While in San Francisco, I stayed at USA Hostels, which I cannot recommend enough! They had organised trips most days, with free and paid for activities. I went on a free hike and a paid for bike tour with them. During these activities I felt safe and made a few extra friends every day- I would recommend doing one early on in your stay so you have people to do activities with on your other days, if that is something of interest to you. I had a 6 bed female only room and made lots of friends. There was also free pancake batter so you could make pancakes for breakfast every day!
Below are some of the things I did and how I think they went.
California Academy of Sciences
My favourite thing I did in San Francisco was go to NightLife at the Californian Academy of Sciences. It was adults only in the evening and they had all sorts of activities on (book in advance and go early!), like yoga in the aquarium and watching an inspiring show at the planetarium. Definitely worth the visit! It was worth it just for the butterflies!
View of the Golden Gate Bridge
It's better to be a little far away for the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I took this image at 37.8091796,-122.4746502.
View of the City
For a view of the city, however, I would recommend going to Twin Peaks. I would say get an Uber/taxi there, rather than hiking up just to find it is misty and you can't see anything!
Hike
There are some great walks from the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy following the coast.
Alcatraz
I really enjoyed my trip to Alcatraz and found the audio-guide very interesting. I would recommend booking in advanced and booking the earliest trip possible. Imagine the approach to the island on the boat, with the island coated in a thick layer of mist- very spooky and atmospheric! Plus, it's quieter then.
The Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop at Ghirardelli Square
I went to Ghirardelli for some chocolate ice cream and a hot chocolate. Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is the third-oldest chocolate company in the United States and can be seen everywhere around San Francisco. It was cool to see some of the machines working but I wouldn't go out of my way to go. In the square, there were Ghirardelli shops with free samples, which was pretty cool. But I actually bought their chocolates as gifts for my family from Target instead!
This tiny shop in China Town was very cool. It is really just a shop but you can watch a lady making fortune cookies, which I really enjoyed.
Musée Mécanique
A small penny arcade with some cool geeky games in. It's free to enter but you have to pay to have a go on the games. Worth a visit if you're in the area and into this kind of thing.
Pier 39
Pier 39 is a tourist attraction, with all sorts of shops but the best part are the California sea lions lounging on the pier.
Cable Car Museum
If you have an interest in engineering, I would say visit the cable car museum. It is very small but it is free and not that busy or touristy.
Lombard Street
I found Lombard Street disappointing and full of tourists- it is an active road after all. And to be fair San Francisco has a lot of steep roads.
