Unique Things To Do In San Francisco
An Overview of San Francisco
One of the most prominent cultural and financials centers of the Western United States, San Francisco is a thriving, cosmopolitan city. Famed for it’s cable cars, entertainment districts along the waterfronts and steep streets, the city is small enough to easily navigate. Some of the most famous features include the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the San Francisco Bay area. With a diverse population, compelling culture and robust food-and-nightlife scene, there are many unique things to do in San Francisco.
Unique Things To Do In San Francisco
It’s IT Ice Cream
This is a legendary ice cream manufacturer with nearly a century of history serving their iconic ice-cream sandwich and other frozen treats. A variety of flavors can be ordered online.
Steam Beer at Anchor Brewing Company
Anchor Brewing Company is one of the most traditional breweries in America, known for their contributions in pioneering brewing techniques and their excellent products. The company offers tours of its building with its handsome copper brewhouses followed by a tasting test afterwards. One of the company’s famous products is its Steam Beer, which is a uniquely crafted beverage special for its highly effervescing properties and strong amount of pressure in its trade packages.
The Wave Organ
This is a unique and fascinating art installation found on the San Francisco Bay. The free-to-visit sculpture operates when waves impact pipe ends. The movement of the water presses in and out of the pipe, creating subtle, long sounds synced to the environment. The Wave Organ is best heard during high tide.
Secret Tiled Staircase Overlook
This stairway climbs one of San Francisco’s many hills, decorated in an impressive community-driven mosaic showcasing sea-to-star designs.
Alcatraz Island
One of the most famous features of San Francisco is Alcatraz Island, a former maximum security prison site serving as both a military fortification and military prison. The site was eventually shut down after being considered too expensive to maintain operations, but the preserved buildings and prison features are available for tourist visits.
Seward Street Slides
Tucked away in a mini-park, this steep, concrete slide uses the natural inclines of San Francisco. Visitors can take sleds made of cardboard to slide down the hill.
Magowan’s Infinite Mirror Maze
Found at Pier 39, this is a colorful, psychedelic mirror maze for adults and children. The building turns through a series of infinite hallways with mirrors brightly lit by colored hues.
Audium Theatre of Sound-Sculptured Space
This strange theater looked like an old, space-themed movie set is part of a 45-minute show performed in total darkness. The “Sound Sculptures” shape tones for a performance in immersive spatial sound art.
Yoda Fountain
Found at the Lucasfilm offices in the Letterman Digital Arts Center, this fountain has a small, metal Yoda on top, standing with his can and a pensive expression.
Golden Gate Park Bison
The Bison Paddock found in the Golden Gate Park is home to a grazing herd of American Bison.
Woodline Haunting Fairytale Art Walk
This patch of woods, planting in the 19th-century by the US Army, is home to a winding path following a wooden, snaking sculptural installations along Lover’s Lane. The footpath was created by Monterey cypress trees, which briefly grew in the forest before dying out, likely overwhelmed by the leaf-litter from the older eucalyptus trees.
Mescaline Grove
Officially called “Tree Fern Dell,” this otherworldly garden is filled with secluded tree ferns following a damp, winding pathway. The large trees have largely thrived in Sacramento’s climate, giving the walking path dense, shady covering.
The Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Telegraph Hill is an iconic feature of the city, its unique structure created by blasting out sides of the hill to quarry the materials within. The materials quarried went on to be used in construction projects around the world. One of the most unique features of the hill are the numerous wild parrots living in the area. The non-native birds can be seen flitting around the trees. While the parrots can be seen all over San Francisco, the Hill is the most common place to find them. Telegraph Hill is also home to the iconic Coit Tower.
Aquatic Park Tombstones
These unclaimed tombstones were used to construct breakwater lines along the San Francisco Bay to create protected swimming zone, sheltered from strong tides. However, shifting tides and moving sands eventually uncovered parts of the break lines, revealing broken tomb markers visable at low tide.
Golden Gate Bridge
There is no structure more iconic to San Francisco than the Golden Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge extending over the mile-wide strait which links the San Francisco bay to the Pacific Ocean. The best place to view the bridge is from the overlook on Hawk Hill.
Lotta’s Fountain
Found at the trinity intersection of Market Street, Geary Street and Kearny Street, this is an ornate, painted-bronze, iron fountain donated by actress Lotta Crabtree in 1875.
