One of San Francisco's Famous Cable Cars

They clatter past Union Square, pull up to Fisherman’s Wharf, plow up the hardcore hills between Market Street and the Bay. But how do you get a seat on board a San Francisco cable car? Can you really just hop on?

The short answer is yes, you can just hop on to any of the three cable car lines. The car conductor will collect your $5 per ride fee on board. But if you’re just learning the system, it’s easiest to find a car in one of these five spots.

The Powell & Hyde and Powell & Mason lines begin here, across Market Street from the gigantic Nordstrom’s. A ticket kiosk sells day, two-day, and longer-term MUNI passes as well as single ride tickets and maps. The line to board a cable car snakes around the small wooden turnabout platform. It needs to be small—there’s no electricity involved, so the cable car operators literally have to put their backs into the job of turning each car around.

The Powell-Hyde line picks up passengers at Aquatic Park, two blocks from Ghirardelli Square. The Powell-Mason line’s end/beginning lies at the intersection of Bay Street and Taylor Street, towards the middle of the Fisherman’s Wharf area.

Kids and grown-ups with train obsessions make pilgrimages to this smallish, easily-done-in-an-hour museum. At Mason Street and Washington Street, anyone who thinks history, science, or transportation are cool will have fun at the Cable Car Barn Museum. You can also catch both the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines just outside the Barn.

Powell Street just happens to be one of the four asphalt arteries feeding and bounding the shops of Union Square. You can hop on a cable car with your shopping bags at Powell and Geary or Powell and Post.

Jump on a car at Stockton and California or Grant and California in Chinatown to get either up to Nob Hill or down toward the Embarcadero. At Powell and California, which is still technically Chinatown as far as the locals are concerned, all three cable car lines intersect. Ask the conductor to be sure you’re getting on the right car.

–Liz Hamill Scott of EatsWritesandLeaves and TravelsWithPain