3 Best Sights in San Francisco, California

Devoted entirely to jazz, the center hosts performances by jazz greats such as McCoy Tyner, Joshua Redman, Regina Carter, and Chick Corea. Walk by and the street-level glass walls will make you feel as if you're inside; head indoors and the acoustics will knock your socks off.

Celebrated local architects Bliss and Faville, also responsible for the nearby St. Francis Hotel, designed the neoclassical home of San Francisco's premier repertory theater company. The 1910 structure, which replaced one destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, sustained heavy damage in the 1989 quake but was beautifully restored. A.C.T. is renowned for productions by playwrights such as Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and company favorite Tom Stoppard (The Invention of Love and Indian Ink premiered here), and cutting-edge works such as The Black Rider by Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs, and Robert Wilson.

Performing- and visual-arts organizations occupy much of this 1930s structure. Herbst Theatre (415/392–4400) hosts classical ensembles and dance performances. The street-level San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (closed Sunday and Monday) displays the works of Bay Area artists; admission is free.