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 green and blending into the verdant backdrop of Golden Gate Park. 　　Don't be fooled by the camouflaged exterior: shows here boldly broaden artistic horizons, from Oceanic ceremonial masks and trippy-hippie...

Comstock Saloon

San Francisco

　　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 authentic pisco punch and martini-precursor Martinez (gin, vermouth, bitters, maraschino liqueur). Arrive to toast Emperor Norton's statue at happy hour (4pm to 6pm) and stay...

Exploratorium

San Francisco

　　Is there a science to skateboarding? Do toilets really flush counterclockwise in Australia? At San Francisco's hands-on science museum, you'll find out things you wish you learned in school. 　　Combining science with art and investigating human perception, the Exploratorium nudges you to question how you perceive the world around you....

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 room. Downstairs, splendid 1930s Works Project Administration (WPA) frescoes celebrate the building of Golden Gate Park. In the backyard, Park Chalet, the casual bar-restaurant, hosts raucous...

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, architect Renzo Piano's 2008 landmark LEED-certified green building houses over 45,000 animals in a four-story rainforest, split-level aquarium and planetarium, all under a 'living roof' of...

Asian Art Museum

San Francisco

　　Imaginations race from subtle Chinese ink paintings to seductive Hindu temple carvings and from elegant Islamic calligraphy to cutting-edge Japanese minimalism across three floors spanning 6000 years of Asian art. Besides the largest collection of Asian art outside Asia – 18,000 works – the museum offers excellent programs for all...

15 Romolo

San Francisco

　　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 Jabberwocky (gin, sherry, bitters, fortified wine), but the brazen Baker Beach (mezcal, manzanilla sherry, apricot, vermouth, lemon) makes grown men blush. Bask in $9 Basque Pincon...

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

San Francisco

　　The pride and joy of SF foodies, the Ferry Building market showcases more than 100 prime purveyors of California-grown organic produce, pasture-raised meats and gourmet prepared foods at accessible prices. On Saturdays, join top chefs early for prime browsing, and stay for eclectic bayside picnics of Namu Korean tacos, RoliRoti...

Powell St Cable Car Turnaround

San Francisco

　　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 turning the car atop a revolving wooden platform. Cable cars can't go in reverse, so they need to be turned around by hand here at the...

Crissy Field

San Francisco

　　War is for the birds at Crissy Field, a military airstrip turned waterfront nature preserve with knockout Golden Gate views. Where military aircraft once zoomed in for landings, bird-watchers now huddle in the silent rushes of a reclaimed tidal marsh. Joggers pound beachside trails and the only security alerts are...

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 unfurl below in a carpet of light. Take tiny Beaver St uphill to the steps through the bushes, then head right up the trail,...

Alcatraz

San Francisco

　　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 forbidding maximum-security penitentiary and disputed territory between Native American activists and the FBI. No wonder that first step you take onto ‘the Rock’ seems...

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 of Ansel Adams and mentor to Jack London, Isadora Duncan, George Sterling and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. But her friends didn't know her secret: her uncle was Mormon...

Sea Lions at Pier 39

San Francisco

　　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 speculate their arrival may have had something to do with the Loma Prieta earthquake that October, but it's more likely that the sea lions simply caught...

Waverly Place

San Francisco

　　Grant Ave is Chinatown's economic heart, but its soul is Waverly Place, lined with flag-festooned, colorful temple balconies and family-run businesses. Readers will recognize this byway as the namesake of a lead character in Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club; cinephiles from the Pursuit of Happiness; diners may know...

Filbert Street Steps

San Francisco

　　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 scenery you're passing: sweeping Bay Bridge vistas, hidden cottages along Napier Lane's wooden boardwalk, and sculpture-dotted gardens in bloom year-round. If you...

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 the striking waterfall views, picnicking in pagodas and bird-watching on the picturesque island of Strawberry Hill. Around sunset, ghost-hunters arrive to catch sight of...

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 when the maple leaves transition to a fiery red. Year round, visitors wander the Zen Garden and the bonsai grove, and the Tea House...

