The San Francisco Bay Area is a geographically diverse and extensive metropolitan region in San Francisco Bay in northern California. Also known simply as “Bay Area”, it is home to nearly 8 million inhabitants. There isn’t a strict set of boundaries that defines the Bay Area; it is composed of nine counties including Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa. The Bay Area includes many cities that surround the Bay including Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Jose, and Santa Cruz. The Bay Area still has many distinct areas, each with their own attractions and cultures
The Peninsula is the region that stretches down from San Francisco across San Mateo County and into Santa Clara County. The major towns for this area include Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, and Davenport along the coast. The towns along the Bay side include South San Francisco, Daly City, Burlingame, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos.
East Bay is the region that lies across the bay from San Francisco. This area includes Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, and the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, and towns including El Cerrito, Albany, Emeryville, San Leandro, Alameda, Hayward, and Fremont.
South Bay is the area encompassed by Santa Clara County, including the city of San Jose.
North Bay includes Solano, Marin and Sonoma Counties. This is the area you arrive in when crossing the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
