The best things to do in San Francisco

1.Walk or cycle the Golden Gate BridgeFree

The 1.7-mile Art Deco suspension bridge over the strait, with a walkway across to the Marin Headlands.

Tip: Rent a bike at Fisherman's Wharf, ride across the bridge to Sausalito and take the ferry back.

2.Alcatraz

The former federal prison on an island in the bay, with an award-winning audio tour of the cellhouse.

Tip: The only ferries leave from Pier 33, and tickets often sell out weeks ahead. The night tour is less crowded.

3.Pier 39 and the sea lionsFree

A busy pier of shops and restaurants, with hundreds of sea lions lounging on the floating docks beside it.

4.Musée MécaniqueFree

A hall of antique arcade games and coin-operated machines, many over a hundred years old, still in working order.

Tip: Entry is free; bring coins for the machines.

5.The Ferry Building

The restored 1898 ferry terminal, now a food hall of local bakeries, oyster bars, cheese shops and coffee.

Tip: Come on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning for the farmers market outside.

6.The Exploratorium

A hands-on science museum on Pier 15, with hundreds of experiments that adults enjoy as much as kids.

Tip: Thursday evenings are adults-only nights.

7.Ride a cable car

The last manually operated cable cars in the world, clanging up and over the hills since the 1870s.

Tip: The Powell–Hyde line has the best views. The queue at the Powell Street turnaround is long; board a few stops up instead.

8.ChinatownFree

The oldest Chinatown in North America, entered through the Dragon Gate on Grant Avenue, with dim sum, tea shops and temples.

Tip: Walk the alleys off Grant Avenue and Stockton Street, where locals shop.

9.SFMOMA

One of the largest modern art museums in the US, with seven floors of galleries and a living wall of plants.

Tip: The ground-floor galleries are free to enter.

10.Grace Cathedral

A Gothic-style cathedral on top of Nob Hill, with stained glass, gilded doors and two walking labyrinths.

11.Lombard StreetFree

The famous one-block stretch with eight hairpin bends between flowerbeds, on Russian Hill.

Tip: The Powell–Hyde cable car stops at the top. Walk down the steps beside the bends for photos.

12.Coit Tower and the Filbert Steps

A tower on Telegraph Hill with 1930s murals inside and a viewing deck, and the garden-lined steps down its east side.

Tip: The ground-floor murals are free to see. Listen for the wild parrots in the trees along the steps.

13.City Lights and North Beach cafésFree

The Beat-era bookshop and the old Italian cafés, bakeries and bars of San Francisco's Little Italy.

14.Alamo Square and the Painted LadiesFree

A row of colourful Victorian houses with the downtown skyline behind them, seen from the park opposite.

15.The Mission muralsFree

Hundreds of murals across the Mission, with the densest collections in Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley.

16.Dolores ParkFree

A sloping park with a view over downtown, packed with picnics on sunny weekends.

Tip: The Mission is often sunny when the rest of the city is foggy.

17.A Mission burrito

The huge, foil-wrapped San Francisco-style burrito, born in the taquerias along 24th Street and Mission Street.

18.Golden Gate Park

A park longer than Central Park, with the de Young museum, the California Academy of Sciences and the Japanese Tea Garden.

Tip: JFK Drive through the park is car-free, so it's easy to explore by bike.

19.Lands End TrailFree

A clifftop path through cypress trees in the city's north-west corner, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the ruins of the Sutro Baths.

20.Muir Woods and Sausalito

Old-growth redwoods across the bridge in Marin County, and the waterfront town of Sausalito on the way back.

Tip: You need a parking or shuttle reservation for Muir Woods; book online ahead.