United States · California · San Francisco
Mission District, San Francisco — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The Mission District, called simply the Mission, is one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco. It grew up around Mission San Francisco de Asís, the Spanish mission of 1776 that gave the quarter its name and has long made it a center of the city's Latino life. Taquerias and Spanish-language storefronts crowd Mission Street. Murals cover its side alleys.
About Mission District
Where to stay in Mission District
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Staying in the Mission puts you close to San Francisco's food and nightlife rather than its postcard sights. Bars and taquerias line Valencia Street and Mission Street, and the murals of Balmy Alley sit a short walk from either. The oldest building in the city, Mission San Francisco de Asís, marks the quieter northern edge by Dolores Park.
Rooms are scarce here. Because the district is mostly homes and small shopfronts, many visitors book a guesthouse or turn to downtown San Francisco for a wider choice of beds. Pick the Mission for late nights, not a view of the water.
About Mission District
What are the main landmarks in Mission District?
The district's anchor is Mission San Francisco de Asís, the whitewashed adobe church of 1776 that most people call Mission Dolores. It is the city's oldest building. Up the hill by Dolores Park, at 20th and Church Streets, stands the Golden Fire Hydrant, which kept working through the fires of 1906 and is credited with saving the surrounding blocks.
The site of Woodward's Gardens, a Victorian pleasure garden long since gone, lies near Mission and 14th Streets. Just west toward the Castro, the GLBT Historical Society keeps the neighborhood's queer archives.
What is the history of Mission District?
The neighborhood began with the founding of Mission San Francisco de Asís in 1776, one of the string of missions the Spanish built along the California coast. A settlement grew around the church, and the Mission became one of the first quarters of the young city. When fire followed the earthquake of 1906, much of the district survived, a rescue later tied to the Golden Fire Hydrant on the hill above.
Waves of newcomers, Irish and German at first and then Latin American through the twentieth century, gave the streets their present character. Mission Street turned Spanish-speaking.
Where is Mission District?
The Mission fills a flat, sunny basin in the east-central part of San Francisco. Two commercial spines cross it: Mission Street and Valencia Street run north to south, while 24th Street carries the Latino heart of the district east to west. Dolores Street and Dolores Park mark the western edge, toward the Castro and Noe Valley.
Bernal Heights closes it off to the south. Potrero Hill sits across the freeway.
Good for
More areas in San Francisco
Updated July 2026