Mapping the Fictional San Francisco

In 'Around the World in Eighty Days' Jules Verne described San Francisco as a city of "verdant squares". You can discover how other authors have described the city on the Literary City interactive map.

Ever since the days of the Californian gold rush San Francisco has held a special position in the myths and literature of America. To celebrate San Francisco's status as one of the most vibrant literary cities in the world the San Francisco Chronicle has created this literary map of San Francisco.

The map shows the locations of independent bookshops, places of literary importance and also includes descriptions of the city and its locations by famous authors.


If you are a fan of fictional descriptions of San Francisco then you might also be interested in seeing how the city is depicted in films. Filmed in San Francisco maps all the locations in San Francisco used in movies since January 2013. The map is based on all the film permits issued by the San Francisco Film Office between January 2013 and August 2015.

You can search the map by location simply by clicking on the markers on the map. Alternatively you can use the list in the map sidebar to find a film by name and then view all the San Francisco film locations used in that film on the map. Each film includes a brief note on the scene location. You can even click through to view the original filming permission issued by the San Francisco Film Office.