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When it comes to vacation, one word gets whispered like it’s a dirty piece of Page Six gossip: the dreaded “T-word.”
It’s not traffic, tech bros, or travel insurance. It’s touristy.
In my opinion, this is misguided loathing. Touristy doesn’t necessarily mean bad, especially in San Francisco, where many popular hotspots are also beautiful, historic, and culturally significant.
Whether it’s walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, eating clam chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf, or hopping aboard a Cable Car, touristy can mean “totally worth it” in San Francisco.
There are so many things to do in San Francisco, but here are some of my picks to get you started. If you’re planning to do a lot of sightseeing, the San Francisco CityPASS® gets you admission to 4 Top Attractions for one price.
1. Alcatraz “The Rock”
A must on any San Francisco itinerary, the infamous prison-turned-museum and National Park was originally built in the mid-19th century as a lighthouse and military fortification. Surrounded by the chilly waters of the San Francisco Bay, the island, located about 1.25 miles (two kilometers) offshore, served as a prison from 1934 to 1963.
Book tickets well in advance to avoid the disappointment of not standing in a cell or learning about a day in the life of former inmates such as Al “Scarface” Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert Stroud, aka the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
Night tours are also available, adding a spooky element to the experience.
2. Cable Cars
More than just transportation, these rolling landmarks offer a nostalgic ride with amazing city views.
There are three active cable car lines in San Francisco: the Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason, and California Street.
If you only ride one Cable Car, I suggest the Powell-Hyde line. It runs between downtown San Francisco, near Union Square (on Powell Street), to Fisherman’s Wharf.
On the way you go up and down some of San Francisco’s famous hills, and get some amazing views of the skyline, the bay, and Alcatraz. It even stops at the top of Lombard Street.
The California line will take you to the top of Nob Hill. San Francisco’s cable cars have been around since 1873 and were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Today, they are the world’s last manually operated cable car system, and seriously, how cute are they?
Tip
Make a stop at the Cable Car Museum (free) and see the actual cables that pull the cars up and down San Francisco’s hills.
3. Golden Gate Bridge
It’s the symbol of the city, so of course it’s on the list. Every time I come home from a trip and see the Golden Gate Bridge, I smile. It never gets old, whether smothered in fog or gloriously International Orange (the official color).
The structure spans 1.7 miles across the Golden Gate Strait, the narrow entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. You can walk, bike, or drive across it.
Tip
Rent an e-bike in San Francisco and pedal over to Sausalito, then take the ferry back
If you aren’t into two-wheel adventures, have a taxi take you to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, where you can check out the exhibits and browse the gift shop before starting your trek across, or not.
4. Chinatown
Who wouldn’t want to visit the oldest Chinatown in North America? The roughly 30-square-block neighborhood is also home to San Francisco’s first street: Grant Avenue. It’s a great neighborhood for wandering, and noshing on noodles, dumplings, and fresh-from-the-oven egg tarts.
Visit the small streets, alleyways, and grocery stores selling unusual produce on Stockton Street. And check out the Tin How Temple on Waverly Place, one of the oldest still-operating Chinese temples in the United States.
On Grant Avenue, there are loads of souvenir shops under the swaying red lanterns but there are also some great tea tasting lounges too, such as Red Blossom Tea Company.
Lately, Chinatown has welcomed some upscale eateries such as Mister Jiu’s (Michelin-star), Empress by Boon, and China Live, a multilevel food hall-style place where you can taste and drink a little bit of everything.
5. Oracle Park
Select your tickets and enjoy peanuts and Cracker Jacks at Oracle Park, home to the San Francisco Giants and one of the most beautiful MLB ballparks in the country.
With its sweeping views of the Bay Bridge and McCovey Cove, it’s a stunning place to catch a game, grab some good grub, or just soak up the waterfront atmosphere.
Even if you’re not in town during baseball season, the behind-the-scenes ballpark tours are fun and make great gifts for the sport’s fans in your life.
6. Fisherman’s Wharf
I’ll be honest, this lively part of San Francisco’s waterfront is a magnet for tourists and selfie sticks. Still, it’s worthwhile to go if only because this area is almost as old as the city itself, established in the mid-1800s by Italians who built up the thriving fishing community. Only later did it develop into an entertainment hub and a top San Francisco tourist attraction.
Even so, it’s still an active fishing port, too, and when I’m around, I like to grab clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl or fresh Dungeness crab to take home when it’s in season (usually mid-November to June).
7. Coit Tower
The fluted Art Deco column on Telegraph Hill is an emblematic part of the San Francisco skyline, built between 1932 and 1933 at the bequest of a wealthy San Francisco woman, Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
Go to see panoramic views from the top, but also to check out the lobby murals, painted in 1934 by 30 California artists. The images depict life during the Great Depression and were considered controversial at the time.
Docent-led tours are offered for a fee if you’re interested in a granular-level backgrounder on the tower and paintings, but you are welcome to go it alone, too.
8. Visit a Museum
San Francisco’s museums form a rich, eclectic landscape where art, science, history, and innovation intersect. Alongside heavyweights like SFMOMA, the de Young, California Academy of Sciences, and the Exploratorium, the city delights in its quirkier side with gems like the Beat Museum, the Cable Car Museum, and the Musée Mécanique, where nostalgia and counterculture reign.
Together, they capture San Francisco’s curious, creative, innovative, playful, and rebellious spirit.
9. Palace of Fine Arts
Go on any given day, and you’re bound to see couples posing for proposal, engagement, and wedding photos. My daughter even snapped some of her prom pictures here. You’ll understand why when you see it.
This picturesque Beaux-Arts structure is set against a tranquil lagoon and resembles a building that would be at home in Greece or Rome.
