San Francisco
We’ve compiled the best of the best in San Francisco - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Sort by:
9 Recommendations
{{numTotalPoiResults}} {{ (numTotalPoiResults===1)?'Recommendation':'Recommendations' }}
0 Recommendations
Loading...
-
1. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
SoMaOpened in 1935, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was the first museum on the West Coast dedicated to modern and contemporary art, and after a three-year expansion designed by Snøhetta, it emerged in 2016 as one of the largest modern art museums in the country and the revitalized anchor of the Yerba Buena arts district. With gallery space over seven floors, the museum displays only a portion of its more than 33,000-work collection and has numerous temporary exhibits. Allow at least two hours here; you could spend a full day. The museum’s holdings include art from the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, one of the world's greatest private collections of modern and contemporary art. Highlights include deep collections of works by German abstract expressionist Gerhard Richter and American painter Ellsworth Kelly and an Agnes Martin gallery. The third floor is dedicated to photography. Also look for seminal works by Diego Rivera, Alexander Calder, Matisse, and Picasso. Don’t miss the third-floor sculpture terrace. The first floor is free to the public and contains a handful of works. Save time by reserving timed tickets online.
View Tours and Activities151 3rd St., San Francisco, California, 94103, USA415-357–4000Sight Details
Rate Includes: $25, Closed Wed. -
2. @Twitter Sign
SoMaThose who want to take a picture of the @Twitter sign at Twitter's headquarters—or, yes, tweet from Twitter—can see the sign prominently displayed outside the gorgeous art-deco building that houses the company's main offices at Market and 10th Streets (though there are far fewer employees working in office now thanks to a certain new company owner). You can tweet inside while shopping in the building's ground-floor market or picking up lunch from the vendors around the market's small café/bar area. To truly appreciate this micro-neighborhood, enjoy a local beer across Market Street at The Beer Hall or catch some music with craft cocktails at Mr. Tipple's—both are prime happy-hour spots for the Mid-Market crowd.
-
3. California Historical Society
SoMa | Library/ArchiveIf you're not a history buff, the CHS might seem like an obvious skip—who wants to look at fading old photographs and musty artifacts?—but these airy galleries are worth a stop. The thoughtful and relevant shows here draw from the society's vast repository of Californiana—hundreds of thousands of photographs, publications, paintings, and gold-rush paraphernalia. From out front, take a look across the street: this is the best view of the Museum of the African Diaspora's three-story photo mosaic.
678 Mission St., San Francisco, California, 94105, USA415-357–1848Sight Details
Rate Includes: $5, Closed Mon. -
4. Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM)
SoMaArchitect Daniel Libeskind designed the postmodern CJM, whose impossible-to-ignore diagonal blue cube juts out of a painstakingly restored power substation. A physical manifestation of the Hebrew toast l'chaim (to life), the cube may have obscure philosophical origins, but Libeskind created a unique, light-filled space that merits a stroll through the lobby even if the current exhibits (the museum is non-collecting and does not have permanent holdings) don't entice you into the galleries. Exhibits, usually two or three at a time, vary, from a look at the history of famous puppeteer Frank Oz (Star Wars and the Muppets) to an immersive series about the 19th-century Jewish immigrant and photographer Shimmel Zohar. San Francisco's best Jewish deli, Wise Sons, operates a counter in the museum. Try their smoked salmon bagel sandwich or a slice of chocolate babka.
View Tours and Activities736 Mission St., San Francisco, California, 94103, USA415-655–7800Sight Details
Rate Includes: $16, Closed Mon.–Wed. -
5. Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)
SoMaDedicated to the influence that people of African descent have had in places all over the world, MoAD focuses on temporary exhibits in its four galleries over three floors. With floor-to-ceiling windows onto Mission Street, the museum fits perfectly into the cultural scene of Yerba Buena and is well worth a 30-minute foray. Most striking is its front window centerpiece: a three-story mosaic, made from thousands of photographs, that forms the image of a young girl's face. Walk up the stairs inside the museum to view the mosaic photographs up close—Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali are there, along with everyday folks—but the best view is from across Mission Street.
685 Mission St., San Francisco, California, 94105, USA415-358–7200Sight Details
Rate Includes: $12, Closed Mon. and Tues. -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
-
6. Palace Hotel
SoMa | HotelThe city's oldest hotel, a Sheraton property, has a storied past. It opened in 1875, but fire destroyed the original structure after the 1906 earthquake, despite the hotel's 28,000-gallon reservoir. The current building dates from 1909. President Warren Harding died here while still in office in 1923, and the body of King Kalakaua of Hawaii spent a night at the Palace after he died in San Francisco in 1891. The managers play up this ghoulish history with talk of a haunted guest room, but the opulent surroundings are this genteel hostelry's real draw. Maxfield Parrish's spectacular wall-size painting The Pied Piper, in the bar/restaurant of the same name, is well worth a look.
-
7. Rincon Center
SoMa | Public ArtThe only reason to visit what is basically a modern office building is the striking Works Project Administration mural by Anton Refregier in the lobby of the streamlined moderne-style former post office on the building's Mission Street side. The 27 panels depict California life from the days when Native Americans were the state's sole inhabitants through World War I. Completion of this significant work was interrupted by World War II (which explains the swastika in the final panel) and political infighting. The latter led to some alteration in Refregier's "radical" historical interpretations; they exuded too much populist sentiment for some of the politicians who opposed the artist.
Bordered by Steuart, Spear, Mission, and Howard Sts., San Francisco, California, 94105, USA -
8. Systems mural
SoMa | Public ArtOn a sound wall along the Caltrain tracks is Brian Barneclo's behemoth Systems (2011), exploring everything from the nervous system to the ecosystem. At 24,000 square feet, the city's largest mural is also among its most high-profile artworks, visible from passenger trains and the freeway.
7th and Townsend Sts., San Francisco, California, 94103, USA -
9. Yerba Buena Gardens
SoMaThese two blocks encompass the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Metreon, and Moscone Convention Center, but the gardens themselves are the everyday draw. Office workers and convention-goers escape to the green swath of the East Garden, the focal point of which is the memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. Powerful streams of water surge over large, jagged stone columns, mirroring the enduring force of King's words, which are carved on the stone walls and on glass blocks behind the waterfall. Moscone North is behind the memorial, and an overhead walkway leads to Moscone South and its rooftop attractions. The gardens are liveliest during the week and during the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, from May through October (www.ybgfestival.org), with free performances. Atop the Moscone Center perch a few lures for kids. The historic Looff carousel ( $5 for 2 rides; $3 with museum admission) twirls daily 10–5. The carousel is attached to the Children's Creativity Museum ( creativity.org), an interactive arts-and-technology center ( $15) geared to children ages 3–12. Outside in the children's garden, kids adore the slides, including a 25-foot tube slide, at the play circle. Also part of the complex are an ice-skating rink and a bowling alley.
View Tours and ActivitiesSan Francisco, California, 94103, USA415-651–3684Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free
-
{{ (numCurrentPage-1)*numPageLimit+index+1 }}.
{{ item.neighborhood }} | {{ item.first_keyword }}{{ item.review }}
{{ item.address }}{{ item.phone[0] }}{{ item.details.title }} Details
{{ item.details.content.toString() }}View Tours and Activities -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
No sights Results
Please try a broader search, or expore these popular suggestions:
There are no results for {{ strDestName }} Sights in the searched map area with the above filters. Please try a different area on the map, or broaden your search with these popular suggestions:
