Fisherman's Wharf Review

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Fisherman's Wharf

  • Address: Jefferson St. between Leavenworth St. and Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA | Map It

Fodor's Review:

It may be one of the city's best-known attractions, but the wharf is a no-go zone for most locals, who shy away from the difficult parking, overpriced food, and cheesy shops at third-rate shopping centers like the Cannery at Del Monte Square. If you just can't resist a visit here, come early to avoid the crowds and get a sense of the wharf's functional role—it's not just an amusement park replica.

Most of the entertainment at the wharf is schlocky and overpriced, with one notable exception: the splendid Musée Mécanique (415/346-2000), a time-warped arcade with antique mechanical contrivances, including peep shows and nickelodeons. Some favorites are the giant and rather creepy "Laffing Sal"(you enter the museum through his gaping mouth), an arm-wrestling machine, the world's only steam-powered motorcycle, and mechanical fortune-telling figures that speak from their curtained boxes. Keep your eyes open for depictions of race that betray the prejudices of the time: stoned Chinese figures in the "Opium-Den" and clown-faced African-Americans eating watermelon in the "Mechanical Farm." Admission is free, but you'll need quarters to bring the machines to life.

Among the two floors of exhibits at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum (175 Jefferson St. 415/771-6188. www.ripleysf.com) is an 8-foot long scale model of a cable car, made entirely of matchsticks. Admission to Ripley's, open Sunday through Thursday 10-10 and Friday and Saturday 10 AM-midnight, is $14.99. Notables from local boy Robin Williams to Jesus await at the Wax Museum (145 Jefferson St. 415/439-4305. www.waxmuseum.com), open weekdays 10-9, weekends 9 AM-11 PM. Admission is $12.95.

The USS Pampanito (Pier 45. 415/775-1943) provides an intriguing if mildly claustrophobic glimpse into life on a submarine during World War II. The sub sank six Japanese warships and damaged four others. Admission is $9; the family pass is a great deal at $20 for two adults and up to four kids.

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