24 Hours in San Francisco
Here’s to another amazing city as part of our “24 Hours” travel series! This week we’re highlighting San Francisco and some of the beautiful hidden gems tucked away in different neighborhoods. All of these sights are completely free to visit and can be found on our Roamli app along with other details and fun facts. While one can easily spend a full week exploring everything SF has to offer, we’ll do our best and condense this down to a single day’s adventure. Let’s dive in!
Our first stop offers insight into the vast architectural history of San Francisco and is one of the not-so-hidden-gems located by Jackson Square and the Financial District. The Transamerica Pyramid is the second-tallest skyscraper in the city and upon it’s completion in 1972 it was the eighth-tallest building in the world. Standing at 48-stories tall, it sadly is not open to the public nor does it offer an observation deck so visitors will have to marvel at her beauty from the surrounding streets. Located at 600 Montgomery Street, it was surpassed only recently as the tallest building in SF by the Salesforce Tower which was finished in 2018.
We couldn’t leave you without some magnificent views however! Our next stop offers panoramic perspectives of the surrounding city/bay and can be found at the historic Pioneer Park in the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood. “Coit Memorial Tower” was built in 1932 and stands 210-feet above the city. It was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard and commissioned by Lillie Hitchcock Coit who was a patroness of San Francisco’s volunteer firefighters. Telegraph Hill is often described as having the most optimal 360 degree viewing point of the bay so please feel free to let us know what you think!
If you keep heading northwest you’ll make your way towards Fisherman’s Wharf and the widely recognized Pier 45. Encompassing the northern waterfront area of San Francisco, this popular neighborhood gets its name from the city’s early days in the 1800’s when Italian immigrant fisherman came during the population influx led by the gold rush. To this day the wharf still remains the center of operations for San Francisco’s fishing fleet and boasts a series of other attractions including the Musée Mécanique and Wax Museum. If you head towards Pier 39 you can’t miss the mass of sea lions lounging by the water. And if you don’t see them initially you’ll definitely hear them!
Working your way west along the harbor you’ll quickly come across Fort Mason and an area by the park known as Black Point. Black Point was a permanent fortification built as an emergency response to the civil war. It was named by the locals after the large clusters of dark and wind-blown laurel trees that grew at the bluff’s edge and shoreline. There are also Historic Gardens you can visit that just opened to the public for the first time in 2021.
If you stay on Marina Boulevard heading west you’ll end up in the Presidio, one of our favorite areas in San Francisco. Originally a U.S. Army military fort, the Presidio has been a fortified location since 1776 when New Spain established it to gain a foothold in Alta California. It transferred to Mexico in 1820 before transferring once more to the United States in 1848. Nearly 150 years later it was eventually given to the National Park Service, ending 218 years of military use. The Presidio features many scenic vistas, wooded areas, and historic sights and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The park spans 1,500 acres and houses dozens of monuments and houses including the Walt Disney Family Museum, Yoda Fountain, and many more! If you’re in the mood to hike there’s also a ton of trails throughout the park with beautiful viewpoints of the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you’ve followed our guide at this point you’ve likely walked nearly 8 miles throughout the city! And knowing the terrain in San Francisco that’s something to be extremely proud of with all the hills. If you want to give your legs a “rest” head south along Park Presidio Boulevard through the Richmond District and you can take a leisurely stroll or rest on the various benches at Golden Gate Park.
Note quite as large as the Presidio, Golden Gate Park is a large urban park spanning over 1,000 acres of public grounds. Similar in shape to Central Park in New York City, it features many unique attractions including the De Young Museum, Japanese Tea Garden, and the Conservatory of Flowers. You’ll also find many natural features such as “Hippie Hill” or the Bison Paddock. Bison have actually been kept in Golden Gate Park since 1891 when a small herd was purchased by the park commission. At that time the bison population in North America was at an all-time-low so San Francisco made an effort to help repopulate the species through the park lands. Today the paddock is open to the public and there are approximately 10 bison roaming the area. Some of our other favorite stops in Golden Gate Park are the Spanish Monastery Stones and Shakespeare Garden located in the central area of the park just east of Stow Lake.
There’s no doubt there are hundreds of other amazing things to explore around San Francisco but hopefully through this tour you were able to discover some other gems along the way! The Origami Fountains in Japantown are one of our favorites as well since it will take you by the Peace Pagoda heading towards Cathedral Hill. If you find anything else we might have missed feel free to let us know in the comments or add them on the Roamli app! Happy Roaming!
