San Francisco
CALIFORNIA

Activities with Kids

PLAYGROUNDS

ALAMO SQUARE PARK – Alamo Square / NOPA (North of the Panhandle)
A dual-level, multi-age small playground with views of the iconic “Painted Ladies” homes

FRANCISCO PARK – Russian Hill
Beautiful, recently constructed park & playground with sweeping views of the bay to the north. Close to Ghiradelli Square, Fort Mason and Fisherman’s Wharf.

HELEN DILLER PLAYGROUND – Mission Dolores
A large, adventurous play space at the top of popular, often-sunny Dolores Hill.

KORET CHILDREN’S QUARTER – Golden Gate Park
Huge play gem in the Southeast corner of the park. Highlights include unique mosaic creatures to climb on, a large playground, and a nearby carousel.

LAFAYETTE PARK – Pacific Heights
Hilltop neighborhood park with green space and a fun playground, a couple blocks east of a bustling commercial strip of Fillmore Street.

MISSION BAY KIDS’ PARK – Mission Bay
Multi-age-friendly playground nestled between the new buildings of Mission Bay.
Close to the SF Giants ballpark and nearby Spark SF Social, an outdoor, kid-friendly food court.

OUTPOST PLAYGROUND at PRESIDIO TUNNEL TOPS – The Presidio
This innovative, multi-faceted, gorgeous play area is our favorite play space in SF. The activities are inspired by nature and there’s a Field Station curiosity lab. It connects to lawns and The Presidio on one side and Chrissy Field on the other.

OUTDOOR SPACES & ACTIVITES

CABLE CARS – Downtown to Fisherman’s Wharf
A scenic, historic, unforgettable way to get around SF. There are 3 different lines and you can hop on at the turnarounds or at street stops.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE –The Presidio
You may have heard of it? Even with all of the hype, it’s pretty striking. There’s a walking side and a biking side – don’t feel like you have to walk the whole thing, it’s 1.7 miles long. And it’s often in fog – bring layers!

LANDS END & SUTRO BATHS – Outer Richmond
A beautiful and unique walk around the bones of a building from past glory days.

ORACLE PARK – Mission Bay
Home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. An beautiful outdoor stadium with views of the bay, a wide assortment of food options, and a slide down the Coca Cola bottle.

SALESFORCE PARK – Financial District
Showcases

SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDENS – Golden Gate Park
Fifty-five acre nature sanctuary nestled within the notable park. Showcases landscaped gardens, open spaces, and over 8,000 different kinds of plants.

SKYSTAR WHEEL – Fisherman’s Wharf

SUNSET DUNES & OCEAN BEACH – Outer Sunset
Sunset Dunes is a 2-mile, 50-acre park that was recently created by repurposing part of the former Great Highway. An awesome place to skate, ride bikes, or stroll, and you can pop over to Ocean Beach right next to it when you’re done.

YUERBA BUENA PARK & CAROUSEL

INSIDE FUN

CABLE CAR MUSUEM – Union Square
Free admission to the non-profit museum honoring the mechanics
behind the beloved and unique SF cable cars.

CAL ACADEMY of SCIENCES – Golden Gate Park
Celebrating science through their aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and indoor rainforest. Don’t miss Claude, the albino alligator, a local icon.

CHASE CENTER – Mission Bay
New stadium that’s the home of the Golden State Warriors mens’ basketball team and the Golden State Valkyries women’s basketball team and hosts other big events and concerts.

CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY MUSEUM/ SoMa
Interactive museum dedicated to giving kids hands-on multimedia experiences.
Nearby carousel open Fri-Sun.

deYOUNG MUSEUM – Golden Gate Park
View from the __ tower, sculpture garden with eye

EXPLORATORIUM – Embarcadero
Huge “learning laboratory” located in a pier right on the bay. Its six galleries give kids a chance for
hands-on learning about subjects like tinkering and light, mirrors, and bubbles.

MUSEE MECANIQUE – Fisherman’s Wharf
Wharf institution packed with old-school games including penny arcades and pinball.
Don’t overlook the photo booth and penny presses tucked in between the 300+ machines.

RANDALL MUSEUM
Corona Heights

SF MOMA/ SoMa
Multi-level modern and contemporary art marvel, with a lovely cafe next to an outdoor sculpture garden. Kids 18 & under are free!

THE WALT DISNEY MUSEUM/ The Presidio

  • "San Francisco was a waking dream, a place that was as much about people’s self invention as it was about the misty, movie-set scenery.”

    Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

  • "If you're alive, you can't be bored in San Francisco. If you're not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life."

    William Saroyan

  • "There is no logic to San Francisco generally, a city built with putty and pipe cleaners, rubber cement and colored construction paper. It's the work of fairies, elves, happy children with new crayons."

