California Attractions & Museums: 36 Places to Visit
One of the best ways to feel at home is visiting the places locals treasure
12 places
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, spanning the strait between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time. Its Art Deco towers and international orange color have made it one of the most photographed bridges anywhere. Walking or biking across is free, though vehicles pay a toll.
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Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay served as a United States military prison before becoming a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, holding notorious inmates such as Al Capone. It has been managed by the National Park Service since 1972 and is now one of the most visited sites in the Bay Area, reachable only by ferry. Tickets for the ferry and tour are required and must be reserved in advance.
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Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and designed by architect Bernard Maybeck in a classical style meant to evoke a Roman ruin. The original structure was made of temporary plaster and wood, and was rebuilt in permanent concrete between the 1960s and 1970s after falling into disrepair. It sits beside a lagoon in the Marina District and its grounds are free to visit.
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Pier 39
Pier 39 opened in 1978 on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf as a shopping and entertainment complex built on a former cargo pier. It became famous after California sea lions began hauling out on its docks in large numbers in 1989, and they remain a major draw today. Entry to the pier is free, while individual shops, restaurants, and attractions charge separately.
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Exploratorium
The Exploratorium was founded in 1969 by physicist Frank Oppenheimer as a hands-on science museum, one of the first of its kind, and has since inspired similar interactive museums worldwide. It moved to its current location on Pier 15 along the Embarcadero in 2013. Admission is charged, with free entry on the first Wednesday evening of most months.
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California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences was founded in 1853, making it the oldest scientific institution in the western United States. Its current building in Golden Gate Park, designed by architect Renzo Piano and opened in 2008, combines an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum under a living roof planted with native species. Admission is charged for all visitors.
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de Young Museum
The de Young Museum traces its origin to 1895 and is one of the city's two Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, focused on American art, textiles, and art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Its current copper-clad building in Golden Gate Park, designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, opened in 2005 and includes an observation tower open to the public. Admission is charged, with free entry on the first Tuesday of most months.
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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1935 as the first museum on the West Coast dedicated solely to modern and contemporary art. Its downtown building underwent a major expansion designed by Snøhetta that reopened in 2016, roughly tripling the gallery space. Admission is charged, though visitors 18 and under enter free.
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Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park opened on April 4, 1870, and was shaped over the following decades by engineer William Hammond Hall and his successor John McLaren, who together turned 1,017 acres of sand dunes into one of the largest urban parks in the country. After the 1906 earthquake, the U.S. Army sheltered about 20,000 people in encampments across its grounds. The park itself is free and open year-round, though some attractions inside it, including the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences, charge separate admission.
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Coit Tower
Coit Tower was completed in 1932 and dedicated in 1933, built with money left in the will of Lillie Hitchcock Coit for beautifying the city, and designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard atop Telegraph Hill. Its ground floor is covered in Depression-era murals painted in 1934 by 22 artists under the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the WPA. The murals can be viewed free of charge, while riding the elevator to the observation deck requires a paid ticket.
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San Francisco Cable Car Museum
The San Francisco Cable Car Museum opened in 1974 inside the still-active cable car powerhouse and car barn at 1201 Mason Street on Nob Hill. Visitors can watch the massive winding wheels that pull cables beneath the streets and see historic cars, including grip car No. 8, the only surviving car from the original 1873 Clay Street Hill Railroad. Admission is free.
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Lombard Street
The famous switchback block of Lombard Street was built in 1922 to reduce the hill's original 27 percent grade, creating eight hairpin turns over one block between Hyde and Leavenworth streets on Russian Hill. It is often called the crookedest street in the world, and its red-brick pavement and flower beds draw roughly two million visitors a year. Walking the block is free, though car traffic can be heavy at busy times.
View on mapPhoto: Jon Sullivan · Public domain