Simone Anne / Stocksy United
If there's a technology still unimagined, a poem left unspoken or a green scheme untested, chances are it's about to happen here. Goodbye, inhibitions; hello, San Francisco.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
When Frederick Law Olmsted,architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…
Haight Street
The Haight & Hayes Valley
Was it the fall of 1966 or the winter of ’67? As the Haight saying goes, if you can remember the Summer of Love, you probably weren’t here. The fog was…
Chinatown Alleyways
North Beach & Chinatown
If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture…
City Lights Books
North Beach & Chinatown
No one could have predicted the cultural force City Lights would become when it first opened in 1953. Sure, it had a proletarian ethos suggested by its…
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expanded in 2016, it was a mind-boggling feat that nearly tripled the institution's size to accommodate a…
Coit Tower
North Beach & Chinatown
If you want to reallyseeSan Francisco, head to Coit Tower, a 1933 art deco beaut designed byArthur Brown, Jr.and Henry Howard that sits high up on…
Golden Gate Bridge
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Few cities boast a structure so iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, commemorated in everything from films likeThe Maltese Falconto not one but two emojis…
Dolores Park
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Welcome to San Francisco's sunny side, the land of street ball and Mayan-pyramid playgrounds, semiprofessional tanning and taco picnics. Although the…
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Top picks from our travel experts
The 16 best things to do in San Francisco
Curated by
Alison Bing
Fort Point
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
This triple-decker, brick-walled US military fortress was completed in 1861, with 126 cannons, to protect the bay against certain invasion during the…
Buena Vista Park
The Haight & Hayes Valley
True to its name, this hilltop park offers splendid vistas over the city to Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay. Founded in 1867, this is one of the oldest…
Conservatory of Flowers
San Francisco
Flower power is alive and well at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers. This gloriously restored 1878 Victorian greenhouse is home to freaky outer…
Women's Building
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
A renowned and beloved Mission landmark since 1979, the nation's first women-owned-and-operated community center is festooned with one of the neighborhood…
Devil's Acre
North Beach & Chinatown
Potent potions and lipsmacking quack cures are proudly served at this apothecary-style Barbary Coast saloon. Tartly quaffable Lachlan's Antiscorbutic …
Ferry Building
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Hedonism is alive and well at this transit hub turned gourmet emporium, where foodies happily miss their ferries over Sonoma oysters and bubbly, SF craft…
Musée Mécanique
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
A flashback to penny arcades, the Musée Mécanique houses a mind-blowing collection of vintage mechanical amusem*nts. Sinister, freckle-faced Laughing Sal…
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expanded in 2016, it was a mind-boggling feat that nearly tripled the institution's size to accommodate a…
Chinese Historical Society of America
North Beach & Chinatown
Picture what it was like to be Chinese in America during the gold rush, transcontinental railroad construction, and Beat heyday in this 1932 landmark,…
Rainbow Honor Walk
San Francisco
You're always in excellent company in the Castro, where sidewalk plaques honor LGBT+ heroes. The walk runs along Market St from Noe St to Casto St and…
Balmy Alley
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Since at least the 1980s, if you stroll through San Francisco's Mission District you've likely noticed the neighborhood's profusion of colorful murals and…
Japanese Tea Garden
San Francisco
First planted in 1894, these 5 acres of gorgeous flower gardens are especially delightful in the spring, when the cherry blossoms pop, and also the fall…
Stow Lake
San Francisco
When the weather's behaving, pedal boats and rowboats are available daily at the magnificent 1946 boathouse on Stow Lake. Folks also tend to drop by for…
Filbert Street Steps
North Beach & Chinatown
Halfway through the steep climb up the Filbert St Steps to Coit Tower, you might wonder if it’s all worth the trouble. Take a breather and notice the…
Waverly Place
North Beach & Chinatown
Grant Ave is Chinatown's economic heart, but its soul is Waverly Place, lined with flag-festooned, colorful temple balconies and family-run businesses…
Sea Lions at Pier 39
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Sea lions took over San Francisco’s most coveted waterfront real estate in 1989 and have been making a public display of themselves ever since. Some…
Ina Coolbrith Park
San Francisco
On San Francisco's literary scene, all roads eventually lead to Ina Coolbrith. She was California's first poet laureate, editor of Mark Twain, colleague…
Alcatraz
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Alcatraz: for over 150 years, the name has given the innocent chills and the guilty cold sweats. Over the decades, it’s been a military prison, a…
Corona Heights Park
San Francisco
Scramble up the red rocks of 520ft-high Corona Heights for jaw-dropping, 180-degree views at the summit. Face east as the sun sets, and watch the city…
Crissy Field
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
War is for the birds at Crissy Field, a military airstrip turned waterfront nature preserve with knockout Golden Gate views. Where military aircraft once…
Powell St Cable Car Turnaround
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Peek through the passenger queue at Powell and Market Sts to spot cable-car operators leaping out, gripping the chassis of each trolley and slooowly…