A great place for a stroll and an only-in-San-Francisco photo. #GuessWhere
10. The Ferry Building
The clocktower-topped building is located where Market Street meets the Embarcadero and used to be one of the busiest transit hubs in the world, handling around 50,000 daily ferry commuters at its peak. The opening of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges in the 1930s curbed that.
Flash forward several decades, and it’s fair to say the Ferry Building is now synonymous with food thanks to the main hall’s stalls occupied by artisanal bakeries, grocers, coffee roasters, chocolatiers, restaurants, and other gourmet delights.
Drop by for the thrice-weekly market (Tue, Thu, Sat) that unfurls around the perimeter.
As its name suggests, you can still catch ferries to Sausalito, Tiburon, Larkspur, and Treasure Island.
11. Haight-Ashbury
The epicenter of the 1967 Summer of Love, the Haight-Ashbury district still oozes psychedelic history and counterculture vibe. Once home to musicians like Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead, the area near Golden Gate Park’s panhandle still oozes nostalgic and bohemian vibes amid its vintage shops and quirky and casual eateries.
Some of my favorite haunts? Vintage stores like Decades of Fashion and Relic. Cocktails at Alembic and Sandy’s Muffulettas, for those times you just can’t get to New Orleans but are craving a taste of their famous sandwich.
12. Sausalito
For a day trip from San Francisco that feels like a proper vacation, catch a ferry at the Ferry Building and cross the bay to picturesque Sausalito.
Stroll along Bridgeway, the town’s main waterfront drag, dip into art galleries, grab a coffee at Suzette Bistro, or a margarita at Copita, rent a kayak (or book a guided tour) with SeaTrek to check out the houseboats, and pick up a local souvenir at Sausalito Books by the Bay and Heath Ceramics.
Sausalito was home to the Marinship shipyard, a major World War II facility that built 93 Liberty ships and other vessels to support the Allied war effort. You can see a small exhibit about these ships at the Bay Model Visitor Center, also home to a working hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta System. It’s cooler than it sounds.
FYI: The last ferry back to the city is around 7 p.m., so plan accordingly. Or, book one of the hotels in town and make a special occasion weekend out of it.
Read my review of The Inn Above Tide
13. Angel Island
I love Angel Island for its natural beauty and panoramic views, especially along the perimeter trail and from its highest point, Mount Livermore, at 788 feet (240 meters).
However, the 1.2-square-mile, car-free island is also a State Park and conceals an interesting bit of U.S. history.
Often called the “Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island was the West Coast entry point for Asian immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship between 1910 and 1940. Visitors can check out Angel Island Immigration Station Museum and the Angel Island Detention Barracks Museum.
Angel Island is accessible by ferry from either San Francisco (Ferry Building) on the Golden Gate Ferry or from downtown Tiburon on the Angel Island Tiburon Ferry.
Once on the island, you can walk (a little over a mile) or take a direct shuttle to the museum. There are also bike rentals on the island, and a 5-mile perimeter trail around the island.
14. The Presidio
The former U.S. Army post, which became a 1,500-acre national park at the north-west end of the city, was established in 1776, making it as old as our country.
It was an active military base until 1994, when it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Today, the Presidio is a vibrant place with hotels, museums such as the Walt Disney Family Museum, restaurants, and stunning forested and waterfront walks.
Crissy Field is my favorite place to meet friends for a walk (you’ll see me there several times a week). I love the flat path, sandy beaches, the Warming Hut Park Store, and unrivaled views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you want a family photo with the San Francisco symbol in the background, this is your spot!
Check out the Presidio Tunnel Tops is a newish 14-acre park area with seating, kids’ play areas, nearby food trucks, and more epic views.
15. Golden Gate Park
Where do I start? Golden Gate Park is an amazing place to spend a day, weekend, or moment. At 1,017 acres, it’s larger than New York’s Central Park.
There’s so much to do in the park, you’ll have to pick your pleasure. You’ll find the de Young Museum here, along with the Japanese Tea Garden, the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, as well as lakes, playgrounds, trails, meadows, and even resident bison.
16. North Beach
New York has Little Italy; San Francisco has North Beach, a lively red-sauce-and-garlic-scented neighborhood with Italian flags painted on lampposts and streets dotted with trattorias, espresso bars, pizza joints, and cultural landmarks.
Foodies line up the award winning pies at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, and Caffe Trieste is a quintessential old-school hangout where Beat poets once congregated. For a panini that will change your life, drop by Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store.
Tosca is a longtime favorite of mine, especially for famiglia-style dinners beneath its frescoed walls. Don’t skip the meatballs. Chef’s kiss!
17. Mission Dolores
In San Francisco’s lively Mission District, you’ll find Mission San Francisco de Asís, aka Mission Dolores, the city’s oldest surviving building, founded by Franciscan priests in 1776.
Mission Dolores is the 6th in the California chain of 21 Spanish missions built between 1769 and 1833, and is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. The ornate Mission Dolores Basilica, next door to the mission, was dedicated in 1918, and its striking Spanish-Baroque architecture is worth ogling.
Just across the street is Dolores Park. Find more great San Francisco Parks
18. Take a Food Tour
If San Francisco has a love language, it’s definitely dining, and a food tour isn’t just a stroll between restaurants, it’s also a bite-by-bite history lesson
Whether you’re slurping ramen in Japantown, savoring soup dumplings in Chinatown, juggling burritos the size of your arm in the Mission, or eating Cioppino at Fisherman’s Wharf, one thing’s for sure: you’re going to learn a lot and go home full and happy.
I’ve taken a few food tours. It’s something my best friend and I do as our Christmas gift to each other. Our most recent one was in North Beach and we stuffed ourselves silly and learned a lot about our city too.
Check out more San Francisco Food Tour options