Balmy Alley

San Francisco

　　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 street art. From the Aztec serpent-god Quetzalcoatl who occupies 24th & York Mini Park to the Maestrapeace that covers the facade of the Women's Building to the tags and other spray painted...

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 down Castro St from Market St to 20th St. Portraits are etched into the bronze plaques, and many are familiar faces: civil rights...

Chinese Historical Society of America

San Francisco

　　Picture what it was like to be Chinese in America during the gold rush, transcontinental railroad construction, and Beat heyday in this 1932 landmark, originally built as Chinatown's YWCA. CHSA historians unearth fascinating artifacts: 1920s silk qipao dresses, WWII Chinatown nightclub posters, and Frank Wong's Chinatown miniatures. 　　Exhibits share personal insights and...

Musée Mécanique

San Francisco

　　A flashback to penny arcades, the Musée Mécanique houses a mind-blowing collection of vintage mechanical amusements. Sinister, freckle-faced Laughing Sal has freaked out kids for over a century, but don't let this manic mannequin deter you from the best arcade west of Coney Island. A quarter lets you start brawls...

Ferry Building

San Francisco

　　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 beer and Marin-raised beef burgers, not to mention the locally roasted coffee and just-baked cupcakes. 　　For thirty years now, the building's new lease on life...

Devil's Acre

San Francisco

　　Potent potions and lipsmacking quack cures are proudly served at this apothecary-style Barbary Coast saloon. Tartly quaffable Lachlan's Antiscorbutic (lime, sea salt, two kinds of gin) is a surefire cure for scurvy and/or sobriety; when in doubt, go Call a 'Treuse (Chartreuse, lemon, vanilla, egg white). There's happy hour until...

Women's Building

San Francisco

　　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's most awe-inspiring murals. The Maestrapeace mural was painted in 1994 and depicts hugely influential women, including Nobel Prize–winner Rigoberta Menchú, poet Audre Lorde, artist Georgia O'Keeffe and former US...

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-space orchids, serene floating lilies and creepy carnivorous plants gobbling insect lunches. ...

Buena Vista Park

San Francisco

　　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 city parks – and it's ringed by stately, century-old California oaks. Brave trails weaving uphill through the park, then take Buena...

Fort Point

San Francisco

　　This triple-decker, brick-walled US military fortress was completed in 1861, with 126 cannons, to protect the bay against certain invasion during the Civil War…or not, as it turned out. Without a single shot having been fired, Fort Point was abandoned in 1900. Alfred Hitchcock made it famous in his 1956...

Dolores Park

San Francisco

　　Welcome to San Francisco's sunny side, the land of street ball and Mayan-pyramid playgrounds, semiprofessional tanning and taco picnics. Although the grassy expanses are mostly populated by relaxing hipsters, political protests and other favorite local sports do happen from time to time, and there are free movie nights and mime...

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco

　　Few cities boast a structure so iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, commemorated in everything from films like The Maltese Falcon to not one but two emojis. Still, it's become so much a part of San Francisco's fabric and the popular imagination that it's easy to forget what an uphill battle it...

Coit Tower

San Francisco

　　If you want to really see San Francisco, head to Coit Tower, a 1933 art deco beaut designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard that sits high up on Telegraph Hill. San Fran scribe Gary Kamiya once described Coit Tower as the best 60-second walk I know, noting that in the minute it...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

San Francisco

　　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 sprawling collection of modern and contemporary masterworks over seven floors of galleries – but then, SFMOMA has defied limits ever since its 1935 founding. 　　A...

City Lights Books

San Francisco

　　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 founders decision to name the shop for a Charlie Chaplin film and sell only paperback books. And its initial owner, professor Peter Martin,...

Chinatown Alleyways

San Francisco

　　If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture clinics, barbershops, and travel agencies, you'll see a microcosm of the the American dream. San Francisco's storied Chinatown is the oldest in North America, and the largest off the...

Haight Street

San Francisco

　　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 laced with pot, sandalwood incense and burning military draft cards, entire days were spent contemplating trippy Grateful Dead posters,...

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 into a vast city park, he was understandably skeptical. Here was a swath of 1,013 acres of unlovely, dubious sand dunes on the outskirts of...