Encryption Lava Lamps
One of the more bizarre features of San Francisco can be found in Cloudflare’s San Francisco headquarters. The internet technology company utilizes a wall of colorful lava lamps to generate random code, encrypting a portion of the internet. The lava lamps, with their mesmerizing bubbling motions can generate random “junk code” to be used in randomized protections. The wall can be visited and photographed, as the presence of external disturbances like human movement, static fields and shifts in lighting can randomize the code even further, making the system even harder to hack.
Short Story Vending Machine
An idea imported from France, the Distributeur d’Histoires Courtes or Short Story Vending Machine allows people waiting for their train to press a button which randomly selects a short story to be printed like a receipt. The buttons on the machine correlate to wait-times, one, three or five minutes. It’s a unique way to keep people occupied while waiting for a train or subway.
Cable Cars
San Francisco is home to one of the world’s last manually-operated cable car systems. The bright, rail-bound vehicles can be ridden for a small fee to better explore the city.
Urbano Sundial
Located at the end of Entrada Street, this gigantic sundial sits in the middle of a calm neighborhood. The structure was dedicated in 1913, built to lure young families to the Ingleside Terraces residential area by making the neighborhood both upscale and distinct.
Aquarium of the Bay
Found at the edge of Pier 39, this is a large aquarium filled with aquatic animals native to the region, from the expansive pacific ocean to the famed bay area and the freshwater rivers nearby.
USS Pampanio
The USS Pampanito is a Balao-class submarine active during WWII, at which point she completed six patrols and sank six Imperial Japanese ships, damaging four others. The vessel has been painstakingly restored to it’s original appearance and remains seaworthy. In 1995, the vessel sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Sea Lions near Pier 39
Beyond just being a popular entertainment venue, Pier 39 also has views of the K-Dock Rise. This space is where sea lions often lounge in large numbers, bellowing at one another while bobbing in the waters of the bay.
Maritime National Historical Park
This park contains a fleet of historic maritime vessels, a popular maritime museum and a research facility, all found on Hyde Street Pier. Some of the vessels include the Eureka, an 1890 built steam ferryboat, the Hercules, a 1907 built steam tug and the Balclutha, an 1886 built square rigged sailing ship.
Baker Beach
This is a public beach which lies on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The long, sandy beach has excellent views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience
An iconic, high quality chocolatier shop in San Francisco.
Palace of Fine Arts
Reminiscent of a decaying, Roman ruin, the Palace of Fine Arts is a large structure known for its beautiful dome, curving columns and nearby, colorful park. The area us used as a venue for weddings and trade fairs.
Asian Art Museum
Otherwise known as the Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, this museum holds over 18,000 artworks in its permanent collection, some upwards of 6,000 years old.
Lombard Street
This is one of the city’s most iconic streets, known as a vehicular route descending a steep hill with eight sharp, hairpin turns.
Chamber of Secrets Door
This is a door built to look like the serpent-locked vault leading to the Chamber of Secrets in the Harry Potter Franchise. The door, created by Steve Penetti as a tourist attraction, cannot be entered, but it’s fun to pass by.
Golden Gate Park
This large and wonderful green space is one of San Francisco’s most popular outdoor areas, offering walking paths, biking routes, exhibitions, art shows, concerts, museums and fantastic gardens. Golden Gate Park is home to numerous attractions, including the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden and Dutch Windmill, the Murphy Windmill, the Prayerbook Cross, the waterfalls and pavilions near Strawberry Hill, the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young Museum for fine arts, and the McLaren Lodge historical landmark. With its numerous attractions visiting Golden Gate Park is one of the most unique things to do in San Francisco.
The Dore Vase
Found in front of the de Young Museum, this massive vessel is a flask of mythic size, decorated in intricate tumble of sculpted figures moving across the artwork’s surface.
Read more about unique things to do in San Francisco and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Blog.
Affiliate Disclosure: Leftfade Trails contains affiliate links, so using services or products through these links supports the website, at no extra cost to the user. All links are to tested services and products designed to aid travelers on their journeys. Some links specifically connect to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases.
Darn Tough Makes the best socks on the planet, without any of the competition coming close. My five pairs of Darn Tough Socks haven’t ever been replaced and I’ve been a customer for over five years now.