Chinatown Alleyways
North Beach & Chinatown
If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture…
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
The pride and joy of SF foodies, the Ferry Building market showcases more than 100 prime purveyors of California-grown organic produce, pasture-raised…
15 Romolo
North Beach & Chinatown
Strap on your spurs: it's gonna be a wild Western night at this back-alley Basque saloon squeezed between burlesque joints. The strong slay the…
Asian Art Museum
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Imaginations race from subtle Chinese ink paintings to seductive Hindu temple carvings and from elegant Islamic calligraphy to cutting-edge Japanese…
Golden Gate Bridge
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Few cities boast a structure so iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, commemorated in everything from films likeThe Maltese Falconto not one but two emojis…
Coit Tower
North Beach & Chinatown
If you want to reallyseeSan Francisco, head to Coit Tower, a 1933 art deco beaut designed byArthur Brown, Jr.and Henry Howard that sits high up on…
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco
This classic research institute and museum has been teaching San Franciscans about natural history since 1853. Right in the middle of Golden Gate Park,…
Beach Chalet
San Francisco
Microbrews with views: watch Pacific sunsets through pint glasses of the Beach Chalet's Riptide Red ale from the comfort of the formal upstairs dining…
Comstock Saloon
North Beach & Chinatown
During this 1907 saloon's heyday, patrons relieved themselves in the marble trough below the bar – now you'll have to tear yourself away from Comstock's…
City Lights Books
North Beach & Chinatown
No one could have predicted the cultural force City Lights would become when it first opened in 1953. Sure, it had a proletarian ethos suggested by its…
de Young Museum
San Francisco
Follow sculptor Andy Goldsworthy's artificial fault line in the sidewalk into Herzog & de Meuron's sleek, copper-clad building that's slowly oxidizing…
GLBT History Museum
San Francisco
America's first gay-history museum showcases a century of San Francisco LGBTQ+ ephemera – Harvey Milk's campaign literature, matchbooks from long-gone…
San Francisco Botanical Garden
San Francisco
There’s always something blooming in these 55-acre gardens, which cover a world of vegetation from South African savanna to New Zealand cloud forest. The…
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
When Frederick Law Olmsted,architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…
Dragon's Gate
North Beach & Chinatown
Enter through the Dragon archway donated by Taiwan in 1970, and you'll find yourself on the street formerly known as Dupont in its notorious red-light…
Experience San Francisco like a local with these free things to do
Curated by
Margot Seeto
Lands End
San Francisco
Looking out from Lands End feels like surveying the edge of the world. Nestled on the point of land between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, the park's…
Dolores Park
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Welcome to San Francisco's sunny side, the land of street ball and Mayan-pyramid playgrounds, semiprofessional tanning and taco picnics. Although the…
Ocean Beach
San Francisco
The sun sets over the Pacific just beyond the fog at this blustery beach. Most days are too chilly for bikini-clad clambakes but fine for hardy…
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
When Frederick Law Olmsted,architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…
Planning Tools
Expert guidance to help you plan your trip
Things to Know
San Francisco is an incredible city to visit but you could make your experience even better with these 12 top tips from a local.
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Best Neighborhoods
San Francisco has many different neighborhoods. Here are some of the best for eating, drinking and exploring the city's history.
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Day Trips
Taking a day trip from San Francisco opens up a world of classic California experiences. Here are the best places to go.
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Transportation
With notoriously bad traffic, near-impossible parking and streets as steep as ski jumps, ditch the car in San Francisco. Here's how to get around instead.
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Free Things to Do
Get to know San Francisco and its people with this guide to the best free things to do in the city.
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Traveling with Kids
San Francisco is an exciting place for families, who will undoubtedly enjoy the city's many green spaces, vibrant culture and good weather.
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Articles
Latest stories from San Francisco
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Tips & Advice
Local Flavor: where to eat and drink in San Francisco
Mar 4, 2024 • 6 min read
From Yemeni coffee to dim sum in Chinatown, our San Francisco writer picks the city's best places to eat and drink.
Public Transport
7 of the best day trips from San Francisco
Feb 22, 2024 • 13 min read
Neighborhoods
The 7 best neighborhoods in San Francisco
Feb 20, 2024 • 14 min read
Air Travel
How to get around San Francisco
Feb 15, 2024 • 9 min read
Beaches
San Francisco with kids
Feb 15, 2024 • 16 min read
Activities
Experience San Francisco like a local with these free things to do
Feb 12, 2024 • 10 min read
Destination Practicalities
12 things to know before visiting San Francisco
Feb 9, 2024 • 8 min read
Destination Practicalities
When is the best time to visit San Francisco?
Feb 9, 2024 • 8 min read
Budget Travel
Cheap San Francisco: 14 ways to make your budget last
Feb 8, 2024 • 9 min read
Activities
The 16 best things to do in San Francisco
Feb 5, 2024 • 9 min read
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San Francisco and beyond
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