

3. The Marina yacht harbour
Past the masts of the small-craft harbour, the bay opening wider. Look back for the Palace dome rising over the rooftops behind you. The path is flat, paved, and made for ambling.

4. Fort Mason
Climb gently into the old army post — Civil War-era batteries turned into a cultural centre, the long finger piers below now holding galleries, a theatre, and a long-running vegetarian restaurant on the water. Wander the upper green for the view back to the Gate.

5. Fort Mason piers
Drop to the pier-end warehouses, where art shows, a Friday food-truck night, and the Maritime museum's old ships sit at the water. The end of the piers gives you the bay at eye level and the city climbing behind.

6. Chestnut Street
Cut up into the Marina proper and end on Chestnut Street, the neighbourhood's busy shopping-and-eating run — cafés, a long-standing cinema, and weekend brunch queues. The 30-Stockton from here takes you on.

The Marina: the Palace, the green, and Fort Mason