3 Days in San Francisco: Itinerary for First-Time Visitors
If you’re planning your first trip to San Francisco, here is a three day San Francisco itinerary that will help you hit all the city’s major highlights!
I’ll be honest: When we first told friends we were taking a family trip to San Francisco we got some strange looks. From safety concerns (more on that below, but suffice it to say we did not feel concerned) to people telling us it just wasn’t that great of a city, the general consensus seemed to be….well, pretty negative.
But y’all. I LOVED San Francisco. I loved the chill vibes of the city and the way it’s a city but you can still see the sky. I love the water, the food, the culture. Just everything about San Francisco blew me away.
So…let’s get going with our itinerary!
Reading Recommendations: Find books to read before your California trip here!
3 Day San Francisco Itinerary Summary
At a glance, here’s a summary of how you can spend 3 days in San Francisco on your first visit.
Day 1
- Ride a Cable Car
- Cable Car Museum
- City Lights Booksellers
- Chinatown
- Pier 39
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- Ghirardelli Square
Day 2
- Lombard Street
- Presidio Park
- Crissy Field & the Golden Gate Bridge
- Lands End
- The Painted Ladies
Day 3
- Mission District
- Tartine Bakery
- Dolores Park
- Alcatraz
San Francisco Three Day Itinerary
Day One in San Francisco
Start our your day in San Francisco bright and early! Today we’ll focus the downtown area with some of the main tourist highlights like the Cable Cars, Chinatown, and Fisherman’s Wharf.
Ride a Cable Car
Start your morning out with a ride on the famous San Francisco cable cars!
You’ll need a ticket to get on. You can either buy tickets with MUNI Mobile either for individual cable car rides or get a Visitor Passport that will include MUNI rides and the cable car. Or you can buy an individual cable car ride, which is $8.
There are three routes for San Francisco Cable Cars:
- California Line
- Powell/Hyde Line
- Powell/Mason Line
Because we were staying at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, we took the California Line, the endpoint of which was right outside our hotel doors.
But you can also take the Powell/Hyde or Powell/Mason Lines. These are SUPER popular though, so you’ll want to line up early and get tickets ahead of time.
To avoid the crowds and lines at the turnaround stations for these two most popular lines, you can try getting on at another station. But people will have had to get off to make room for you if they just picked up a big crowd the end point.
Then take the cable car to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum. If you’re taking the California Line you’ll want to get off on Mason Street and walk a few blocks to Washington Street to the museum.
If you are taking the Powell/Hyde or Powell/Mason lines, you can get off at Washington & Mason which is right where the museum is located.
San Francisco Cable Car Museum
Because the cable cars are such an icon of San Francisco visiting the small Cable Car Museum is totally worth it. (Especially because entrance is free!)
Inside you’ll find exhibits about the history of the cable cars, photo ops, and a small gift shop. I thought it was really interesting to learn how the cable cars work, how the earthquakes have impacted their operation, and more.
One of the coolest things about this museum though is that it is still the powerhouse for cable car operations! So down below where the exhibits are, you can see the cables running through their winding wheels as they pull the cars around the city.
City Lights Booksellers
You KNOW we have the find the bookstore no matter where we travel! So visiting City Lights Booksellers was high on our priority list!
From the Cable Car Museum it’s about a 10 minute walk to City Lights Booksellers.
This is probably San Francisco’s most well-known indie bookstore. Not just because it’s a great bookstore, but it was also a major hangout for the beatnik generation, so it has a storied history. It also publishes its own books, like the Pocket Poets Series.
We loved browsing the shelves here (make sure you go downstairs for even more selection!) and we came home with a few books of course.
Chinatown
From City Lights Booksellers, you’ll be right in the midst of Chinatown, one of San Francisco’s must-see neighborhoods.
It’s of course also a great place to grab lunch! We had a great meal at City View Restaurant (I’d recommend getting there for an early lunch because they fill up fast!).
