Disclosure: I received a pair of sight-seeing passes from San Fransisco Travel.
I wrote about my San Fransisco hotel recommendation for families this week, check that out here (hint: we stayed at the Hilton San Fransisco Union Square!). Check out all my other California Road Trip posts:
- Vancouver to California from Vancouver) trip overview
- 13 FREE apps you need for your next trip
- Hilton San Fransisco Union Square for families
Today we’re talking about Kid-Friendly San Fransisco!
WHAT TO DO IN SAN FRANSISCO WITH KIDS
From our hotel in Union Square, everything was super close and easy access – we didn’t take our car out once in the 2 nights/days we were here.
CABLE CAR
We walked over to Powell street a few blocks over to catch a cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf. Be prepared to wait for quite a while as it’s a very popular tourist thing to do and we waited for about an hour for a cable car to stop and have space for us. We stood on the far back outside on the cable car and what a thrill! It goes up such steep hills and then down such steep streets, it’s quite a ride! It’s a must-do in my opinion. It costs $7 (cash) per person. No food & drink is allowed on the cable cars.
LOMBARD STREET
Make it a point to drive or walk down Lombard Street, known as the “crookedest street”. It winds back and forth so narrowly, we took an Uber because we didn’t know if our big truck would squeeze down (but it would have been fine!). Plenty of tourists line and photograph the street constantly, so don’t expect the perfect pics. I pity the poor souls who live on this street!
THE “FULL HOUSE” HOUSE
If you or your kids watch Full House, you may want to do a quick drive-by the ‘Full House house’ at 1709 Broderick Street. There are signs reminding tourists that people actually live on this street and can hear you at all hours of day and night, outside this famous home.
However, to get a more picturesque view of more beautiful and unique San Fransisco homes, and to view the ‘Painted Ladies’ – the homes along Alamo Square are quite beautiful and have a city view as their back-drop.
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE + PARK
The Golden Gate park houses a historic carousel and a Koret’s Children’s Quarter with pics, horses, dogs and roosters. The Steinhart Aquarium is also at Golden Gate Park.
Rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate bridge! It was foggy every day of our stay, so we didn’t get a good clear shot of the bridge. I will say it was special to drive across the bridge on our way into San Fransisco, and then the Bay Bridge (the biggest bridge I have ever been on, for sure!) on our way out of town.
Both are toll bridges as you come into the city, so be prepared to cough up a few bucks when the toll bill lands in your mailbox after crossing if you’re driving to the city. (Ours haven’t arrived yet so I’m not sure how much.)
FISHERMAN’S WHARF
We took the cable car down to the Wharf and wandered around a while before stopping for lunch at Capurro’s for a big filling lunch. We then Uber’d our way back to the hotel with a drive down Lombard Street!
The Ghiradelli Square used to be their chocolate factory, now housing plenty of dining and shopping including some ice cream + chocolate by Ghiradelli of course!
ALCATRAZ
We would have visited Alcatraz but found it a bit time-consuming for the amount of time we had, ($30 Adults / $20 Children) so we skipped it. I hope it do this on our next San Fransisco adventure!
There are hundreds of things you can do in this marvelous, mysterious and extremely hilly city, so be sure to visit sftravel to plan your trip!
