Grand View Park
Worth visiting because of the stupendous views it offers over downtown San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, the Pacific Ocean, Marin headlands, and across to the Sutro Tower.
Sigmund Stern Grove
Home to many concerts and performances during the summer months which are free to the public, including the Stern Grove Festival (http://www.sterngrove.org/).
Moraga Street Stairs
Stair risers comprise a colorful mosaic added during a 2005 renovation of the stairs. Climb to the top then go left or right to find a way into Grand View Park.
Mountain Lake Park
A small hiking trail winds around this scenic lake, noted for its historic importance in that it supplied water to the nearby colonial Spanish settlement of the Presidio. There is also a playground and a tennis court at the southern side of the lake.
Golden gate park
de Young Museum
A modern and ethnic art focused museum, with three levels of fascinating exhibits with contemporary and historical pieces from America as well as art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas in a uniquely-designed building with courtyards and sculpture gardens. One corner of the building has a large tower which offers a lovely 360-degree view of the park and surroundings.
Stow Lake
This pleasant lake surrounding Strawberry Hill, a scenic island with excellent views and great picnic spots, is an excellent place to relax. Boating several types for rent is available from a boathouse, which is open daily from 10AM-4PM.
Spreckels Lake
As the home of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, one is likely to see model yachts sailing on the lake.
Shakespeare Garden
With roses and other flowers mentioned in his plays.
California Academy of Sciences
An absolutely stunning museum and an excellent place to take the children. Among the many highlights of this museum is the building itself; ride the elevator to the top to see the Living Roof, a literal green roof and marvel of architecture with soft hills covered in grass and flowers. On the ground floor are numerous interactive science exhibits, outdoor gardens, an aviary, and towering over the massive exhibit halls is the sphere-like Planetarium on one side of the building, while the other side is overshadowed by the domed Rainforests of the World exhibit, a massive transparent dome which contains a winding pathway that takes you to the top, past towering trees and animal displays. As if all that wasn't enough, the building also contains a fantastic aquarium on the bottom floor, which showcases the more unusual sea life such as octopus, jellyfish, sea dragons, and sea stars among its displays of coral reefs, kelp forests, and tidepools. It's a big museum; be sure to give yourself at least a few hours to see it all.
Children's Playground
A large and unique kid's play area. Next door is a historic Carousel, which runs 10AM-4:30PM daily from Memorial Day-Labor Day and Saturdays and Sundays the rest of the year.
Conservatory of Flowers
This antique palatial greenhouse, one of the first structures of its kind in the county, is filled with a huge variety of beautiful and exotic plant species.
AIDS Memorial Grove
A national memorial to AIDS victims.
Dutch Windmill
Once used for park irrigation in the past, now a scenic oddity at the western end of the park. A lesser-known windmill, the Murphy Windmill, is located at the southwestern corner of the park, but is under restoration. Near the windmills is the lovely Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden.
Japanese Tea Garden
The oldest public Japanese garden in the country, with beautiful plants, ponds, bridges, and Japanese-style structures including a tea house. Tours are available every Wednesday and Sunday at 1PM starting at the main gate.
Rose Garden
A wide variety of roses on display.
San Francisco Botanical Gardens
One of the largest botanical gardens on the west coast, the Botanical Gardens cover 55 acres with thousands of varieties of plants from around the world and multiple specialized gardens and miles of trails seriously, the place is huge. One of the most unique attractions is the Redwood Trail, which runs through a naturalistic redwood forest reminiscent of the ones north of San Francisco along the Californian coast. There is also a bookstore and library on the premises, near the main entrance. Free guided tours of the gardens depart from the bookstore daily at 1:30PM with an extra tour on the weekends at 10:30AM. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays another free tour departs from the Friend Gate at 2PM.
Buffalo Paddock
An unusual attraction is the herd of buffalo which have been here for over a century.
Beach Chalet and Park Chalet
A beautiful 1930s building, the Beach Chalet is open for lunch, drinks, or dinner overlooking Ocean Beach and its brave surfers. Inside the Park Chalet are some exhibits with artifacts related to the history of the Golden Gate Park and San Francisco.
Between Fulton Street on the north, Lincoln Way on the south, Stanyan Street on the east and Ocean Beach on the west (http://www.golden-gate-pa...). 5AM-midnight. Free.
Once an area of sand dunes, Golden Gate Park is a roughly 1/2 mile-by-four mile urban oasis, with windmills, bison, museums, lakes and a carousel hidden among its charms. At 1,017 acres, it is 174 acres larger than New York's Central Park, so unless you have a bike, you'll want to plan which area you want to visit, especially along the east Stanyan street to west the Ocean axis. During the summer to October, a free shuttle bus circulates. On Sundays and holidays, JFK Drive between Transverse and Kezar is closed to vehicular traffic; this car-free zone is popular with walkers, cyclists, and runners. The number 5 trolleybus runs along the park's north boundary Fulton Street, and offers the most frequent service across the park and to downtown. The N streetcar runs two blocks south of the park's southern boundary with similar service as the 5 bus.
Lincoln park
Cliff House
The Cliff House, a well known landmark at the extreme western end of the park, provides both semi-casual and a more formal eating and drinking place (http://www.cliffhouse.com/). Next door is the ruins of the Sutro Baths, a former massive public bath house which once held multiple swimming pools. Just off shore is Seal Rock, home to a population of sea lions.
Lincoln Park defines the extreme Northwestern corner of San Francisco. It provides majestic views of the Marin Headlands, the Golden Gate Bridge from the Ocean side, and the Pacific Ocean itself. A portion of the Coastal Trail runs through Lincoln Park from the Cliff House north to the Golden Gate Bridge. The #18 Muni bus goes from the Legion of Honor museum at the center of the park via the Cliff House to Golden Gate Park, while the very frequent #38 Geary buses terminate in between. Drivers will want to take the El Camino del Mar Drive through the small Seacliff area on the northwest side to view some fancy mansions between Lincoln Park and the Presidio.
Legion of Honor Museum
Inside this building, a model of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur in Paris, is an incredible collection of mainly European art, with works of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Impressionist periods, with art from some of the fundamental artists of their times, as well as some works from the 20th century from the likes of Picasso. One of the highlights of the collection is a collection of sculptures by Rodin, including The Thinker at the front entrance.
Movie theaters
4 Star Theatre
Independently-owned theatre showing Hong Kong and alternative world cinema.
Balboa Theater
Catch a feature at this historic independent movie house.