Nearby you can check out the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. You can see how fortune cookies are made and buy some for yourself. However, don’t have huge expectations. The area you can visit is basically just the small entryway of the factory where you can see some cookies being made and make a quick purchase. There will because a small line outside most likely, but it goes pretty quick because there is just not *that* much to do inside.
Spend some time just walking and exploring Chinatown. There are some really beautiful streets (don’t miss the lanterns on Grant Ave)! And you’ll want to see the Dragon Gate, which is really the entrance to Chinatown. (This is more South of where you’ll start in Chinatown though, so I’d save it for when you’re leaving.)
Dinner in North Beach
North Beach is the area between Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf and it’s a great place to grab some dinner. It’s known as San Francisco’s Little Italy, so you know there are lots of great places to eat!
We ate at Original Joe’s, which we really enjoyed. But people also love Flour + Water Pizzeria, Molinari Delicatessen, and Bodega. There are LOTS of great choices around here though!
Pier 39
From North Beach hop in on a bus, take a Waymo, or walk about 15 minutes to get to Pier 39.
Yes, this is a super touristy area. Yes, I didn’t really love it that much. But you’re in San Francisco, so you kind of have to see it right?
Pier 39 is basically a huge entertainment pier with all kinds of shops and restaurants. But the real attraction here are the sea lions that hang out on the docks at the end of the pier.
There is a sea lion viewing area where you can see them (and you’ll likely hear them barking before you see them). Be patient for your turn though, because it can be pretty jam packed with tourists.
When we visited in July, there actually weren’t that many sea lions there. June and July is the time when they migrate to their breeding grounds in the Channel Islands. But because we were there in late July, there were a few who had already returned.
If you want to see lots of sea lions, the best times are going to be between August and May.
Fisherman’s Wharf
Like Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf is mostly a big tourist area with shops and restaurants. Again, not my most favorite area, but worth walking through on your way to our next stop.
Ghirardelli Square
End your day with some ice cream at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience! Ghirardelli was actually founded in San Francisco, and I’m definitely all for using history as an excuse to eat more chocolate.
There will be a line, but it’s totally worth it for their absolutely decadent ice cream sundaes and treats!
Bonus: You’ll also be right across the street from Aquatic Cove which is a lovely little beach area and can be a great place to enjoy the evening and sunset.
Day Two in San Francisco
Today we’ll expand out some from the main downtown area and see some beautiful areas of the Bay. Plus the Golden Gate Bridge!
Lombard Street
Start your morning off with Lombard Street. This is San Francisco’s famous downhill street with the tiny hairpin curves. And people LINE UP for a chance to drive down it.
And while Lombard Street is a long street that goes across the San Francisco, it is just the block between Hyde and Leavenworth that has the famous curves.
My best advice is to go to the bottom of it for a picture and to walk up it. There are stairs on either side of the street that you can walk up and down for various views.
Presidio Park
Next head to Presidio Park (the easiest way to get there will be to take an Uber or Waymo).
This is SUCH a beautiful area of the city and it’s a National Park site! AND it’s going to be your gateway to seeing the Golden Gate Bridge.
But before you get to the Golden Gate Bridge portion of the trip, there are some fun things to do in the top portion of the park first:
- Presidio Visitor Center — This is a beautiful building where you can learn more about the Presidio and it has a great gift shop!
- Main Parade Lawn — Such a beautiful area and most days you’ll find lots of food trucks. We had lunch at the food trucks and sat on the lawn to enjoy it on a sunny day and it was so pleasant.
- Walt Disney Family Museum — If you are a Disney fan or grew up loving Disney movies, The Walt Disney Family Museum is a can’t miss spot! It goes through the history of the Walt Disney Company, Disney animation, and a bit about the parks. There are sketches and concept art from movies throughout history, peeks into the animation process, and a fun model of Disneyland at the end! This museum was a such a highlight for me, especially after reading books like The Queens of Animation.
