I am often asked for suggestions for things for people to see and do during their visits to the San Francisco Bay Area, and as a transplant that has done a fair amount of exploring in the area, I'm sometimes able to provide some decent insight for people (as I can still sometimes see The City as an outsider).
However, I always seem to take forever to get back to people with suggestions because it takes so long to sit down and bang out my thoughts. To fix that problem, I've created this blog post that can be my "go-to" list for everybody.
Before you arrive -- I highly, highly, highly recommend you read "The Age of Gold." It will provide you with so much fascinating history about the genesis of San Francisco and will provide an excellent context to more fully understand so much of what you will see in San Francisco today. In addition, you will know more about who the streets of San Francisco are named after than 99% of the residents of San Francisco.
To get things started off, here's my generic Top 10 Suggestions for Tourists in San Francisco:
#10 - Coit Tower
A walk up to Coit Tower pays off in a lot of ways. First, it puts you in North Beach, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Second, you get a killer workout (the hills leading up to Coit Tower are intense). And finally, you get to see Coit Tower! Between it's history (including the Marxist murals inside, which tell an interesting story about the artist community in the Depression) and the views from the top, it's a must see.
#9 - Golden Gate Park
A walk up to Coit Tower pays off in a lot of ways. First, it puts you in North Beach, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Second, you get a killer workout (the hills leading up to Coit Tower are intense). And finally, you get to see Coit Tower! Between it's history (including the Marxist murals inside, which tell an interesting story about the artist community in the Depression) and the views from the top, it's a must see.
#9 - Golden Gate Park
We happen to live a fairly short walk from Golden Gate Park, so we spend a lot of time there. Because of that, I may be biased either in favor of it or against it -- I'm not sure which.
Golden Gate Park is a huge park that was created in the same spirit as Central Park in NYC -- it really is an oasis in the city, and it's easy to forget you are in a city in many places within the park.
The primary attractions in the park (outside of the trees and grass and limited wildlife) are the DeYoung Museum (a world class art museum with an excellent free observation deck), the California Academy of Science (essentially a natural history museum plus aquarium), and the Conservatory of Flowers.
The museum portion of the park is right next to 9th and Irving, which is a great area in the Inner Sunset for restaurants and (to a lesser extent) bars. The N Judah line has a stop there, which makes it very convenient as well.
Further east, the park thins out into the Panhandle, which should be a familiar image for fans of the Summer of Love. Haight-Ashbury is just a block off of the Pandhandle.
#8 - Explore a neighborhood
Before we had kids, my wife and I would often enjoy a whole day by just picking a neighborhood and wandering around. We'd seek out the unqiue sights, check out the unique stores, hit a restaurant or two we'd never been to before, maybe grab some ice cream or some other speciality treat, and ultimately find a cool dive bar in which to rest and drink when we wore ourselves out.
I'd recommend this approach for almost any neighbhorhood, but my favorites are: North Beach, South Beach, The Mission, Chinatown, The Marina and The Haight.
#7 - Ferry Building
The Ferry Building is one of the many iconic structures of San Francisco, and one of the most historical buildings in the city. It's still an active Ferry landing for commuters heading across the bay, but the inside of the building is essentially a big niche market, high end crunchy sort of collection of stores. So if you are looking for expensive grassfed beef or expensive mushrooms (non-hallucinatory types) or expensive kitchen wares or many other kinds of expensive and interesting products, there may well be a store in here that interests you.
Shopping aside, there's food everywhere, and the architecture of the building itself is definitely worth seeing. Once you step outside, you can't beat the views in all directions. It's a great park of town to walk and explore. It's essentially on the edge of South Beach and the Financial District.
When people think of "Fisherman's Wharf" in San Francisco, they tend to think of Pier 39, which is essentially just a crappy outdoor mall on a pier. It's fun for what it is, but it's not on my Top 10 list. Swing by and see the Sea Lions on the back side of Pier 39, and then move on to the "real" Fisherman's Wharf, which takes you on a walk toward west.
Further down, you'll find the Maritime Museum, which features several old ships that can be toured.
And, of course, this area is filled with working fishing boats and seafood restaurants (some better than others). Just avoid the Times Square-eque crap camera shops further from the water, and you're set!
You can finish off the day by getting a drink at the historic Buena Vista bar or getting ice cream at Ghiradelli Square.
#5 - Land's End/Sutro Baths
This area is an incredibly scenic Pacific Ocean coastline that also offers a huge amount of history and hiking. The foundations of the immense Sutro Baths are still in place, and look like Roman ruins to the uninitiated. It's hard to describe the beauty that one will find there, so I just have to leave it at that.
We had our family pictures done there by Nicole Wickens a few years ago ... a perfect location, we now realize.
One can hike all the way from the Land's End trailhead to the Golden Gate Bridge, or stop at the Palace of Legion of Honor as well.
#4 - Game at AT&T Park
It's always cold and windy, but the view from Twin Peaks is amazing. If you have access to a car (as there is no public transit to get there that I'm aware of), I highly recommend you include this on your trip. It gives you a bird's eye view of a huge portion of the Bay Area, and an amazing view right down the length of Market Street.
#2 - Golden Gate Bridge/Presidio/Marin Headlands
The Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps one of the most iconic images in the world, and seeing it in person is never a let-down. Driving or biking or walking across the bridge will put your mind into motion and will make you amazed at the idea that people built this bridge in the days of little technology and even less safety standards. The structure itself is not only amazing, but the views from the bridge are breath taking.
One can spend a whole day exploring the bridge, along with the Marin Headlands on the north side of the span and the Presidio on the south side (San Francisco side) of the span.
I've heard a lot of locals mock Alcatraz and even brag that they've never been there. I consider those people to be kinda silly. No matter where you are from, Alcatraz is awesome, and is something that everybody should do at least once if they can. The views are amazing, the history is fascinating, and the place is just so iconic that you have to experience it yourself. The self-guided tours are excellent, and give you a pretty good idea of how miserable it would have been to be an inmate there.
On top of it all, you get to ride a Ferry out and back to the island, which is a thrill in itself for most people.
Great list! I haven't heard of 4 of these so big time thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso the Brewery Tour sounds like a must.