Things and Places in SF + Bay Area

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
  • They have a great 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!
• Inner Richmond
  • Breadbelly
    • Online orders open at 10AM (open Thursday – Sunday)
    • I recommend the Kaya Bun and Brown Butter Mochi
    • BREADBELLY (toasttab.com)
  • Lung Fung Bakery
    • I love the pineapple custard bun here
  • Honey B
    • Great for some cheap, basic boba
  • My Tofu House
    • Their food is fantastic and you get full fried side fish to eat with your mean.
  • Han Il Kwan
    • Excellent a la carte Korean + KBBQ
    • Get one of the preset dinner or lunch sets if you have a strong team of hungry stomachs
    • I love their Spicy Braised Beef Short Rib
  • Hong Kong Lounge
    • Classic dim sum style restaurant
    • Recommend: Dry friend string beans, Century egg and pork porridge, Pan fried noodle roll in XO Sauce, fried pork puff
• 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
  • Honey B
    • Great for some cheap, basic boba
• 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.
• Beep’s Burgers
  • For my favourite burger in SF. Get it with avocado, cheese, an egg and extra vegetables.

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~
  • 7 Beautiful Mosaic-Tiled Stairways in San Francisco | by Jack Chen | The Bold Italic
• 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
• Hiking + Walking
  • Hike to Coit Tower from Levi’s Plaza
  • Meander through Golden Gate Park (start at McLaren Lodge)
    • Highlights: Bison, Turtles at Stow Lake + View of the city from the top of Strawberry Hill, Rose Garden (when in season), Queen Wilhelmina Gardens, Middle Lake, Japanese Tea Garden, SF Botanical Garden, De Young Museum
  • Through Pacific Heights, visit Sacremento St shops, Lafayette Park and shop on Filmore
  • Walk from Baker Beach, to Immigrant Point Overlook, and then to the Golden Gate Bridge
  • North through Glen Canyon Park up to the top of Twin Peaks for a view of the city
  • Hike from Hawk Hill Roundabout to Black Sand beach
    • Explore Black Sands Beach via Julian Trail | AllTrails
  • 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
  • Mission Mural Walk
    • San Francisco’s Mission District Murals: Explorer’s Guide & Map – californiacrossings.com
  • Crosstown Trail (16 miles, one way). I recommend starting in the Inner Richmond and going southeast (you don’t need to do the whole loop)
  • Further abroad
    • 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
• 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
    • Salesforce Tower Tours (August 2019 – January 2020)
• 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
    • SF Privately Owned Public Open Spaces (sfpopos.com)
  • 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.
  • 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