5 Shopping San Francisco

Why it made the list: The best shopping neighborhood in the city, a few compact, flat blocks (a rarity in San Francisco) packed with independent boutiques, local designers, home shops and great coffee. No hills, no chains to speak of, and a park in the middle to regroup. The one to do if you do one.

Why it made the list: The Mission's main shopping artery and the city's most characterful, independent bookstores, vintage, record shops, makers and oddball specialty stores, strung along a sunny, lively street. It's where you find the things you won't see anywhere else, in the warmest, least foggy part of the city.

Why it made the list: The grand, traditional one, the department stores and luxury flagships ringing Union Square, plus the surrounding downtown blocks. It's the most concentrated shopping in the city and the go-to for the big names, all around a central plaza and the cable-car turnaround.

Why it made the list: The polished, uptown option, a leafy stretch of Fillmore through Pacific Heights lined with upscale boutiques, well-known labels and good cafés, with a calmer, more moneyed feel than downtown. The place for a genteel afternoon of browsing between coffees.

Why it made the list: The oldest and largest Chinatown outside Asia, and a completely different kind of shopping, herbalists, tea shops, markets, souvenirs and bakeries packed along Grant and the streets around it. The trick, as with any Chinatown, is to get off the souvenir drag and onto the streets where locals actually shop.