Planning Your San Francisco Activities
Before picking what to do in San Francisco, it helps to know what has a deadline and what doesn’t; only a handful of the city’s activities actually require advance planning.
The one deadline: Alcatraz
Alcatraz City Cruises, sailing from Pier 33, is the only authorized way onto the island. The Day Tour runs $47.95 adult and includes the cellhouse audio tour narrated by former inmates and officers; summer and holiday dates sell out three to six weeks ahead. Book directly at alcatrazcitycruises.com rather than through a reseller, since third-party markups on the same tour run well above face value.
Transit that doesn’t need a plan
The cable car costs $9 a ride through early January 2027, rising to $12 with an $18 all-day Cable Car Plus pass after that. A Clipper Card covers Muni buses, streetcars and cable cars along with BART and the Golden Gate Ferry, and sfmta.com has the current fare table and route map. Between Powell Street’s usual 45- to 75-minute cable car queue and the quieter California Street line, the second is often the better first ride.
Free things that don’t feel like consolation prizes
The sea lion colony at Pier 39’s K-Dock has been there since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, with the population swinging from a few hundred to over a thousand depending on the winter herring run; viewing from the railing costs nothing. In Golden Gate Park, the de Young Museum’s 9th-floor Hamon Observation Tower is free without a museum ticket, and the resident bison herd, grazing off John F. Kennedy Drive since 1890, is visible free from the roadside fence.
Golden Gate Park in a single visit
The California Academy of Sciences runs dynamic pricing from about $42 to $55 and combines an aquarium, planetarium and rainforest dome. The Japanese Tea Garden charges $16 to $18 for non-residents but is free before 10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Book Academy of Sciences tickets on GetYourGuide to skip the walk-up line on a busy Saturday.
The verdict
Decide on Alcatraz first, since it is the only booking with a real clock on it; everything else in the city can be planned the night before or the morning of. For neighborhoods worth walking rather than riding through, see the walking tours guide .
Before you go
Bring a real jacket even in July: June through August are San Francisco’s coldest, windiest, foggiest months, not its warmest. Compare hotels near Union Square on Booking.com to stay within walking distance of the cable car lines above.