A local's guide to SF

Summary

A list of fun things to do in SF (primarily geared towards newcomers, but also fun for locals!).

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This list is in no particular order. It is still work in progress. Highlights/favorites will have a star next to them.

Tourist Traps

If you’re new to the city, these are the top places tourists hang out in. Many, but not all, are worth going to.

• Golden Gate Bridge: If you’re visiting SF you kind of have to see the bridge. Fog typically rolls over around 5pm; the highest chance of clear skies is usually the afternoon. The best views are either at Lands End from the west, or from the Presidio from the east.
  • Biking across is fun too!
• Pier 39 (Fishermans Wharf): The ultimate touristy spot in SF.
  • Visit Musée Méchanique to play a bunch of antique arcade games! It’s free to enter and cheap to play (machines take quarters).
  • Ghirardelli Square is right next to Pier 39. I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it if you aren’t already there though (and, you can buy Ghirardelli chocolate for much cheaper elsewhere, like at Costco).
• Boudin: Go to the original location near Fishermans Wharf for the original SF sourdough, clam chowder, and a small museum. (not the best, but still great— see the Bakeries section)
• Lombard Street: The famous windy road. DO NOT drive on the thing, it’s an absolute nightmare and not worth it; best admired on foot!
• Coit Tower: worth the admission fee ($10?) imo.
• Famous neighborhoods: Chinatown, Japantown, the Castro, Union Square, and the Embarcadero are worth a stroll through.
• Alcatraz: short ferry ride from Embarcadero. It’s fun for history enjoyers, but only go if you have time to spend half a day there (and don’t have anything better to spend your money on).
• Ferry Building: great vibes, great food and crafts to buy, and really close to the Embarcadero BART station. Check out the awesome departure board while you’re there.
• SF Zoo: The pandas are supposed to arrive sometime in mid-2026! A pretty average zoo- go if you enjoy zoos, but skippable otherwise.
• 16th Ave Tiled Steps: nice photoshoot location, but they are just some stairs and somewhat overrated.

Nature

• Visit Golden Gate Park. It takes an hour or two to get across from one side to the other!
  • The Conservatory of Flowers is awesome and free for SF residents.
  • You can rent a bike and see more of the park in less time.
  • Don’t forget to walk through the Panhandle on the east side of the park!
• Go to Lands’ End for a super short hike and great views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
  • Explore the abandoned ruins of the Sutro Baths around the Cliff House. (There’s also a few bouldering spots here, if you like climbing rocks.)
• Ocean Beach is usually too cold and foggy for swimming, but it’s pretty to walk along.
  • There are reservable fire pits on the beach which are great for evening campfires.
  • Being able to see the sunset here is uncommon due to frequent fog.
• The Visitacion Valley Greenway is a really cute path/community garden that cuts through the Visitacion Valley neighborhood. (Mission Blue is worth stopping at for coffee on the south end!)
• Alamo Square is worth a visit if you happen to be nearby, but it’s a bit hard to get to. You get a view of the Painted Ladies. Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley is nearby and very vibey.
• Fort Mason is really pretty, has great views of the Golden Gate bridge, and is a starting point for many of the best running lines in the city.
• Fort Funston is the go-to spot for hanggliding on windy days (or to watch the hanggliders). There are a bunch of old WWII-era battery installations that history buffs will enjoy walking around.
• Twin Peaks is worth the hike up.
• San Bruno Mountain is a much milder version of Twin Peaks with equally great views of the city skyline.
• Angel Island is only accessible by ferry/boat. You could even sail there yourself if you want! (last time i went, we capsized lol.)
• Visit one of SF’s many smaller, lesser-known parks (like Glen Canyon, Mount Sutro, Mission Dolores, Duboce Park, etc.)

