If you wish to make the most of your San Francisco vacation, then we advise you to visit all its 6 zones, the Downtown, the Midtown, the Northeast, the Northwest, and the Southwest.

Bus: If you decide to take the bus instead of a cable car, take a Muni bus. You may choose between lines 30-Stockton and 15-Third traveling through North Beach and Chinatown. Line 15 ends near Pier 39, while line 30 will take you to the Anchorage, the Cannery and the Ghirardelli Square.

Alcatraz Island (Northeast)
What once used to be an isolated prison nobody could escape has now become one of the greatest attractions of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Besides the remnants of the famous prison, the Alcatraz Island offers visitors tide pools, gardens, bird colonies and breathtaking bay views. Over the years, Alcatraz has inspired several successful movies most of us enjoyed watching. We will only mention Escape from Alcatraz and The Rock. But from the real Alcatraz, nobody could escape.
Several great exhibits, such as Prisoners of Age Photography Exhibit and the video exhibit We Hold the Rock are showcased on the 12-acre rocky Alcatraz Island. Come and discover the secrets of the Alcatraz Island.
For more information, please call 415-705-5555.

Asian Art Museum (Southwest)
Tea Garden Dr. off John F. Kennedy Dr., near 10th Ave. and Fulton St.
415-668-8921
415-379-8801
For those who are fascinated with Asian culture and Asian art, San Francisco has prepared more than 15,000 works of art that represent 6,000 years of Asian history, all at the Asian Art Museum. Our museum wishes to help people all over the world discover the historical, aesthetic and intellectual values of Asian art and culture. Several exhibitions are meant to serve this purpose.
You may visit the museum from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, and from 10 am to 9 pm on Thursday.

Bay Area Discovery Museum (Northwest)
Off US101 at 557 McReynolds Road
415-487-4398
At the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Area Discovery Museum offers hands-on exhibits for children. Let your children fish, ride a unicycle, decorate a doll house and create clay animation movies. For children aged under 3, we have created the Tot Spot storybook.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday. You need to pay for admission.

California Palace of the Legion of Honor (Northwest)
34th Ave. at Clement St.
415-863-3330
We invite all those who love European art to visit the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. European porcelain, prints and drawings and ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Assyrian works of art are to be found on the lower-level galleries. On the upper level you will find galleries dedicated to European art, starting with the 14th century.
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5 pm. Admission is free on the second Wednesday of each month.

Exploratorium (Northwest)
Baker and Beach Sts.
415-561-0364
415-561-0360
415 EXP-LORE
Located inside the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium is San Francisco’s Science Museum. On top of the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium offers you breathtaking views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marina.

Golden Gate Park. (Southwest)
John F. Kennedy Dr. west of Stanyan St.
The Golden Gate Park covers 1,013 acres and houses the Conservatory of Flowers, the Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, the M. H. de Young Museum, the Japanese Tea Garden, a golf course, lawn bowling, nine lakes, a lily pond, cascades, fly casting pools, the Strawberry Hill and many other things you’ll definitely fall in love with, as we did.
The Golden Gate Park is open 24 hours a day. To get here, you may take the light-rail car N-Judah and the Muni buses 5-Fulton and 21-Hayes. For more information, please call 415-263-099.

Palace Of Fine Arts (Northwest)
3601 Lyon Street
415-567-6642
At the western end of the Marina, the Palace of Fine Arts is the only building that survived from 1915. The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and was reopened in 1967.

San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art (Southeast)
151 3rd St.
415-357-4000
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is located at 151 Third Street in a splendid building designed by Mario Botta. One of the most innovative museums in the world, the Museum of Modern Art wishes to encourage a better understanding of modern and contemporary art among people of all ages and social status. We are here to help you discover the unique beauty of visual culture.
The museum was opened in 1935 and, at that time, it was the first museum dedicated especially to 20th century art on the West Coast.
Admission is free on the first Tuesday of each month and children aged 12 and under are always admitted for free.

Yerba Buena Gardens (Southeast)
Between 3rd, 4th, Mission, and Folsom Sts
Perfect for a family vacation, the Yerba Buena Gardens offer you a high-tech, interactive arts and technology center for children, gardens, an ice-skating rink, a playground, a Looff carousel and a bowling alley. Don’t miss the splendid waterfall memorial dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the excellent restaurants here.
The Yerba Buena Gardens are open to visitors from sunrise to 10 pm.

