First Timers’ Guide: Best Places to Visit in San Francisco

16.09.2024 - 17:19 / lonelyplanet.com

Sep 16, 2024 • 15 min read

San Francisco has an outsize reputation in the American consciousness, from the myth–making Gold Rush to the current tech boom. 

The city’s history spans counterculture and culinary revolution, dive bars and dot coms, sailors and psychonauts. Its experiences are as eye-opening as a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the city to the redwoods across the bay, all against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.

No matter what impressions you have on arrival, San Francisco is sure to shift and subvert them. Despite plenty of gentrification in recent years, San Francisco retains a certain mystique, with its shimmering white skyline shrouded in fog and landmarks like Nob Hill and Lombard Street contributing to its unique charm. 

If it's your first time visiting San Francisco, no doubt you have a long list of must–see experiences vying for top billing. Not sure where to get started? Just read on for some of the best places to visit in San Francisco.

Population: around 883,305
Visitors per year: around 25 million
Daily budget: $50 to $300, plus hotel
Best time of year to visit: April–May or September–October; summer is often foggy and cool.
Number of restaurants: 4,415

The city’s number one tourist destination, and you could write off Fisherman’s Wharf as a trap, but really that's only true for the seafood that passes through this strip of working warehouses and quirky attractions. Fisherman's Wharf recently survived a football-field sized fire, and continues to process vast quantities of seafood for a city that takes eating seriously (just a few years ago, San Francisco had the most restaurants per capital in the nation). Humans aren't the only fans of the Wharf's bounty – you can see and hear the sea lions near Pier 39 before ducking into the Musée Mécanique to check out century-old arcade games that hint at San Francisco's long legacy of cool.

Next, tour the 19th-century tall ships at the Hyde St Pier and Maritime National Historic Park to learn more about the city's naval ties – which were also the origin of San Francisco's eventual reputation as the capital of LGBTQI America.

Meanwhile, Alcatraz offers a jumping off point to learn about San Francisco's complicated history of crime and punishment, as well as its role in the indigenous rights movement – from 1969 to 1971, Alcatraz was occupied by the activist group Indians of All Tribes. Take a tour to learn more about the long and varied history of one of the world's most famous prisons.

While Alcatraz is the more famous island in the bay, Angel Island offers a quieter, more scenic escape with a rich history of its own. Often called the 'Ellis Island of the West,' Angel Island was the entry point for many immigrants in the early