Trekking

• The Crosstown Trail spans 17 miles from Candlestick Point to Lands End. (You can also complete the Double Cross, which connects the other two corners from Lake Merced to the Embarcadero.)
• Walk through every neighborhood in SF.
• Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Run (and/or dress up for) Bay To Breakers in May.
• Run in the San Francisco Marathon in July.
• Outside SF, the best trails I’ve gone on so far are:
  • Muir Woods to Mount Tamalpais — you can also just drive up to the top of the mountain if you’re not in the mood for a hard hike. Arguably the best views in the entire Bay Area at the top.
  • Old Colma Road Loop — incredible ocean views, and has some cool artifacts to discover along the way.
  • Castle Rock State Park — fun rock scrambles and caves to climb through. (Also happens to be the best bouldering spot in the bay.)
  • Sweeney Ridge Trail(starting from the Sneath Lane side) for the best sunrise viewing spot around.
  • There are plenty more incredible hiking opportunities throughout Marin County that I haven’t gone to yet (like the Dipsea trail).
  • If you don’t like forest, consider trails in the East Bay (like Mission Peak)- they’re mostly on rolling, grassy open space.

Museums

• The Exploratorium (along the Embarcadero) and the Academy of Sciences (inside Golden Gate Park) are neat sciencey places, mostly designed for kids but can still be fun if you’re older!
  • The Exploratorium has an After Dark mode on Thursday nights, 18+ only.
• The DeYoung Museum (next to the Academy of Sciences in GGP), the Legion of Honor (in Lincoln Park) and Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) (downtown, next to the Moscone Convention Center) are go-tos for art enjoyers.
• The Palace of Fine Arts is not really a museum, but still has some cool paintings/architecture to check out for free. It’s not worth a visit by itself imo, but it’s very close by to other touristy spots and is worth a stop-by.
• Outside of city limits: the USS Hornet in Alameda and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View are 100% worth a visit if you enjoy museums.

Food

• Get a burrito in the Mission. (Fun fact: Chipotle burritos are derived from the Mission burrito.)
  • La Taqueria is generally regarded as one of the best spots. Expect a long wait.
  • Gallardo’s is incredible value and a hidden gem (though, maybe less so now that OpenAI is across the street). They take cash only.
  • Taqueria El Buen Sabor is great for an unfussy takeout burrito.
  • Garaje in SoMa was a surprise hit. They have standard taqueria fare as well as burgers/fries/etc.
• Fine dining: As of writing there are over 100 restaurants with one or more Michelin stars in SF. If you have a bit of money to burn, any one of them is worth a visit!
  • I highly recommend San Ho Won in the Mission for the best kbbq experience of your life.
• The best ramen I’ve had so far in SF was at Mensho Tokyo. It’s in a slightly sketchy area near the Tenderloin however.
  • You also can’t go wrong with the famous chain spots like Hinodeya, Ippudo, etc.
• If you want really good dumplings, check out Yuanbao Jiaozi. (It has a really long wait sometimes since it’s a small shop; you can also go to the much larger location in Burlingame.)
• The best pizza and Italian food is in North Beach. Most people consider Tony’s Pizza Napoletana to be the best pizzeria in the city (unfortunately, there’s always a 3+ hour wait so I haven’t gotten in yet).
  • You can get a taste of Tony’s pizza at Slice House next door and skip the wait. It’s not as good though.
  • Long Bridge Pizza in the Dogpatch is phenomenal if you’re looking for an SF-style (thin crust sourdough, interesting toppings) pizza.
  • Doppio Zero is quite good if you’re looking for a more traditional, fresh/doughy pizza.
• If you like fried chicken sandwiches go to The Bird.
• Outside city limits: if you find yourself in Berkeley, you should go to Cheeseboard. Zachary’s has decent deep dish pizza (by bay area standards).

Coffee

SF is one of the best cities in the world to be in if you like coffee!

