Union Square: the square and the theater district
The cable-car turnaround, the department stores, one Frank Lloyd Wright building, and the theaters off the square. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Powell Street cable-car turnaround
Start where the Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason cars are spun by hand on a wooden turntable. Watch a turn or two before you climb the hill on foot; the queue is for the ride, and you don't need the ride.

2. Union Square (Dewey Monument)
The granite column with Victory on top marks the 1898 war that made San Francisco a port for the empire. Sit on the terraced steps and watch the square work; the open plaza is younger than the column under it.

3. Macy's and the old department stores
The square is ringed by the big retail blocks — Macy's on the south side, the carved stone Neiman Marcus on the corner with its salvaged glass rotunda inside. Step in to look up at the dome; you don't have to buy anything.

4. Maiden Lane — the Frank Lloyd Wright building
A two-block pedestrian lane off the east side, once the city's red-light alley, now lined with cafe tables. At 140 is the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Francisco: a windowless brick front with a Romanesque arch, a curving ramp inside that he later reused for the Guggenheim.

5. Geary and Mason — the theater corner
Walk west to the theater spine. The Curran and the gilded Geary, home to the city's main repertory company, face each other across Geary. Matinee crowds gather here on weekend afternoons; check what's on before you arrive.

6. Powell Street, back down the hill
Drop back toward the turnaround along Powell, the hotels stacking up the slope. End where you started, the cable car still spinning. BART and Muni Metro are directly underneath.

Union Square: the square and the theater district