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Unique San Francisco experiences and things
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items Here are some uniquely San Francisco places and experiences that most visitors and new to the city people don't know about. Enjoy!
Map
Nestled in the basement of the historic Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar opened in 1945, transforming the hotel’s former 75-foot indoor “Fairmont Plunge” swimming pool into an immersive tropical lagoon surrounded by ship...
TONGA ROOM & HURRICANE BAR
Top of the Mark is an iconic rooftop bar located on the 19th floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood. Since its opening in 1939, it has offered panoramic views of the city, including landmarks like th...
Top of the Mark
Stern Grove Festival is a beloved, long-running admission-free concert series held every summer since 1938 in the lush, eucalyptus-surrounded natural amphitheater of Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, a 33-acre park gifted to the city by Rosalie Meyer S...
Stern Grove Festival
The Outside Lands Music Festival began in 2008 as a vibrant celebration of music, food, and culture set in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Since its inception, it has grown into one of the largest and most beloved festivals on the West Coast, known...
Outside Lands Music Festival
The Church of 8 Wheels is a roller-disco housed in the stunning, late-19th-century Sacred Heart Catholic Church building on Fillmore Street—complete with soaring stained-glass windows, a disco ball, and pulsing funk music under a neon-lit altar—creat...
Church Of 8 Wheels Roller Disco
A historic and intimate North Beach venue—home to legendary productions like Beach Blanket Babylon—that has been revitalized as a live performance hub with the high-flying, immersive circus-meets-theater show Dear San Francisco. This 90-minute, no-in...
Club Fugazi
The San Francisco Botanical Garden, located within Golden Gate Park, spans 55 acres and showcases over 8,000 different kinds of plants from around the world, including rare and endangered species. It offers themed gardens such as the California Nativ...
San Francisco Botanical Garden
Located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, originally created as a "Japanese Village" exhibit for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. After the fair, Japanese landscape a...
Japanese Tea Garden
Tucked into Ross Alley in vibrant Chinatown, the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has been hand-crafting fortune cookies using vintage machines since 1962, offering a unique, aromatic glimpse into San Francisco’s culinary heritage. Visitors can obs...
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
The Bison Paddock, located off John F. Kennedy Drive near Spreckels Lake, has been home to a herd of American bison since 1891, initially introduced to help save the species from near extinction and to evoke the spirit of the Wild West in the heart o...
Bison Paddock
The Women's Building in San Francisco is a historic and vibrant community center located at 3543 18th Street in the Mission District. Established in 1971, it serves as a women-led nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting gender equality, social ...
Women's Building
Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley in San Francisco's Mission District are renowned for their vibrant murals, each with its own unique history and cultural significance. Balmy Alley Balmy Alley is home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San ...
Clarion Alley, a one-block stretch between 17th and 18th Streets, has been a canvas for political and social activism since 1992. Founded by artists Aaron Noble and Rigo 93, the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) has transformed the alley into a vibr...
Clarion Alley, a one-block stretch between 17th and 18th Streets, has been a canvas for political and social activism since 1992. Founded by artists Aaron Noble and Rigo 93, the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) has transformed the alley into a vibr...
Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley Murals
Hopper’s Hands is a beloved and unexpected landmark located at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, near the Fort Point National Historic Site. This small sign features a pair of life-sized handprints and has become a popular spot for joggers and visi...
Hopper's Hands
A historic resting place for beloved pets of military families stationed at the Presidio. Established in the late 1800s, it holds the graves of dogs, horses, and other animals who served alongside soldiers or were cherished companions. Tucked away in...
Presidio Pet Cemetery
The Dutch windmills of San Francisco—located in Golden Gate Park—are two historic windmills built in the early 1900s to help pump water and irrigate the park’s sprawling gardens. The larger Murphy Windmill, constructed in 1908, and the smaller Dutch ...
Dutch Windmills of San Francisco
Housed within the historic Washington–Mason cable car barn and powerhouse, offering free admission to explore cable car heritage up close. It features original 1870s cable cars—including the sole surviving Clay Street Hill Railroad grip car—alongside...
Cable Car Museum
The Blue Heron Boathouse, nestled in the heart of Golden Gate Park, offers a charming escape with its historic setting and array of recreational activities. Established in 1893 and rebuilt in 1949, the boathouse provides row and pedal boat rentals on...
Blue Heron Boathouse
The Yoda Fountain is a life-sized bronze statue of Jedi Master Yoda, standing atop a tranquil fountain at the entrance of Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco’s Presidio. Unveiled in 2005, the statue was sculpted by Lawrence Nob...
Yoda Fountain
The V.C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1949, is famous for its unique spiral interior that inspired the Guggenheim Museum’s design. Originally built as a gift shop, the building features a striking...
VC Morris Gift Shop
The Camera Obscura in San Francisco is a historic optical device located behind the Cliff House at 1096 Point Lobos Avenue, perched on the cliffs above Ocean Beach. Constructed in 1946 by Floyd Jennings, it was designed as a unique seaside attraction...
Camera Obscura & Holograph Gallery
Museum located at Pier 45 in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, showcasing one of the world's largest privately owned collections of antique coin-operated machines. Founded by Ed Zelinsky in 1933, the museum features over 300 mechanical marvels, inclu...
Musée Mécanique
The Wave Organ is a unique acoustic sculpture located at the end of Yacht Road in San Francisco's Marina District. Constructed in 1986 by artist Peter Richards and stonemason George Gonzales, the installation comprises 25 PVC and concrete pipes arran...
The Wave Organ
Esmeralda Slide Park, also known as the Winfield Street Slides, is a hidden gem nestled in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood. This charming hillside park features twin 40-foot metal slides that wind through terraced gardens, offering both f...
Esmeralda Slide Park
A pair of steep concrete slides nestled in Seward Mini Park, located at 70 Corwin Street, San Francisco, CA 94114, near the Castro District. Designed by 14-year-old Kim Clark, the slides were built in 1973 as part of a community effort to transform a...
Seward Park Concrete Slides
Created by British artist Andy Goldsworthy in 2011, the piece consists of eucalyptus branches laid out in a sinuous curve through a grove of standing eucalyptus trees near Lovers’ Lane, the Presidio’s oldest footpath . The installation was commission...
Andy Goldsworthy's Wood Line
The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, also known as the Moraga Steps, are a vibrant mosaic staircase located in the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. This 163-step stairway, stretching 90 feet high, features a "sea to stars" design, with each...
16th Avenue Tiled Steps