Hello, hello! I’ve been living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over three years and have gotten to know nearly all the main attractions, from sightseeing spots to dining experiences. I put together this short article for anyone planning a visit to the city. My goal is to keep it concise by giving a quick overview of each highlight. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to skip the details, you can simply scroll down to the bottom where you’ll find a full list of everything I’ll be sharing. I hope you enjoy!
Sightseeing
Next, below you’ll find a few sightseeing attractions that I highly recommend visiting, along with the minimum amount of time you should plan to spend at each.
Golden Gate Bridge
Min. commitment: 1 hour
By far the most iconic spot in SF. The easiest place you can observe this beautiful red bridge with hundreds of years of history is Golden Gate Vista Point South. Fairly easier to reach as you don’t need to cross the bridge and super convenient for a short hike down to Torpedo Wharf, where you can have a profile view, well… sort of. When you arrive at Torpedo Wharf, the Golden Gate Beach and the lush green expanse of Crissy Field will greet you, inviting you to sit back, relax, and fully enjoy the refreshing Bay Area breeze.
Bonus Vista Spot: Battery Spencer
Battery Spencer is by far my favorite spot when visiting the Golden Gate Bridge. Although it’s a bit harder to reach since it’s located north of the bridge, it’s absolutely worth the effort—the elevated viewpoint makes it the most scenic location to take in the bridge’s beauty.
Fishermans Wharf – Pier 39
Min. commitment: 1 hour
Fishermans Wharf is mainly the place where you have a bunch of large and small fish restaurants and shops located at the tip of the Peninsula. It’s between Russian Hill and North Beach, so fairly close to DT SF, hence a very popular tourist attraction. The most important spot here is called Pier 39, where you have a bunch of boutique shops for souvenirs, coffee and dining as well as a nice view of Alcatraz Island. Oh I should not to forget the Sea Lions 🙂
Union Square
Min. commitment: 30 min
Heart of DT SF. You can find very large stores of Apple, Nike, Macy’s, LV and the lot here. A couple of blocks away is famous Market Street, where you can find Westfield Shopping Center. In addition, you can also hop on the historic cable car at the beginning of Powell Street, which takes you to iconic spots like Fisherman’s Wharf and the famously crooked Lombard Street. While there isn’t anything particularly special to do here, it’s still worth exploring the city center to get a feel for San Francisco’s unique mix.
Lombard Street
Min. commitment: 15 min
Lombard Street is actually a long stretch that connects with the US 101 highway leading to the Golden Gate Bridge. However, it’s most famous for its short, crooked section, where you’ll find stunning views of the bay and Coit Tower. Known as the most crooked street in the world with its eight sharp turns, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Painted Ladies
Min. commitment: 15 min
Bunch of Victorian houses painted in different colors with the view of SF skyline in the background. Nothing too fancy here to be honest, it’s a short pit stop and checkmark of SF attractions list. The greatest view of this place is from Alamo Square Park.
Ferry Building – The Embarcadero
Min. commitment: 30 min
Ferry building is the terminal for ferries across the bay, with little shops accompanying it. There is a 245 feet tall, iconic clock tower on top of it. It can be visited as part of a golden triangle that includes Fishermans Wharf and Union Square.
Twin Peaks
Min. commitment: 30 min
By far the best view of the whole bay, I would say. Although it’s a bit outside the city center and requires either a fairly long ride or hike, in the end, having the entire bay spread out beneath your feet is truly invaluable. From here you can see Market Street as a strip going all the way to the Ferry Building, SF skyline, Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge and pretty much the whole bay as far as eye can see.
Golden Gate Park
Min. commitment: 30 min
In many ways, this is pretty much the Central Park of San Francisco. And if you’re not familiar with Central Park, think of it simply as a huge green space right in the heart of the city. For locals, it serves as a quick and easy escape—perfect for those who don’t want to leave town but still need a breath of fresh air after work. From a tourist’s perspective, however, there isn’t much to see, even though the park does feature gardens, a ferris wheel, and more. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend including it in your plans unless you’re spending three or more days in San Francisco.
Alcatraz Island
Min. commitment: 3 hours
An old prison that served between 1934 and 1963 for the most ferocious inmates of the country. Currently it’s serving as a museum for visitors around the world. Overall, I would say this is quite an interesting attraction, as the rangers genuinely make you feel what it was like to be a prisoner there. However, it also requires a significant commitment since you’ll need to take a 20-minute ferry from Pier 33 each way, which adds up to quite a bit of time. For that reason, I’ve intentionally placed this spot at the end of the list. Once again, I wouldn’t recommend visiting unless you’re spending more than three days in San Francisco.
