The Golden City. City by the Bay. San Fran. So many nicknames and SO MANY cool sites to see in this wonderful city.
Took a much-needed summer vacation to San Francisco with my boyfriend and his mom out a few months back, and it was an incredible experience. Only downside was my flight… but that’s another story.
Let’s get into it! I was in San Francisco from July 21 – July 27th. I met my boyfriend and his mom out there. We all stayed with my boyfriend’s sister in Sausalito. So, I don’t have hotel or AirBnb information, but I do have many tourist sites to recommend 😊
So, let’s get started on the recommendations ⬇️
1. MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT
Muir Woods was incredible. It’s a national monument in San Francisco and a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Heads up though, you need a reservation to park your vehicle upon entering the area! Muir Woods was the perfect place to see BEAUTIFUL Redwood trees. Several hikes were available in the park, and many of the ones upon entrance were very smoothly paved – whether it be on a boardwalk type of walkway or easy concrete roads. As you hiked further in the park, some of the paths became straight dirt pathways – but still great walking paths for all hikers! As I mentioned, the Redwood trees were the best part of the park by far. It was my first time ever seeing trees so tall – it was truly an insane sight to be seen.
2. MARIN HEADLANDS
There were a lot of nature walks on this trip – which Mitch and I both thoroughly enjoyed! 😊 Marin Headlands is in Sausalito, CA. We hiked to a beautiful beach, called Tennessee Beach (yes, seriously). It was an amazing hike to just see the vastness of California. To see all this land – mountains and hills and tall trees and beautiful grasses – then you hit the edge of the state, the edge of the continent really, and all you see is blue. A deep blue ocean – with so many boats in the distance. It was a beautiful beach – with the opportunity to hike up to a ledge and see it from above, so naturally that’s where Mitch and I adventured to. Pictures below.
3. LOMBARD STREET
Lombard Street is THE street to see in San Fran. Featured in movies, TV shows, and pictures everywhere, Lombard Street is the curvy, snake-like street that thousands of cars curve down every single day. And boy, did we see some NICE cars getting their turn down the street. The crazy thing is that people’s houses reside on this crazy, tourist-full street. I personally couldn’t imagine having such an expensive house on such a busy street, but hey that’s just me. What do you think?!
4. ALCATRAZ
I think Alcatraz Island was a top contender for my favorite things about San Francisco. Holy cow, this place was incredible. So, we bought our tickets at least two months in advance. Link here. We arrived at the port in The Wharf and waited for our boat to take us out to the island. It was SUCH fun ride. You could see the city so clearly as we rode towards the island. Visiting Alcatraz Island was so surreal. I don’t think you ever truly think about how isolated and alone you are until you visit a place like that. Echoes from the city reaching the prison. Cold temperatures from the wind off of the bay. Isolated cells. No hope for seeing land again.
One more thing! We bought tickets for the second to last trip out to the island. Mitch convinced me to stay until the very last boat took tourists back – so as everyone was leaving the prison and doing their final walkthroughs, we stayed and watched the prison get emptier and emptier. I TOTALLY recommend doing this! It was so incredibly eery that we were alone – and it made for some amazing photos without any other tourists in them.
5. MOUNT TAMALPAIS STATE PARK
So, let me start this spot off by saying the view at the top was BEAUTIFUL. Incredible, spectacular, everything you hope for after a long, tough hike. And let me emphasize, it was a long, tough hike 😅. I love hikes – but wowza – this one was tough for me, personally. 8 miles roundtrip – all uphill for the first 4 miles. My flat Indiana walks did not prepare me obviously 😂 But it doesn’t matter, because like I said, it was an incredible view. And the sense of accomplishment after the hike was so victorious. The nap after was great too! Hahaha. So, if you do this one – wear great hiking shoes, be prepared to get warm (I was burning up), and bring a camera for some amazing pictures at the top. Pictures below. AllTrails Map is linked here too.
6. CORONA HEIGHTS PARK
Mitch and I were able to spend one of our days in San Francisco exploring – just the two of us. It was nice for him to show me around the city that he’s now become a bit familiar with and still explore new places with me. We hit up Corona Heights Park… the neighborhood where his sister used to live. If you walk to the “top” of the park there in the middle of the neighborhood, it has an incredible overlook of the city. A 360-view of San Francisco, the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, all of it. It was so neat. Great spot for pictures, a great place for thinking, chatting, or just soaking in the view.
7. THE PAINTED LADIES
Full House fans!!! You can’t go to San Francisco without stopping by the Painted Ladies, otherwise known as the Full House neighborhood. There’s a park across the street that is just crowded with people trying to get a good picture of the houses! But, what I didn’t realize is that the houses have an awesome view of the San Fran skyline behind them. Go to that park across the street, pick a good spot, and snap some great photos of the Painted Ladies and the SF skyline on a beautiful day like we did 😊
These are just a few of the recommendations I have from my personal trip out to San Francisco. Feel free to send questions, comment some of your favorites, or reach out with any feedback on the article 😊. I hope you have as great of a time exploring San Francisco as we did.
ALLI DONOVAN 