- Presidio Tunnel Tops — This outdoor area was built on top of the tunnels for the roads below and now offer trails, fields, views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and great spots for kids to play like the Outpost Playground.
Crissy Field & The Golden Gate Bridge
From the Presidio Tunnel Tops, you can walk down to Crissy Field and get some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Walk down toward the bay and you’ll be able to cross Mason Street to get to Crissy Field and the San Francisco Bay Trail.
You can take this trail all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge! This is what we did. Once you get to Torpedo Wharf (which is a pier you can walk out onto), you can then climb up the hill and access the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center. From there you can walk under the bridge or even walk onto the bridge if you want.
Just for reference, from the Tunnel Tops to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center it’s about a 1.5 mile walk. And it’s mostly very easy and flat except for the last part where you have to walk uphill to get the Welcome Center.
Overall this is a great way to take your time seeing all kinds of views of the Golden Gate Bridge!
Lands End
Lands End was probably my favorite area of San Francisco and the area I’m most eager to go back to on a return trip! Because I definitely didn’t get to see everything I wanted to here.
From the Golden Gate Bridge, you can take an Uber or Waymo to get to Lands End. And this is an area of amazing views of the Pacific Ocean with peaceful hiking trails and some interesting historic sites.
We started at the Lands End Lookout Building, where you can access the Lands End Trail and see the Sutro Baths!
The Sutro Baths were once a huge attraction featuring 7 indoor saltwater pools, but now the building is gone and all that remains are the ruins of the baths. It’s such a cool thing to see!
Then we hiked a loop of the Lands End Trail to the Sutro Baths Upper Trail. It was an easy little .5 mile hike.
Next time though I want to do more of the Lands End Trail and Coastal Trail and see spots like Lands End Labyrinth.
The Painted Ladies
In the evening stop by to see the famous Painted Ladies on Alamo Square. The Painted Ladies are a row of pastel colored Victorian houses and are one of the most photographed spots in San Francisco.
Listen, I’m going to be honest. I 100% wanted to see these because they are featured in the intro to Full House, which was my favorite show of my childhood. (You know, it’s the scene where they’re all having the picnic on the hill with the houses behind them.) And I think they are worth the quick stop on your way to other spots in the city.
Just be aware that this is NOT the same spot as the Full House house. That iconic has is several blocks away, and while you can stop by and see it, it is a private residence now and has been repainted.
Then for dinner you can explore the nearby Hayes Valley, which has some great restaurant options. Choose your own adventure!
Day Three in San Francisco
Mission District
Head to the Mission District of San Francisco this morning for different vibes. You can get there via Uber or Waymo or public transportation. We used our MUNI Pass to take the bus.
The Mission District is especially known for their street art, and there are two areas where the murals are especially prominent: on 24th Street between Mission and York and then Clarion Alley .
Plus there is all kinds of other art in the area as well. So just spend some time walking around.
This is also a great place to grab lunch! We ate at Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen and it was delicious.
Tartine Bakery
In addition to bookstores, the other things I’m always going to find on a trip is a good bakery! And Tartine is a San Francisco staple. In fact, I remember following them YEARS ago when they were just starting to make a splash. So I was super excited to visit.
The pastries here are incredible, so expect a long line. But it’s worth the wait! You can either choose to eat there or get it to go, which is what we did (and then took it to our next stop to enjoy!).
Mission Dolores Park
Mission Dolores Park is a popular park in the Mission District, and on a sunny day you will find locals enjoying it.
We lucked out with great weather and enjoyed sitting here to eat our treats from Tartine and people-watching.
This park also had one of my favorite views of San Francisco!
Alcatraz
You can’t go to San Francisco without visiting Alcatraz, the famous prison on a rocky island that once held mobsters.
To plan your trip to Alcatraz, you’ll want to buy tickets ahead of time. Arrive at Pier 33 at least 45 before your departure time. Once there, they’ll check your tickets and you’ll get in line for the ferry boat that takes you over to the island.
