Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA

Bordered by Downtown, Chinatown, and the perennial swank of Pacific Heights, Nob Hill has been popular with affluent denizens since San Francisco’s early days, when railroad tycoons and oil barons threw up mansions to take advantage of the area’s grand hilltop views.

Largely destroyed after the 1906 earthquake, the neighborhood is still quite ritzy, with grand hotels and swanky apartments built over the mansions’ rubble, but there are still plenty of attractions – some of them even budget-friendly – that make Nob Hill a popular destination both day and night.

Tourists largely make their way to the Cable Car museum, but more theologically minded folks can check out the massive Grace Cathedral and its famed mosaics, stained glass, and AIDS Chapel altarpiece adorned with works by Keith Haring.

Anyone in need of a break from walking the area’s glute-busting streets can tuck into the tiny but serene Huntington Park, while several long-running coffee shops and quiet cocktail lounges make it easy to wet one’s thirst in a decidedly old-school environment.

Those in need of more amped-up fare won’t be left out in the fog, however, as the southern edge of Nob Hill offers much in the way of raucous sports bars and gritty dives, while its proximity to Bordered by Downtown, Chinatown and the bar-hopping paradise of Russian Hill’s Polk Street promise a diverse party that’ll run late every night.