Eat, Drink, Hangout
Ok this depends from person to person, budget to budget and taste to taste. I will just list down the locations that I believe are at or above the line to eat and drink out.
Marina District and Cow Hollow
Chestnut St. X Steiner St.
Probably one of the few above the line spots to eat and drink out in SF. Finally, while I don’t want to single out any specific spot, you’ll still find a variety of cafés, restaurants, and bars in this area There is even an Apple Store here.
Fillmore St. X Greenwich, Filbert and UNION Streets
Just across the street from Steiner and Chestnut, you can find very popular Fillmore St. and Greenwich, Filbert and Union intersections of it. This place is literally packed at nights with Balbao Cafe taking the lead for the crowd. Pretty much same concept w Chestnut x Steiner, though I feel there is a younger and let’s party population here.
Laguna St. X Union St.
If you walk towards Van Ness Avenue a couple of blocks from Fillmore and Union, you will be able to see a bunch of bars and restaurants. At the end you will reach this intersection where you can find this very old and historic sports bar – Bus Stop; a popular place for San Franciscans to have a couple of drinks and watch a game.
Lower Pacific Heights – Fillmore District
Fillmore St. X Sacramento, California, Pine Streets
This portion of Fillmore has a ton of different options especially when it comes to dining out. You can find Mediterranean, French, Indian cuisines as well as bunch of bars and pubs. It’s pretty close to Japantown as well so if you are into cozy little Japanese restaurants, they are just a couple of blocks away.
HAYES VALLEY
HAYES ST. X GOUGH ST.
If you want to stay closer to Market St. and underground public transportation, I believe Hayes Valley is your safest bet. Here you can find multiple above the line restaurants facing each other serving various different cuisines from around the world.
Divisadero – Lower Haight
Divisadero St. X Fell, Hayes, Grove, Fulton, McAllister Streets
Right in the middle of Haight-Ashbury, Castro and Fillmore and Civic Center; Divisadero St. aka “Divis” is a pretty popular location for another ATL eat and drink out. You can also find arguably the most popular arcade bar in the city; The Emporium.
Haight-Ashbury
Haight St. X Masonic Ave
Right next to the east end of Golden Gate Park, you can find this cozy, counterculture district called Haight-Ashbury, which is probably the most authentic spot in the city where you can find the most diverse crowds with bunch of options to eat and drink without going overboard.
North Beach
Columbus Ave. X Grant Ave., Green St., Vallejo St.
Last but not least, probably the most convenient spot for mainstream tourists. This place is right by Chinatown but can easily be called Little Italy with various number of Italian restaurants and bars. It is right next to a lot of different hotels as well as it can be considered as walking distance to Union Square as the city center. Full transparency, it is not may favorite place, but it definitely won’t disappoint if you know where to go.
Even though there are multiple other locations I could have shared, these are mainly the spots that I believe are worth spending time at. I’ll be listing all of them below to make it quick and easy for you in case you don’t want to scroll over pages of document. Make sure you drop a comment below in case you have suggestions or questions as well as feel free to shoot an e-mail to me privately.
Also, if you need a ride to go around the city, check out my TURO page. You can book a car that I host without the hassles of conventional car rental companies, where you can’t even know what car you are getting 🙂
Hope you liked the post. For all your questions and whatnot, you can either e-mail me over bt@berkaytekin.com or drop a comment down below.
Full List of Attractions
Sightseeing
- Golden Gate Bridge: GGB Vista Point South, Battery Spencer
- Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39: Fish restaurants, souvenirs
- Union Square: Downtown SF convenient for mainstream shopping
- Lombard Street: Worlds most crooked street
- Painted Ladies: SF Skyline with bunch of painted houses in front
- Ferry Building and the Embarcadero: Ferry Port and a Marketplace for various authentic shops
- Twin Peaks: Whole bay under your feet
- Golden Gate Park: Excessive greenery in the middle of the city
- Alcatraz Island: Then a prison, now a museum
Eat, Drink, Hangout Locations
- Marina District and Cow Hollow
- Chestnut St. X Steiner St.
- Fillmore St. X Greenwich, Filbert and Union Streets
- Laguna St. X Union St.
- Lower Pacific Heights – Fillmore District
- Fillmore St. X Sacramento, California, Pine Streets
- Hayes Valley
- Hayes St. X Gough St.
- Divisadero – Lower Haight
- Divisadero St. X Fell, Hayes, Grove, Fulton, McAllister Streets
- Haight-Ashbury
- Haight St. X Masonic Ave
- North Beach
- Columbus Ave. X Grant Ave., Green St., Vallejo St.
Need a car? Check out my TURO page 🙂