Chinatown
Enter the wonderful China in San Francisco. Chinatown covers the Grand Avenue and Stockton Street, approximately 16 square blocks. Excellent restaurants, fish markets, pagoda roofs and dragon-entwined lampposts are all here. Our Chinese schools, Christian missions, temples, shops, theaters, tearooms will help you discover the secrets of Asian culture.

Chinese Historical Society of America (Midtown)
644 Broadway, Suite 401
415-391-1188
If you are interested in the part played by the Chinese in the settlement of San Francisco and the United States, then this is definitely the place to come. The Chinese Historical Society of America is open on Monday from 1 pm to 4 pm and Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 am to 4 pm.

Cannery (Northeast)
415-771-3112
The Cannery invites you to visit art galleries, charming specialty shops and excellent restaurants. The Cannery used to be a Del Monte fruit cannery.

Ghiardelli Square (Northeast)
415-775-5500
The Ghiardelli Square covers 2.5 acres and is close to the Cannery and Fisherman’s Wharf. Here you’ll find what used to be the Ghiardelli chocolate factory, specialty shops, bakeries and great restaurants. If you wish to see mimes perform, you’ll see them close to the square.

The Metreon (Southeast)
415-369-6000
Daily 10-10
The Metreon is ready to welcome you daily from 10 am to 10 pm. We invite you to enter our interactive play space “Where the Wild Things Are”, our “The Way things Work in Mammoth 3-D” and our adventure zone “Where the Wild Things Are”.

Coit Tower (Northeast)
Telegraph Hill Blvd
415-362-0808.
Built in honor of the San Francisco volunteer firefighters, the Coit Tower is 210 feet tall. If you wish to see breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the East Bay, this is definitely the place to come.
The Coit Tower is open from 10 am to 6:30 pm.

Golden Gate Bridge (Northwest)
Lincoln Blvd.
415-921-5858
No visit to Chicago is complete if you don’t go for a walk on one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, the 1.7 miles long Golden Gate Bridge. Almost nine million tourists visit the Golden Gate Bridge every year to live an unforgettable experience. Great towers, large cables, the Strauss Statue, the Lone Sailor monument and breathtaking views you will always remember. If you wish to, you can also bring your bicycle along.
You may go for a walk on the east sidewalk of the bridge from 5 am to 9 pm April through October and from 6 am to 6 pm November through May. Do not leave the Golden Gate Bridge without having visited the bridge’s Roundhouse Gift Center, behind the Strauss Statue. If you can’t take the bridge back home with you, you can at least pack some videos, photos, books, posters and other souvenirs.

Cable Car Barn and Museum (Downtown)
1201 Mason St. at Washington St.
415 474-1887
The Cable Car Museum houses three cable cars built in the 1870s: the Clay Street Hill Railroad No. 8 grip car, the Sutter Street Railway No. 46 grip car and the No. 54 trailer. At the museum you will also find a large number of photos representing the history of the cable cars.
The Cable Car Museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm April through September 30 and from 10 am to 5 pm October through March 31. Admission is free.

California Academy of Sciences (Southeast)
Golden Gate Park
415-750-7145
Every first Wednesday of the month, admission to the California Academy of Sciences is free.
At the California Academy of Sciences you’ll find:
Morrison Planetarium
415 750-7141
The Morrison Planetarium invites you to see dome star shows on a 5,000-pound star projector on the first Wednesday of the month, on Saturday and on Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. The Morrison Planetarium also offers you music shows, a Laserium and laser light.
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum invites you to discover the secrets of the world at the Hall of Gems and Minerals, the Far Side of Science Gallery, the Earth and Space Hall, the Life Through Time exhibit, the Age of the Dinosaurs, the Wild California Hall and the Simson African Hall. If you wish to experience an earthquake, we can simulate one for you.
Steinhart Aquarium
The ocean hides many treasures and secrets. Discover a part of them at the Steinhart Aquarium. Almost 14,000 aquatic creatures have found their home at the aquarium. Sharks, penguins, alligators, octopuses, turtles, reptiles, sea anemones and sea horses are waiting to amaze you.

Embarcadero Center (Downtown)
Drum Street
800-733-6318
High towers, luxury hotels, movie theaters, a Sky Deck, shops and excellent restaurants transform the Embarcadero Center into a magical city within San Francisco. We invite you to visit the Old Federal Reserve Bank and have a wonderful time at our festivals.