• If you are a pourover enthusiast, go to Paper Son in the Dogpatch, Coffee Movement (various locations), or SPRO (various locations) and you won’t be disappointed. (HI NRG in the Sunset looks interesting too, but I haven’t yet had the chance to check it out.)
• The Andytown location in Salesforce Park is worth stopping at if you find yourself in the park. (They roast their beans in the Sunset; their beachside location is also cool!)
• Saint Frank, Sightglass, Wrecking Ball, Reveille, CoffeeShop and Ritual also all roast their beans within city limits and are generally fantastic.
• If you have a Capital One card you can get 50% off at the Capital One Cafe downtown (they sell Verve).
• Hydrangea Coffee in Berkeley has some of the most interesting, fruity/experimental coffees I’ve ever tried. You can find them at Paper Son and a few other spots around the city.

Bakeries

• If you like croissants you need to go to Arsicault. best croissants i’ve ever had.
• Go to Tartine Manufactory if you want really really good sourdough.
• Pineapple King Bakery has a huge selection of pineapple buns and other Hong Kong style baked goods.
• The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company makes very good fortune cookies.
• Ambrosia Bakery for cakes (or Sunset Bakery for lighter, more Asian-style cakes).
• can’t go wrong with Sheng Kee Bakery for all your HK and Taiwanese baked good needs. (they also have pretty good cake)

Bars

Pick 3 (cocktail lounge → brewery → divebar) for a fun bar hop!

• Pacific Cocktail Haven: easily the best cocktails I have ever had and well worth the $25 (after tip) price tag once in a while. The line can get incredibly long, if it’s less than ~20 people deep you should definitely go.
• Barebottle Brewing Company: really really good beer. (will change your mind about beer tasting bad guaranteed.) The main location is a bit far, but they also have a popup in Salesforce Park (closes at 7pm).
• Li Po Lounge in Chinatown is the most classic dive bar experience you can get in the city. Famous for their $12 Mai Tai.
• Golden Gate Tap Room: expansive sports bar in a convenient location.
• BlindPig: An Asian-themed speakeasy with phenomenal cocktails. Check their Instagram for the secret password.
• Moongate Lounge: not-so-secret cocktail lounge above Mister Jiu’s. Good vibes, okay cocktails.
• True Laurel: has a place along with PCH on the North America’s 50 Best Bars list. Super interesting cocktails, though I thought it was a step below PCH.
• Southern Pacific Brewing: chill craft brewery in the Mission with some great brews.
• Smuggler’s Cove: probably the city’s best tiki bar; 3 floors, incredibly expansive menu. Expect a wait to get in.
• Comstock Saloon: has free lunch on Fridays (with the purchase of drinks)! Check their Instagram to see what they’re serving.
• Twin Peaks Tavern and most other spots in the Castro if you are looking for a gay/LGBTQ+ bar.
• Most of the bars along Fillmore Street in the Marina if you want college bar vibes. Young crowd, cheap alc, starts getting busy earlier than most other bars in the city.

Third Spaces

• Archimedes Banya if you are looking for a Russian bathhouse.
• The Commons or any one of dozens of popup events in Hayes Valley if you are a new tech transplant looking for other tech transplants.
• Noisebridge for a classic makerspace experience.
• Dogpatch Games, Versus Games, or one of the other many game stores in the city if you’re looking for people to play casual MTG, board games, etc. with.
• Stonestown (or Serramonte, in Daly City) if you are looking for a traditional shopping mall experience.
• Oracle Park hosts Giants games quite frequently. They’re reasonably affordable.
  • You can also rent a Kayak and watch the game from inside the bay (head over to McCovey Cove). Extremely outsized chance someone hits a home run and you can catch it too.
• Go climbing at one of SF’s many climbing gyms.
  • Dogpatch Boulders is the best bouldering spot. Huge gym, comp wall, plenty of topouts.
  • Movement SF in the Presidio is in the prettiest location.
  • Benchmark near Japantown is cozy and has fun routes (bouldering only). Last time I went they still had beer on tap for members.
  • Mission Cliffs is the most convenient located and has plenty of very tall rope climbing routes.
  • Outside city limits: Pacific Pipe in Oakland is the 2nd largest climbing gym in the US. They have a taco truck outside!