I’ve been in the Bay Area for a while now (7 years) and put together a list for friends visiting to give them some inspiration on what to do when they visit. Hope its helpful to you!
To eat
- Chicken sandwich at the Bird (my favourite chicken sandwich)
- Kin Khao (expensive but amazing Thai food) – currently closed but you can check out their sister restaurant Nari
- Tacko (upscale + delicious Mexican food)
- B Patisserie (awesome pastries, try their Kouign Aman)
- Che Fico
- Get ice cream from Salt and Straw and wander over to Delores Park (where you can often get marijuana enhanced snacks if you like)
- State Bird Provisions
- House of Prime Rib (an SF classic, its quite the experience. I’d say its not as good as its priced but worth a visit for the experience potentially).
- Wayfare Tavern
- Their popovers are amazing and the chicken is delicious
- Tartine Manufactory
- Heidi loves their banana cream pie
- Flour + Water
- Solid pasta & pizza
- San Tung Chinese Restaurant
- Get the chicken wings
- Jane the Bakery
- Yank Sing
- Chinatown Dim Sum & Baked Goods
- Napoleon Super Bakery
- Get the egg tart, buttercream, and whatever else catches your fancy
- Good Mong Kok
- Delicious dim sum but often ridiculous lines. If line too long go to the other place listed below.
- Delicious Dim Sum
- Similar quality to GMK without the nutty lines.
- Ordering dim sum
- My recommendations would be the following dishes:
- Sesame Ball
- Shrimp Dumpling
- Shui Mai
- Ham Sui Gok
- + anything else that catches your eye!
- My recommendations would be the following dishes:
- Napoleon Super Bakery
- Breadbelly
- Online orders open at 10AM (open Thursday – Sunday)
- I recommend the Kaya Bun and Brown Butter Mochi
- BREADBELLY (toasttab.com)
- Boba
- Boba Guys
- SF classic. I think they’re overpriced and somewhat overrated but their boba tea is good. Good fit if you’re kind of boujie.
- i-Tea
- One of my favourite boba tea shops: I-TEA
- Boba Guys
- Coffee
- I don’t really drink coffee / tea but people are really into Blue Bottle & Pete’s
- Ice Cream
- Bi Rite
- Salt & Straw
- Crazy expensive but worth it if you have that sort of money to spend
- Niku Steakhouse
- Lazy Bear
- The Shota omakase
- Plow SF
- Excellent brunch place
- Get there early though as the wait can be crazy ~
- Mexican
- Taquería El Farolito – 2779 Mission St San Francisco, CA 94110
- SF Mission District classic. Excellent value and about as legit as you’re going to get.
- Taquería El Farolito – 2779 Mission St San Francisco, CA 94110
To see
- Yoda Statue at the Lucas Arts building in the Presidio
- Lover’s Lane in the Presidio
- Palace of Fine Arts
- The Painted Ladies
- Transbay Terminal (go to the rooftop garden and walk around it, its awesome)
- John McLaren Park
- Huge park with pretty epic views of South San Francisco
- Rolling hills out at Mt. Tam
- Ferry Building
- Coit Tower
- Sutro Baths
- Land’s End Lookout / The Labyrinth
- Huntington Park
- Beautiful park in the centre of Nob Hill
- Transamerica Pyramid
- Maiden Lane
- Yerba Buena Gardens
- Chinatown
- Crocker Galleria Rooftop
- Golden Gate Park
- Tile steps throughout SF. So pretty~
- Mori Point
- Short hike from parking lot and beautiful views!
- Grandview Park
- Absolutely stunning views of the city. I recommend going at sunset or sunrise
To do
- Biking
- Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito + take ferry back (pretty easy).
- I recommend renting a bike from the Bike Hut
- Bike across the Golden Gate and do the Hawk Hill loop (moderate to hard). Really beautiful but a rough climb if you’re not a road biker.