Nob Hill (Downtown)
Between Clay, California, Jones and Powell Streets
415-391-2000
One of San Francisco’s greatest neighborhoods, Nob Hill offers both residents and visitors a splendid view of the San Francisco Bay. Cable cars have made Nob Hill accessible even since the Gold Rush. We now invite you to discover sumptuous hotels and historic buildings in Huntington Square, Chinese temples, small boutiques, funky shops and bars in Tenderloin, also called the Tender Nob, and an extraordinary nightlife on Polk Street.

Pier 39 (Northeast)
The Embarcadero at Jefferson Street
415 981-7437
The Pier 39 is a two-store marketplace that resembles a charming village by the sea. We have created the Venetian Carousel especially for children and the Cyber Station Family Games Arcade, the Bungee Trampoline and the Turbo Ride for teenagers.

Underwater World (Northeast)
Pier 39
415 623-5300.
A land of mysteries hiding the most precious jewels. The Underwater World is waiting for you daily from 9 am to 8 pm.

USS Pampanito (Northeast)
At the end of Taylor Street and Pier 45
415-775-1943
We invite you to visit a World War II submarine daily from 9 am to 8 pm mid May through mid October and Sunday through Thursday from 9 am to 6 pm the rest of the year.

San Francisco Maritime Park (Northeast)
Hyde Street Pier
415 556-3002
The only floating park in the United States offers you the largest collection of historic ships in the world. Find out more about the San Francisco Maritime Park at 561-6662.

Fisherman's Wharf (Northeast)
At the end of Taylor Street
Join millions of residents and tourists and visit the Wax Museum and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

San Francisco Zoo (Southeast)
Sloat-Great Hwy
415 753-7080
Enter an amazing world created especially for animals, the San Francisco Zoo. It all started with a grizzly bear called Monarch. Today, giraffes, ostrichs, kudus and zebras have found their home at the 3-acre African Savanna exhibit, opened in 2004. If you like the small Madagascar primates, we invite you to visit the Lipman Family Lemur Forest, opened in 2002. Here you’ll find five species of lemurs you’ll definitely love. The San Francisco Zoo also offers an area created especially for children, a Dentzel Carousel, the Koret Animal Resource Center and the Connie and Bob Lurie Education Center.
The San Francisco Zoo is open daily for 10 am to 5 pm. The Children's Zoo is open daily from 11 am to 4 pm. We are here for you 365 days a year.

Golden Gate Railroad Museum (Southwest)
Hunters Point Shipyard
822-8728
The history of the Golden Gate Railroad Museum began in 1975, when the pharmacist Michael Mangini got an old steam engine, for free. He then started what he called Project 2472, restoring and repairing the old steam locomotive. This took him no less than 16 years. But in 1991, the vintage ex-SP #2472 P8 class Pacific type passenger steam locomotive impressed and surprised everybody present at Railfair '91.
In the same year, Project 2472 became the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. Today, the museum also houses the State Belt Railroad of California #4 steam engine, built in 1911.

Japan’s Center (Southwest)
415-922-6776
The five-acre Japan’s Center offers you the Peace Pagoda, the Japanese consulate, art galleries, movie theaters, the Miyako Hotel and excellent restaurants. Japan’s Center covers an area between Geary, Post, Laguna and Fillmore Streets. Japan’s Center also offers you a large underground parking.

Japanese Tea Garden (Southwest)
8th Avenue and Kennedy Drive
415-752-1171
The Japanese Tea Garden invites you to enter a world of dreams and fairytale daily from 9 am to 6:30 pm March through September and from 9 am to 5 pm the rest of the year. Miniature waterfalls, pagodas, ponds and bridges complete the scenery.

Strybing Arboretum (Southwest)
9th Avenue and Lincoln Way
415-661-1316
A splendid paradise for plants gathered from all over the world. The Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens cover 70 acres of the Golden Gate Park and offer more than 8,000 species of plants. The Garden of Fragrance, the Primitive Plant Garden, the Mediterranean Climate Garden, the Moon-Viewing Garden, the Biblical Garden, the Temperate and Mild Temperate Climate Gardens, the New World Cloud Forest and the Redwood Trail are all worth visiting. Seven ponds, out of which the largest is the Waterfowl Pond, are perfect for those who love birds.
The Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is a living museum offering free admission 365 days a year.

Mount Tamalpais State Park
Mill Valley, California
415-388-2070
Mount Tamalpais State Park covers 6,300 acres of hill country with an amazing hiking trail and offers you free parking.