Three days in three parts: the northeast corner on foot from the Ferry Building through Chinatown to a cable car, Alcatraz on the first boat and the walk to the Golden Gate Bridge, then Golden Gate Park, the Mission and the Castro. Layers in your bag, nothing left in the car.
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Checked October 10, 2026. That’s the day we last confirmed the hours, prices and closed days.
September and October are the warmest, clearest weeks; the summer fog has usually gone. May and June are mild but the west side sits under cloud until lunch. July and August are the busiest and often the coldest in the fog belt. Rain comes between November and March, rarely in between.
North Beach or Nob Hill puts you on foot for day one and on the cable car lines. Hayes Valley is central for restaurants and the N Judah to the park. The Marina is quiet and close to the bridge walk but a ride from everything else. Downtown around Union Square is cheap and well connected; it empties after dark.
Muni buses and streetcars are $2.85 with Clipper or the MuniMobile app ($3 cash, exact change) and the ticket covers two hours of transfers. Add Clipper to your phone wallet before you land; BART also takes contactless bank cards, but not every operator does. The cable car is $9 a ride with no transfer, or $15 for a one-day visitor passport that covers everything. Rideshares are everywhere and run $15 to $25 across town. Do not rent a car for the city.
Embarcadero · 75 min
On a Saturday the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a hundred stalls around the building; Tuesday and Thursday are smaller, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any day, the hall inside has Blue Bottle coffee, Acme bread and oysters at Hog Island.
Embarcadero · 30 min
Walk the waterfront under the Bay Bridge for a few minutes, then turn inland up California Street past the cable cars to Grant Avenue; the Dragon Gate at Bush Street is the entrance to Chinatown. About 25 minutes.
Chinatown · 90 min
Grant Avenue for the lanterns, then Waverly Place for the painted balconies and Ross Alley for the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, where a bag of warm cookies is a few dollars. Portsmouth Square is where the neighborhood actually lives.
Chinatown · 60 min
Down Pagoda Place off Sacramento Street, serving dim sum since 1920: har gow, pan-fried char siu bao, the custard buns. For a quicker, cheaper version, line up at Good Mong Kok Bakery on Stockton Street with cash and eat from the bag in Portsmouth Square.
$20
North Beach · 75 min
Cross Broadway into the Italian quarter. City Lights Booksellers at 261 Columbus has three floors and a poetry room upstairs, and Vesuvio next door is the Beat bar; then Washington Square and Saints Peter and Paul.
Telegraph Hill · 60 min
Up Telegraph Hill from Washington Square, about 15 minutes of steps. The 1934 murals in the lobby cost nothing to see; the elevator to the top is $11 for non-residents, open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April to October and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year.
$11
Telegraph Hill · 30 min
Down the east side of the hill through gardens and wooden cottages to Levi's Plaza, listening for the wild parrots. Ten minutes down, and it is the walk to do before lunch.
Fisherman's Wharf · 60 min
Twenty minutes along the Embarcadero. Pier 39 is a shopping pier; the point is the sea lions on the K Dock floats at its west end, loud and free, so skip the rest or buy a cup of clam chowder at the Boudin counter.
Russian Hill · 45 min
Board the Powell-Hyde line at Hyde and Beach, where tickets are sold at the turnaround; tap Clipper or MuniMobile, or pay the conductor exact cash. Stand on the outside step for the drop past Lombard Street, then hop off around Hyde and Union and walk down to North Beach.
$9
North Beach · 90 min
At Stockton and Union on Washington Square: a dozen pizza styles from different ovens, with the Margherita the one to order. Walk-ins wait, so put your name down and have a drink at the bar; Sotto Mare on Green Street for cioppino is the seafood alternative.
$40
Embarcadero · 165 min
Alcatraz City Cruises from Pier 33; the day tour is $47.95 and includes the cellhouse audio tour. The first boats leave around 8:45 a.m. and tickets go on sale 90 days ahead; summer and weekend dates sell out weeks before, so book the morning your dates open, and allow two and a half hours.
$47.95
Marina · 75 min
The 28 or 30 bus from the Wharf, or 45 minutes on foot past Aquatic Park and Fort Mason. The Palace is a 1915 Roman rotunda around a lagoon; the grounds are free and open all day.
Marina · 60 min
The Marina's main street, two blocks south of the Palace. A sandwich from Lucca Delicatessen to eat on the grass, or a sit-down lunch at Delarosa for Roman-style pizza by the slice.
$18
Presidio · 150 min
Three kilometers along the beach path from the Marina Green to the Welcome Center under the south tower. The east sidewalk of the bridge is free and open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. in summer and to 6:30 p.m. in winter; the first tower and back is about 40 minutes, and it is windy and cold even in August.