- Bike through Golden Gate park through to Ocean Beach
- Visit –
- The De Young Museum
- Botanical Garden
- Dutch Windmill
- The bison!
- Turtles at Stow Lake
- Visit –
- Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito + take ferry back (pretty easy).
- Hiking + Walking
- Hike to Coit Tower from Levi’s Plaza
- Hike from Hawk Hill Roundabout to Black Sand beach
- Hike along the bluffs by Golden Gate Bridge
- Visit Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge
- Walk along the Embarcadero (start from the Ferry building and head west)
- Reinhardt Regional Park (great hiking in the east Bay)
- Hike to the top of Mount Davidson at sunrise or sunset (can park quite close to the top). Beautiful views & less crowded than Twin Peaks
- Visit the Stanford campus and walk around. It’s got a lot of beautiful architecture
- Visit Muir Woods
- Do the Double Dipsea
- Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserve
- Short hike but amazing views of all three bridges and cities around Tiburon
- Best trails in Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserve, California | AllTrails
- Point Reyes National Seashore
- Sequoia National Park
- Less busy than Yosemite and also stunningly beautiful
- If camping, Lodgepole is an awesome campground
- Yosemite National Park
- Half Moon Bay
- Mission Mural Walk
- Touristy
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- I put this on the list but I don’t think its generally worth doing unless you love tourist trap type areas.
- Visit Alcatraz
- This is touristy but awesome
- Fees & Passes – Alcatraz Island (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
- Go Cars – San Francisco Tours & Sightseeing – GoCar Tours
- This seems lame but is actually so much fun! I recommend the 3 hour ride time if you can afford it.
- Drive down the 1 to Big Sur. Check out the awesome views
- Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio
- Visit the top of the Salesforce tower
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- Other activities
- Disc golf at Golden Gate Park
- Go pet farm animals at Tilden Little Farm in Berkeley
- Play mini-golf at Urban Putt
- Visit some of the the Public Open Spaces in the city
- Drive the ridiculous tourist carts around town
- Watch a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse and order a meal to your seats
- Museums
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- I don’t like modern art but many people think highly of this place.
- Exploratorium
- Lots of fun practical science exhibits here. Lots of fun as a date night if you go to Exploratorium after dark.
- Asian Art Museum
- My favourite museum in the city. So many beautiful, historical cities.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building (Saturday mornings)
- Japanese Onsen (466 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94109)
- Ferry to Alcatraz Island
- Bike Across Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito & take ferry back
- Visit Dolores Park and Chill Out
- Bouldering at Dogpatch Boulders or Mission Cliffs
- Visit Spark Social in Mission Bay
- Exploratorium
- California Academy of Sciences
- Stow Lake @ Golden Gate (turtles!)
Non-SF Based Activities
- Day trip down south to Big Sur/Carmel-by-the-sea
- Visit the Monterey Aquarium
- Day trip out to wine country
- Napa, Sonoma, Healdsburg
- I think visiting somewhere other than Napa is better (so Sonoma for example) as its a bit too busy generally but it can be exciting.
- Day trip up north to Mendocino
- Its so beautiful here and there are so many amazing hikes, national parks and costal views to experience
- Russian Gulch State Park
- We took the North Point trail up into the forest. It’s a steep climb to start but you’re embedded in the woods and it’s pretty magical. We hiked to the waterfall which was not impressive in the least but was a good end point. We came back along the Fern Valley trail (which was “closed” but it was totally walkable and plenty of people were on it).
- We wrapped up with a picnic at the upper picnic area which provided a view of the bridge.
- Mendocino Headlands State Park
- Stunning scenery directly accessible from the parking. You can also see the lighthouse in the distance!
- Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
- Beautiful lighthouse and grounds 0.5 miles from parking
- Mendocino
- Cute little town nearby, make sure to head to the water and check out the park directly adjacent to the town
- Day trip south to explore Silicon Valley
- If you’re interested you can meander around Stanford University, visit the Computer museum, bike around the Google campus, etc. Pretty unique feature of the Bay Area