San Francisco is a city whose legend and reputation precede it. It is a place that has made America and revolutions. It is mixing bowl of progressive arts and astonishing outdoor beauty. It was the wild frontier at one point yet today is known for exquisite culinary talent and steep prices.
How could we not explore this iconic place on our big trip up California’s coast?
New to our Trip? Be sure to check out our kick-off article and FAQs on our trip up California’s Route 1 with the family. The full itinerary, including stops and lodging, can be found here.
Of course, we started our visit at Alcatraz. That historic site was one our kids were the most excited about. But once we hopped off the ferry, we found ourselves with the rest of big, beautiful San Francisco to explore.
So we meandered over to Pier 39. As we knew that we’d likely not venture over to this side of town again, we took advantage of the (outrageously priced) parking spot we had secured.
Pier 39 was a complete tourist trap and generally not something we’d put high on our list. Not to mention, we were there during the (hopefully) end of the massive COVID shutdowns, right when things were starting to reopen yet every stranger still looked like a ticking virus bomb.
We did grab a bite to eat sitting outside at one of the tables (we were famished) and spent some time people-watching. But the real reason to head over to Pier 39 is for the seals.
We watched the harbor seals from the top deck, which I recommend. It was less crowded and we had a great view. What really impressed the kids was that wild animals live right in the city. I could have stay and watched the seals for hours.
Exploring Golden Gate Park & National Recreation Area
For people who live in San Francisco, the following explanation will likely be a painful “this is so obvious” situation, but I am going to take a moment… Sorry, San Franciscans, bear with us tourists.
The term “Golden Gate Park” itself is a bit of a misleading name for tourists. While you may think of Golden Gate Park as the park near the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s not. There is the urban park known as Golden Gate Park. But there is also the “Golden Gate National Area,” which is a hugely encompassing term for a large, noncontiguous swath of land and sites the National Parks Service manages.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area is 80,000 acres of park land that is across multiple counties, both to the north and south of the bridge. The “GGNRA” contains Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, Fort Point, Lands End, The Presidio and more (full list here). The GGNRA includes the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center.
Golden Gate PARK is an actual park similar to Central Park (see a map and amenities here). It is owned and run by the city of San Francisco. Golden Gate Park does not include the Golden Gate Bridge.
I share all of this as it is easier to plan your visit, and even to decide what you want to do, understanding this distinction.
Between both of these areas, here’s what we did as a family:
Lands End (National Recreation Area)
Upon a recommendation from a friend, we decided to spend an evening poking around Lands End.
The labyrinth you see below has been destroyed since our visit, we learned. Vandals. Which is saddening and maddening. But I believe in the people of San Francisco and, if history repeats itself as this has happened twice, it will be replaced and restored. Although never again will it be the place where our shoes have tread.
This was a gorgeous and fairly easy evening hike right before sunset. We were given spectacular views of the iconic bridge, its golden color particularly arresting in the day’s ending light. It was quite windy, and the sheer drops down made me a bit nervous as a mom, but the hike was certainly worth it.
The Golden Gate Bridge (National Recreation Area)
Our kids were incredibly excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge up close. We arrived early, as parking is extremely limited at the Welcome Center. While we were able to snag a spot, within 30 minutes of our arrival everything was full and cars were circling and waiting.
Truthfully, the Welcome Center is a pretty gift shop. I was a bit disappointed with how little educational opportunities existed to explain the bridge’s engineering, history and construction. I am not sure if there would have been more if COVID had not altered the landscape for tourists during our visit? But we did manage to enjoy and read the handful of installations that did exist in the Welcome Center.
And, of course, we had to walk on the Bridge! It’s not a truly enjoyable experience given the highway traffic screaming by, but it still had to be done. We enjoyed the views of San Francisco, seeing the engineering and power of the Bridge up close, and commenting on how the Bridge seemed to move as the cars drove on it. It was a cool memory.
Fort Point (National Recreation Area)
While we were visiting the bridge on a Saturday, we were told we were lucky as the historic Fort Point was actually open. Apparently it has fairly limited hours, so this was just a happy circumstance for us.