    A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Explore these neighborhoods

  • The Embarcadero

    The Ferry Building, Bay Bridge, Exploratorium, Coit Tower, F trains… there’s so much to see along this eastern edge of the city.

    Explore

  • Chrissy Field + The Presidio

    Do you like beautiful open spaces, views of an iconic bridge, and amazing kids’ playing structures? Then this northern spot may be just right for you!

    Explore

  • Golden Gate Park + The Inner Sunset

    Home to the deYoung Musuem, Botanical Garden, Cal Academy of Sciences, lake, more gardens, and if you make it all the way west, the beach!

    Explore

Getting Around

THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SF

There are three major transportation
systems in San Francisco:

MUNI, BART & CALTRAIN

Sometimes they easily connect.
Sometimes they do not.
They will get you up and down and all around the city via train, tram, trolley, bus, and streetcar.

MUNI is the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which includes buses, trollies, lightrail metro trains, historic streetcars (the F line), and the iconic cable cars. It only operates in the city of SF.

You can pay the flat fare for riding Muni with Clipper Card (physical card or app) , credit card, sometimes cash, or the MuniMobile app. The fee amount varies based on what type of transportation you’re taking. The classic cable cars operate within the Muni system on three different lines.

BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Its 50+ train stations run through the East Bay, SF, and the South Bay, with many of them running above ground. You can take BART trains to/from SFO and Oakland’s airports. You can pay for rides with a Clipper Card or your credit card and rates are based on the distance between your stops.

CALTRAIN is the commuter train system that serves the areas south of SF on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley. The northernmost stop is in San Francisco at 4th and King Street. You can pay for rides through tapping your Clipper Card or paper ticket purchases at stations. Rates are based on the length of your trip.

CLICK TO VIEW OUR SF GOOGLE MAP

Picture books about San Francisco

Favorite spots for souvenirs

  • KIDS & LIFESTYLE

    MUDPIE – Fillmore

    NOOMOON – Inner Sunset

    RARE DEVICE – Hayes Valley

    TANTRUM – Inner Richmond

    THE KIRA SHOP – Inner Sunset

  • BOOKSTORES

    BLACKBIRD BOOKS / Outer Sunset
    Beautiful curation and store,
    wonderful backyard space

    CITY LIGHTS / North Beach
    Iconic historic bookstore that’s also wonderfully cosy



  • MADE IN SF

    ABACUS ROW Nob Hill
    Independent jewelry brand focusing on beautiful beadwork. Each piece is crafted in-house, at their production studio and showroom.

    BRYR CLOGS / Dogpatch
    Handmade clogs sold from their gorgeous, light-filled boutique and manufacturing space.

    DANDYLION CHOCOLATE / The Mission
    Single origin bean-to-bar chocolate maker.

    FOUR BARREL COFFEE / The Mission

    JOSHUVELA / Potrero Hill
    Timeless canvas, leather & cloth bags designed and produced in their SF workshop.

Art + Architecture

ASIAN ART MUSEUM / Civic Center
de YOUNG MUSEUM / Golden Gate Park
LEGION OF HONOR / Outer Richmond
MINNESOTA STREET PROJECT / Dogpatch
MUSEUM of the AFRICAN DIASPORA / SoMa
MUSEUM of CRAFT & DESIGN / Dogpatch
SFMOMA / SoMa

MUSIC & PERFORMANCE

WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET / Civic Center
SF JAZZ/ Hayes Valley
SF SYMPHONY / Civic Center
GAY MENS CHORUS
CASTRO THEATER
THE FILLMORE

ART in BUILDINGS

CITY HALL / Civic Center
COIT TOWER
FERRY BUILDING
GRACE CATHEDRAL / Nob Hill
PALACE OF FINE ARTS

NOTABLE ARCHITECTURE / BUILDINGS

PUBLIC ART (ADD SCULPTURE & MONUMENTS?)

LOVER’S LANE by ANDY GOLDSWORTHY / The Presidio
CUPID’S SPAN at Rincon Park / Embarcadero
SEA CHANGE by Mark diSuvero / Embarcadero

MURALS in the Mission

PEACE PAGODA in Japantown

FOG BRIDGE (outside of the Exploratorium)


  • The Golden Gate Bridge is painted a color called International Orange. But when they were deciding what to paint it, the U.S. Navy proposed black with yellow stripes!

  • There are over 60 abandoned ships underneath downtown SF.

  • Parrots on telegraph hill - Parrots came from escaped pets in the 1990s.

  • SF measures about 7 miles wide by 7 miles high. There are # hills

Books for grown-ups about San Francisco

San Francisco guide created in 2026

All images © Kara Brodgesell