Cable car at turntable on Powell Street at Market Street, San Francisco, California

Getty Images


Peek through the passenger queue at Powell and Market Sts to spot cable-car operators leaping out, gripping the chassis of each trolley and slooowly turning the car atop a revolving wooden platform. Cable cars can't go in reverse, so they need to be turned around by hand here at the terminus of the Powell St lines. Riders queue up midmorning to early evening to secure a seat, with raucous street performers and doomsday preachers on the sidelines as entertainment.

If you're not sure how long the wait will be, count heads and do math: cable cars hold 60 people (29 seated, 31 standing) but depart before they're full to leave room for passengers boarding en route. Cars depart every five to 10 minutes at peak times. Powell-Mason cars are quickest to the Wharf, but Powell-Hyde cars traverse more terrain and hills.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. James Flood Building

0.02 MILES

This 1904 stone building survived the 1906 earthquake and retains its original character, notwithstanding the Gap flagship downstairs. Upstairs,…

3. I Magnin Building

0.2 MILES

When Timothy Pflueger’s radical design was revealed on Union Sq in 1948, SF society was shocked: San Francisco’s flagship clothing store appeared…

4. Union Square

0.22 MILES

High-end stores ring Union Sq now, but this people-watching plaza has been a hotbed of protest, from pro-Union Civil War rallies to AIDS vigils. Atop the…

5. Glide Memorial United Methodist Church

0.22 MILES

When the rainbow-robed Glide gospel choir enters singing their hearts out, the 2000-plus congregation erupts in cheers, hugs and dance moves. Raucous…

6. Contemporary Jewish Museum

0.23 MILES

That upended blue-steel box miraculously balancing on one corner atop the Contemporary Jewish Museum is appropriate for an institution that upends…

7. Luggage Store Gallery

0.24 MILES

Like a dandelion pushing through sidewalk cracks, this plucky nonprofit gallery has brought signs of life to one of the Tenderloin's toughest blocks for…

8. SF Camerawork

0.26 MILES

Since 1974, this nonprofit art organization has championed experimental photo-based imagery beyond classic B&W prints and casual digital snapshots. Since…