Presidio · 60 min
Fifteen minutes back along the Presidio Promenade from the Welcome Center: new parkland over the highway tunnels with the bridge and Alcatraz in one view, free and open daily. The free Presidio GO shuttle runs from the Transit Center here back downtown if your legs are done.
Marina · 105 min
Back on Chestnut Street: wood-fired pizza and southern Italian pasta with an all-Italian wine list. Book for a table or walk in for a seat at the bar; Cow Hollow's Union Street a few blocks uphill has a dozen more choices.
$55
Golden Gate Park · 120 min
They face each other across the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park and both open at 9:30 a.m. The de Young is closed Mondays and its Hamon Tower view is free without a ticket; general admission is around $20, more when a special exhibition is on. The Academy is open daily (11 on Sundays), $49 or $55 in peak weeks, with the rainforest dome and the aquarium under one roof; it suits a rainy day or children.
$20 to $55
Golden Gate Park · 45 min
Next to the de Young: the oldest public Japanese garden in the US, with a tea house, open 9 a.m. daily; last entry 5:30 p.m. March to October, 4:30 p.m. in winter. Non-resident adults pay around $14 on weekdays and more on weekends, but entry is free for everyone from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
$14
Haight · 60 min
Walk east through the park past the Conservatory of Flowers to Stanyan Street, about 25 minutes, then along Haight Street: Amoeba Music in the old bowling alley, vintage shops, the painted houses on the side streets.
Mission · 60 min
The 33 bus from Haight and Ashbury to Mission Street, then a few blocks south to 2889 Mission at 25th. Order the carnitas burrito 'dorado' (griddled crisp), no rice, and have cash; it is closed Monday and Tuesday, when El Farolito at 24th and Mission does the job around the clock.
$16
Mission · 30 min
One block east of Mission between 24th and 25th: a whole alley of murals painted since the 1970s, political and constantly repainted. Free, outdoors, five minutes from the taqueria.
Mission · 50 min
Walk north up Valencia past the bookshops and Dandelion Chocolate to Clarion Alley, between 17th and 18th, the other mural alley. Free; the artists ask you not to pose with the walls.
Mission · 60 min
Two blocks west. The southwest corner at 20th and Church has the view over downtown; bring something from Bi-Rite Creamery on 18th and sit on the grass with the whole city.
Castro · 120 min
Fifteen minutes up 18th Street. The Castro Theater's neon comes on at dusk over Harvey Milk Plaza and the rainbow crossings; dinner is Anchor Oyster Bar on Castro Street for cioppino and a crab Louie, small and no reservations, or Starbelly around the corner for a patio.
$45
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Pins are approximate. Tap one for the stop; the directions links open Google Maps.
From SFO, BART runs from the International Terminal to Embarcadero, Montgomery or Powell Street in about 30 minutes for around $11 to $12; tap a contactless card or Clipper at the gate and the same one on the way out. Trains run every 15 to 20 minutes until about midnight. A taxi or rideshare takes 25 to 45 minutes and costs $45 to $70 depending on traffic. From Oakland (OAK), the airport connector tram meets BART at Coliseum for a 50-minute trip downtown.
About $110 to $170 a day per person for meals, tickets and Muni, hotel excluded. Alcatraz ($47.95) and the Academy of Sciences ($49) are the two big tickets; a burrito lunch is $16, a sit-down dinner $40 to $60 with tip, and Muni is $2.85 a ride or $15 for the day with cable cars.
Plans change. Ask Chat and it proposes a reshuffled day you can apply, or just answers the question.
Lands End and the Sutro Baths, or Sausalito by ferry, need a fourth day; Muir Woods or the wine country with a car, a fifth. Three days covers the three sides of the city at a walking pace.
Yes. Tickets go on sale 90 days out and the first boats sell out weeks ahead from spring to fall. Buy only from Alcatraz City Cruises; resellers charge double.
Day 3 is already built for it: the Academy of Sciences or the de Young in the morning, then the Mission's taquerias. Day 2, with the bridge walk, is the exposed one, so move it to a clear day. Rain is rare from May to October; Waystop can save a wet version of day 2.
The de Young, and La Taqueria (also shut Tuesday). On a Monday do the Academy of Sciences instead, take the free 9 to 10 a.m. hour at the Japanese Tea Garden, and eat at El Farolito.
Same country first, then the cities people tend to pair with San Francisco. Want two or three in one go? String them together in the trip builder.
Add your dates, your hotel and who’s coming, then ask Chat to change anything: it proposes the edit and you tap Apply. Want a long lunch instead of a museum? Just ask. Every place is checked against Google Maps before it lands on your day, and Chat can tell you when to leave for the next stop. Going on to another city? Build a multi-city trip.