San Francisco, everyone’s favorite city is located at the tip of the peninsula between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Coast. San Francisco places to visit are known for their rolling hills and beautiful streets with cute and colorful flowers and amazing ocean views. A compact city surrounded on three sides by water. San Francisco is renowned for its summer fogs, Victorian architecture, cable cars, and beautiful vistas.

Here is a list of the best things to do and top tourist attractions in San Francisco to make your tour a memorable one:

• Palace of fine arts

The Palace of the fine arts is a money mantle structure. The only structure remaining from a 1915world’s fair. It’s a great place to unwind, have a picnic. It also features a lagoon and walkways making it a popular spot for art exhibitions as well as favorite spots for weddings. It also has a theater, offering a variety of shows musical and cultural events. You could also visit the wave organ, a wave-activated acoustic sculpture, and its effect and intensity vary depending on the level of the tide.

• China town

Established in the 1840s. San Francisco’s China Town is reputed to be the oldest and one of the largest and most famous china towns outside of Asia. Many of the Chinese settled here were merchants or immigrant workers working on either of transcontinental railroad or as mine workers during the gold rush. The tourist section of china town is mainly along the great avenue from bush to broadway. It has played a major role among Chinese immigrants in Northern America. It still retains its own customs, language and identity and offers a wide range of traditional Chinese shops restaurants and attractions such as the dragon gate. Taking a tour of China Town is one of the top things to do in San Francisco all around the year.

• Alamo square

The Alamo Square is the residential neighborhood and park that is best known for the famous painted ladies row up Victorian houses on its east side along the street. There are also many pretty Victorians encircling the lovely park. The park includes a playground and a tennis court and is frequented by neighbors, tourists and dog owners. On a clear day, the Transamerica Pyramid building and the tops of the golden gate bridge and the bay bridge can be seen from the park.

• Transamerica pyramid

Located in the heart of the financial district, it is one of the best places to visit in San Francisco. The Transamerica Pyramid is San Francisco’s other famous icon besides the golden gate. According to its Architect, a pyramid is an ideal shape for the skyscrapers offering the advantage of letting more air and light. Finished in 1972, the Transamerica Pyramid has a height of 853 feet and is still the tallest building in the San Francisco skyline.

• Lombard Street

Lombard Street is one of the most famous streets and top places to visit in San Francisco. Although it is neither the most crooked street in San Francisco nor the steepest. The one block version of Lombard Street thatcontains 8 hair pin turns were created to reduce the hills naturally steep slopes. Although there is nothing much to do. It is fun watching the cars drive through and even more fun, if you can drive.

• Golden gate park

Golden Gate Park is a large urban park consisting of over 1000 acres between hills, lakes, gardens, mellows, playgrounds and buildings. The park offers a great escape from city life and is an ideal place to take a walk, read a book or have a picnic. Golden Gate Park is a large urban park with windmills and a care cell among its many attractions. It is about 20 percent larger than New York central park. A popular tourist attraction is the Japanese tea garden with beautiful ponds, bridges, strawberry hill and a Japanese-style structure including a treehouse.

• Cable cars

Cable cars are an iconic part of Francisco and a lot of fun to ride, it is recommended to get an outside spot where you can hold on to the side and watch the cars pass by. The world’s famous cable cars run on three lines in the steep streets of San Francisco between Market Street and fisherman’s wharf. It is the last working cable car system of its kind in the world. The cable cars is such an attraction that especially on weekends it takes longer to wait in lineto ride a palace street than it does to walk the shortbutsloping distance. Cable cars museum is free and will explain you a lot more about these iconic cars.

• Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island often referred to as the rock, got its name from the Spanish word defined as a strange bird. The island is famous for its abandoned prison, it is now a national park that is opened to the public. You can take the boat ride to the island multiple times in a day and you can explore on the self-guided audio tour. There is a lot of interesting history and great views to see on the island. The first prison was built in the 19^th century. The small island of Alcatraz served as a lighthouse, a military fortification and as a prison. It was home to some of the most notorious criminals of the time. Surrounded by the freezing waters of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was believed to be inescapable. Today the island is one of the cool places to visit when in San Francisco. It is operated by the national park service and is open to tourists.

• Fisherman’s wharf

It is one of the most popular tourist attractions of San Francisco. For over a century its historic waterfront was the hub of San Francisco’s fishing pleat and is still famous for having some of the best seafood restaurants in the city. Other tourist attractions at the wharf include souvenir stores, Historical buildings, and scenic vistas over the bay and the famous sea lions. The MuseeMechanique is a blast, as you can change your dollars into quarters and play all sorts of old games.

• Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most recognized American symbols and has been declared one of the wonders of the modern world. It took forty years to build and was completed in 1937. The bridge connects the straight between the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco bay. It was the longest when it was completed and is becoming internationally recognized as the symbol of California. The famous red-orange color of the bridge was specifically chosen to make the bridge more easily visible through the thick fog that frequently shrouds the bridge. It is said to be the most photographed bridge in the world with its picturesque surrounding thereby making it one of the best places to see in San Francisco.

• Financial district

The Financial District is the city’s business center and is home to the city’s largest concentration of tall buildings and corporate headquarters, law firms, insurance companies, real estate firms, banks and other financial institutions. Serving as the central business district, it is a hub for numerous wealth famous companies. The district underwent a construction boom in the second half of the 20^th century.

• Coit Tower

Coit Tower is over 200 feet tall and was built in 1933. It offers panoramic views over the city and the bay. You can take an elevator all the way on top of the tower. You could look through the mini windows on the open-air top floor and get a great view of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

What’s next waiting for you?

Whether you are looking for cool places to visit when in San Francisco or things to do in San Francisco, the above travel guide covers everything. Once you come to know what to do in San Francisco, you can plan your journey with utmost enthusiasm. Check out our North America travel guide, to explore some best places to visit near San Francisco.

About Author: Feeba John is Originally from Kerala, born and raised in many places across India. Professionally, a Psychologist and Social worker, she loves writing blogs.