We walked from the Bridge’s Welcome Center down to Fort Point and the water. It was a pretty walk, but steep (which didn’t seem like a big deal until the return trip up). There is parking down at Fort Point, which is an option if you decide not to walk.
While certainly lacking a creative name (it’s a fort, on a point), it was really fun to be inside this building. The architecture was amazing, and it had some of the coolest views of the Bridge.Â
The fort is over 150 years old and was built to protect San Francisco from foreign invaders during the gold rush (although it never actually saw battle). Interestingly, the Golden Gate Bridge plans originally contemplated the destruction of Fort Point to accommodate it, but the lead engineer and designers modified the plans so the old fort could remain.
The Golden Gate Park
As we found with nearly every day we were in California, the mornings were foggy and chilly, the afternoons sunny and warm. We ended up using one of those warm afternoons to enjoy the Golden Gate Park (again, which is not part of the Golden Gate Bridge). The kids enjoyed the children’s area, running around on the playground while we soaked in the sun on an early April afternoon. It was divine.
And we spent time generally meandering through the Park – with no clear destination but enjoying the opportunity to see how San Francisco people spend their Saturdays. It was full of roller skating, wine parties, drum circles, picnics and running dogs.
Other Sites in San Francisco
More for us than the kids, we walked through Haight-Ashbury and, yes, did find the most famous homes.
This was a great reminder as to why we travel with kids, and why it matters.
Our kids are fairly sheltered. Not intentionally, but by means that they do not live in a major metropolitan area and much of our suburb is fairly homogenous. There is diversity in the small city we live in, of course, and we appreciate and love where we live. But like so often happens in suburbia, things just somehow become washed out and distilled – it no longer feels like a great petri dish of humanity and human experience.
We’re in suburbia by choice, and for a lot of wonderful reason. Price, access, space, safety, closeness to family, amenities, outdoor activities… Our suburban life is not evil or bad.
But I also think it’s important to allow my kids to really see and understand what else is out there. I want them to know that what they see in their daily lives is NOT all there is. People live in a variety of different ways with a variety of different decisions. Sure, some of those decisions are not good, yet some are natural and simultaneously allow that human to be their most brilliant. Different does not equal bad.
Walking through Haight-Ashbury was an opportunity for our kids to experience all of that, in spades. This area has the not good and the brilliant in one tight space – just like humans.
Today Haight-Ashbury feels like the 70s trying too hard to hold on. Just because it was once the birth of the counter-revolution doesn’t mean it still has that edge. Instead, gentrification and extreme wealth have sprung up alongside drunk people accosting people for money at 2 pm on a Wednesday afternoon and Jimi Hendrix’s tragic talent sold off for tourism.
It was an interesting walk-through, and it felt like a part of America that exists nowhere else. And Mr. Family Trip really loved seeing the places where these famous musicians breathed the same inspired air. But it wasn’t a spot where we felt inclined to hang out for a long period of time with our kids.
More than anything, it was simply really great to experience San Francisco on foot! The blocks we covered slowly and deliberately helped us experience the city like nothing else could.
San Francisco felt safe and friendly. Sure, traffic gets bad and parking is limited and expensive, but that’s city life.
While driving around, of course, we had to drive by the Painted Ladies as well as down Lombard Street. We basically did all of the most touristy things you could think of while seeing as much of the outdoors we could.
We stayed in an Air B&B that was very close to Golden Gate Park. While we weren’t necessarily walking distance to anything, we enjoyed the location for ease of what we wanted to do.
We also enjoyed having a full kitchen – we did not do much by way of dining out culinary extravagance this trip. But, in general, we don’t do that when travel with our kids.Â
Our love of San Francisco was seeing and exploring this unique city. The way it merges coastal ruggedness, urban hipster life, and professional sophistication was very fun for us.
To be honest, we were ready to leave after our three nights there. We felt we had exhausted what really drew us to San Fran that trip, and we were excited for more space to spread out and to see some big trees (our next California post will be on Muir Woods, so stay tuned).
But the cultural beacon that San Francisco is did not disappoint us, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time.
For more on Golden Gate National Park and Other sites, visit -
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area website: www.nps.gov/goga
- About the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center: www.goldengate.org/bridge/visiting-the-bridge/
- Fort Point: www.nps.gov/fopo/learn/historyculture