The famously escape-proof maximum security prison on an island in San Francisco Bay closed for prisoners in 1963. Today, Alcatraz’s cells are only a temporary home for tourists.
Walk or drive 9000 feet across the legendary steel suspension bridge joining San Francisco to Marin County, arcing beautifully over San Francisco Bay in an enduring symbol of modern ingenuity.
San Francisco’s answer to Central Park, Golden Gate Park is a pastoral paradise, with gardens, museums, and more than a thousand acres to explore.
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Learning is always fun at the Exploratorium, a playful, innovative, fully interactive museum devoted to science, culture, and astronomy, now moving to its new home on the Embarcadero.
Tour a vineyard on the fertile hillsides of Napa Valley, which have long produced the world’s finest wines, along with painterly landscapes, charming inns, and world-class dining.
It may not be the fastest way down Russian Hill, but the crooked hairpin turns of Lombard Street are definitely the most fun way to get between Hyde and Leavenworth.
Set sail from Fisherman’s Wharf on a fun and fascinating half-asphalt, half-ocean tour of San Francisco, in a World War II-inspired boat with wheels.
Even if you’re not embarking on a bay voyage, splash over to the Ferry Building Marketplace for amazing produce, fresh flowers, in a gorgeous century-old ferry terminal.
Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, and there’s no finer place to cheer a game than the spectacular, classically-designed AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants.
Ride the carousel, check out the sea lions, or shop for souvenirs at Pier 39, a classic boardwalk marketplace on Fisherman’s Wharf.