The main thing to see is of course the actual cellhouse. Once you get off the ferry you will walk uphill to get to the prison (there is also a tram that can take people with mobility issues).
Once you’re at the prison, you’ll get in line for your audio tour device. I definitely recommend the audio tour here because not only does it teach you about the history of Alcatraz and tell interesting stories, it also literally guides you through the prison with directions of where to turn and walk.
After your audio tour there are other things to see on the island too: the Gardens of Alcatraz, the Warden’s House, the Guardhouse, and more.
Enjoy your time and then catch the ferry back. You can catch any ferry back no matter which one you reserved to come over. Just make sure you don’t miss the last one!
Evening: Anything You Missed!
For the evening, head to any area of San Francisco you missed or want to return to. Maybe you want to go back to another restaurant in North Beach or Chinatown. Or maybe you want to head to another area we didn’t cover already like Union Square or Japantown. Just in general, enjoy your last evening in this awesome city!
Where to Stay in San Francisco
There are lots of great neighborhoods to stay in in San Francisco. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Embarcadero and loved it. It had some great views, plus the fact that the California Cable Car was located just outside our door made it pretty easy to get wherever we wanted to go (we bought a multi-day Cable Car pass).
Here are a few other hotel recommendations though:
- Hotel Nikko — Luxury hotel in Union Square.
- Westin St. Francis — Another luxury hotel in Union Square, perfect for Marriott fans.
- Stanyan Park Hotel — Historic Victorian hotel in Haight-Ashbury near Golden Gate Park.
- Hotel Kabuki — A Hyatt property in Japantown that is high on my priority list for my next visit!
- Argonaut Hotel — A beloved hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf with nautical vibes.
- The Clancy, Autograph Collection — A beautiful Marriott hotel located in SoMa (South of Market).
Where to Eat in San Francisco
San Francisco is known for it’s food scene and there are SO many amazing restaurants. Here are just a handful…the ones we especially loved!
Breakfast
- Boudin Bakery Cafe — Yes, it’s a tourist attraction. But it’s grown to be well known for a reason. Stop here for breakfast (or lunch or dinner honestly) and try some of their famous sourdough. You can get it as sandwiches, burgers, or even pizza!
- Tartine Bakery — The BEST pastries. Just omg the flaky layers on the croissants? Incredible!
Lunch & Dinner
- City View Restaurant — We loved this popular spot for dim sum in Chinatown! But don’t let the name fool you…there aren’t actually views of the city. The food is fantastic though!
- Original Joe’s — An Italian restaurant in North Beach with pasta, steaks, and seafood.
- Zazie — An upscale restaurant in Cole Valley (near Golden Gate Park) with delicious seasonal dishes. They are known for their brunch (so you could totally do that) but we had dinner there and loved it. I also love that this restaurant takes pride in paying their employees a fair and living wage, so there is no tipping!
- Super Duper Burgers — Want just a basic burger and a great milkshake! We loved this place, and they have several locations throughout the city.
- Ferry Building — The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero is FULL of food vendors with everything from empanadas to crepes to ice cream. Pro Tip: This is definitely a lunch place! Most spots close in the evening.
Getting Around San Francisco
Getting around San Francisco can be a bit of a challenge because either you’re going to be walking up and down a lot of hills or you need to figure out the public transportation system.
Or be prepared to spend money on ride share services. In addition to public transport we LOVED taking Waymos (self-driving cars) around the city.
Let’s talk about the public transportation in San Francisco though because this is where it gets confusing. There are multiple transportation systems in San Francisco and multiple ways to get on these systems.
First, let’s talk MUNI. This is what most tourists are going to use. It includes buses, light rail trains, streetcars, and cable cars. Although you DO need to make sure you get a pass that specifically includes the cable cars if you want to ride them! Otherwise you can pay individually for a cable car ride.
One thing that’s important to know is that MUNI does not include BART (subway) services. (This is one place where we got really confused!)
