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San Francisco
Cable cars, steep hills and summer fog, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz out on the bay.
Quick decisions
How many days?
3 days: Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, a cable car ride and a few neighbourhoods on foot. 4 to 5 days: add Golden Gate Park, the Mission and Muir Woods or Sausalito. 6 days or more: add a day in wine country or two nights in Yosemite.
Where should I stay?
Union Square or Nob Hill: central, on the cable car lines, but pick the north side. North Beach: Italian cafés and an easy walk to the waterfront. Marina or Hayes Valley: quieter and more local. More in our where to stay guide.
Do I need a car?
Not in the city. Parking is scarce, the hills are hard on nerves, and car break-ins are a real risk. Rent one only for Yosemite, wine country or the coast.
Best for
First-timers: a compact, walkable city. Food lovers: sourdough, dim sum, Mission burritos, fresh oysters. Families: yes, with the Exploratorium and the Academy of Sciences. Outdoor types: coastal trails run inside the city limits.
Before you go
ESTA: most visa-waiver travellers need one, and the fee went up sharply in September 2025. Book ahead: Alcatraz sells out weeks in advance. Pack layers: summer here is foggy and cool.
Getting around
From the airports: BART from SFO straight downtown, or BART plus the airport connector from Oakland. In the city: tap a contactless card or phone on Muni and BART. Details in our getting there guide.
Continue your trip
Napa and Sonoma are about an hour or so north by car, Monterey and Carmel around two and a half hours south, and Yosemite about four hours east. Highway 1 carries on down the coast to Big Sur.
Overview
San Francisco packs a lot onto a small peninsula. Victorian houses stacked up impossibly steep streets, cable cars clanking over the top, Chinatown's lanes a few blocks from the Financial District towers, and then the bay: Alcatraz sitting in the middle of it and the Golden Gate Bridge appearing and disappearing in the fog. Few cities have this much drama in seven miles.
Four days is a comfortable first visit. Book Alcatraz before anything else, give each day one area, and dress for weather that changes by the hour and by the neighbourhood. Our San Francisco travel guide covers the practical side.
Getting there
San Francisco International (SFO) is the main airport, with BART trains running from the terminal straight into downtown. Oakland, across the bay, is often cheaper and also connects to BART. Our getting there guide compares both, plus Waymo's airport rides and how to pay for transit.
Where to stay
Union Square and Nob Hill put you on the cable car lines and near BART, North Beach has the most atmosphere, and the Marina and Hayes Valley feel like local neighbourhoods. Where you stay matters here, because a few blocks can change the feel of the street. Our neighbourhood guide explains which blocks to choose.
Things to do
Most first trips are built around two landmarks, and we have full guides to the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. For cable cars, Chinatown, Lands End and Golden Gate Park, see our things to do list, and for Muir Woods, Sausalito and wine country, our day trips guide.
Food and drink
Try a sourdough loaf, tangy from the local wild yeast, and a Mission-style burrito, a huge foil-wrapped roll stuffed with rice, beans and meat. From November, Dungeness crab is in season, and cioppino, a tomato fish stew invented by Italian fishermen in North Beach, is on menus all year. Chinatown and the Richmond District are the places for dim sum.
Culture
San Francisco was a small Spanish mission settlement until the 1849 Gold Rush turned it into a boomtown almost overnight. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed most of it. Since then it has kept reinventing itself: Beat poets in North Beach in the 1950s, the Summer of Love in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, gay rights politics in the Castro, and the tech industry that now dominates the whole Bay Area.
Weather by month
San Francisco is warmest in September, with average highs around 21°C, and coldest in January, when nights drop to about 8°C. December is the wettest month, with rain on about 10 days. For mild weather with fewer rainy days, aim for May, June, July, August, September and October.
| Month | Low | Range | High | Rain | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8°C | 14°C | 124 mm | 11 d | |
| Feb | 8°C | 15°C | 89 mm | 8 d | |
| Mar | 9°C | 15°C | 94 mm | 10 d | |
| Apr | 10°C | 16°C | 34 mm | 5 d | |
| May | 11°C | 17°C | 17 mm | 2 d | |
| Jun | 13°C | 19°C | 1 mm | 0 d | |
| Jul | 13°C | 19°C | 1 mm | 0 d | |
| Aug | 14°C | 20°C | 1 mm | 0 d | |
| Sep | 14°C | 21°C | 3 mm | 1 d | |
| Oct | 13°C | 21°C | 29 mm | 3 d | |
| Nov | 10°C | 16°C | 59 mm | 7 d | |
| Dec | 8°C | 14°C | 129 mm | 10 d |
Averages of daily values from 2015 to 2024. Rainy days are days with at least 1 mm of rain. Source: Open-Meteo · Compare destinations by month.
San Francisco on the map
Every place we cover in San Francisco. Tap a category or pin to explore.
In-depth San Francisco guides
Browse the guides grouped by topic: sights, neighbourhoods, food, transport, day trips and trip planning.
Sights, Landmarks & Parks
Key monuments, viewpoints, museums and nature trails.
- Best Things to Do in San FranciscoTwelve things we'd put first on a San Francisco trip, and two to keep short.
- Golden Gate Bridge Guide: Walking, Views and TollsEverything visitors ask about the bridge, answered one question at a time.
- Alcatraz Guide: Tickets, Tours and What to ExpectThe official ferry, which tour to pick and what actually happened with the prison plan.
Neighbourhoods & Where to Stay
Districts, historic quarters and the best bases for your stay.
Getting Around & Arrival
Airport transfers, public transit, passes and driving rules.
Day Trips & Excursions
Easy half-day and full-day trips from the city.
Trip Planning & Itineraries
When to visit, what to pack and day-by-day routes.
- San Francisco: What to Know Before You GoHow the hills, the fog and the transit system work before you land.
- Best Time to Visit San FranciscoWhy autumn is the real summer, and what to expect in every season.
- What to Wear in San FranciscoLayers, a windproof jacket and shoes that can handle the hills.
- San Francisco 3-Day ItineraryThree days, three parts of the city, and a plan that works around the fog.
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