So…BART. This is the train that takes people longer distances. You likely won’t need to use this, unless you want to take if from the airport into the city when you arrive.
One way to make sure you have access to both MUNI and BART is to buy the Clipper Card. However, this isn’t going to include your fares on the cable cars. And if you are trying to ride MUNI from a place that also operates BART (like where they share a station at Embarcadero) you’ll need a Clipper Card to access it (this is a part where we got really confused).
Is that all confusing enough? My best advice is to either buy a Clipper Card and load it and plan to pay for your cable car rides OR get a MUNI pass that includes cable cars and pay additional if you need to use the subway/BART at all.
And anytime you get confused, do what we did and just take a ride share service. Sometimes it’s worth the extra money to save the stress!
San Francisco Weather (What Is the Best Time to Visit?)
Fall is universally acknowledged as the best time to visit San Francisco. This tends to be when the weather warms up and the fog rolls out.
However, we visited in summer (July) and ended up having some LOVELY sunny days.
And while it may be tempting to visit in Spring and early Summer, this wouldn’t be my first choice. They don’t have the terms “May Gray” and “June Gloom” for nothing.
If you want to visit in the winter, the weather is likely going to be pretty rainy.
Is San Francisco Safe?
I cannot even tell you how many looks we got when we told people we were going to San Francisco on vacation. Lots of people were concerned about our safety.
But y’all. San Francisco felt very safe to me! It’s just like any other major city. Yes, you need to be aware of your surroundings and hold on to your possessions. Yes, there are going to be people struggling with homelessness and people who are clearly on drugs or mentally challenged. But there was never any point in San Francisco where I felt particularly unsafe.
There are some areas you’ll want to avoid. The Tenderloin District tends to be one with a higher population of people struggling with things like homelessness and drugs which could make you feel uncomfortable and can sometimes correspond to an increase in petty crime.
But stick to the places where the main tourist attractions are (like all the spots we’ve outlined above!) and you’ll be fine!
More Things To Do in San Francisco
Have more time in San Francisco? Here are some more things you can do that we couldn’t fit into our 3 day itinerary!
- Coit Tower — Climb Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill for some of the best views of San Francisco.
- Golden Gate Park — This HUGE park has gardens, museums, and all kinds of attractions. Think of it like San Francisco’s version of NYC’s Central Park.
- De Young Museum — One of the museum highlights in Golden Gate Park, this museum has a diverse collection of art from around the world.
- Baker Beach — A great place to spend some time relaxing on the beach with views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art — This is where to go to see modern and contemporary art.
- Lyon Street Steps — A beautiful spot with a set of stairs you can climb for great views.
- Palace of Fine Arts — A beautiful building first built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and now an archeological gem perfect for photos.
- Japantown — A great neighborhood to immerse yourself in all things Japanese.
- Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood — An eclectic neighborhood with all kinds of fun shops.
- Day Trip to Muir Woods — Take a day trip north to see the California Redwoods. This is one of my favorite things we did!
- Day Trip to Sausalito — Take the ferry across the bay to spend some time in Sausalito exploring this artsy spot with more relaxed vibes than the city.
Tips for Visiting San Francisco
- Where comfortable walking shoes! This goes for any trip, but with all the hills in San Francisco you’ll definitely want to be prepared with good shoes.
- Dress in layers. The weather in San Francisco can change drastically in the blink of an eye. And when that marine layer rolls in, a warm sunny day and turn into a chilly gloomy one so fast. So dress in layers that can adapt to any weather!
- Don’t call it San Fran! Locals call it SF or The City. Or of course San Francisco works.
- Don’t rent a car in the city. If you’re mostly going to be in the city, don’t rent a car. It’s a pain to deal with and parking is not readily available. We didn’t rent one until we were heading out of the city to visit Muir Woods and then go on to Yosemite.
- Don’t leave ANYTHING in your car. If you do end up with a car in San Francisco, don’t leave anything in it! Car break ins are super common.
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