Welcome! So you want to take your family to San Francisco to see all there is in the most visited city in the United States. But you worry. Worry about safety. Worry about where the clean potties are. Not only will you avoid the top 5 biggest tourist mistakes, you'll know by the end of your trip you enjoyed every inch of the city.
Welcome to a very unique web site. This is not a travel site that will give you a list of everything there is to do and see in San Francisco, the most visited city in the United States. Instead, it will give you specific instructions to enjoy the City by the Bay in the safest and most family friendly way possible. It's like having a friend in the city.
Choose from the adventures below. Each is a marvelous day mapped and planned out just for you and your family, including hotel, transportation, maps, kid friendly restaurants and secret locations of clean restrooms. And when you get back to your hotel, you can roll your eyes at all the "tourists". Bet they didn't go crab fishing under the Golden Gate Bridge.
New Exhibit at the Exploratorium
MIND showcases over 40 new exhibits about thinking and feeling joining
the museum’s permanent collection, plus programs, temporary exhibitions, and
special events. Working with expert advisors, the MIND team spent over four
years researching the cognitive sciences to create provocative and
compelling experiences that will illuminate the way your mind works.
• Feel the tension between reason and emotion at a very unusual drinking
fountain.
• Have a conversation with a computer.
• Explore your idea of risk… beneath a hanging piano.
• Catch your friend in a lie, or try to get away with one yourself.
• Investigate your emotional responses to unexpected situations.
• Read the fleeting emotions on the faces of friends and family.
more detail here
directions
to the museum
The Exploratorium 3601 Lyon Street San Francisco (415) EXP-LORE
1. Not Bundling Up for a California Summer
"The coldest winter I ever experienced was the summer I spent in San Francisco" said Mark Twain. Folks, summer in San Francisco is COLD. The picture you have of California in July comes from images of southern California and Hollywood. Street vendors make their living selling fleece jackets emblazoned "SF" in the frigid months of June, July and August when the average high is 66 degrees. Pack some shorts, sure. But pack at least long pants and a light jacket. Those who get particularly cold may want to pack a pair of knit gloves. Yes, even in July.
2. Planning on a Swim
Make sure that hotel's pool is indoors. While a trip to Ocean Beach on the city's far west side is fun, you're certainly not going to swim in the water. It's the Alaskan Current that brings San Francisco all that fog. You're not going to want to swim, unless you're caught in the undertow, in which case you will go swimming until the sharks eat you.
3. Sticking to the Chains
Aw, c'mon. You didn't come all the way out here just to stay at a Holiday Inn and eat at Rainforest Cafe. Take a look at our adventures (click the colored boxes above) for safe but interesting hotels and fun places to eat.
4. Trying to Get Alcatraz Tickets the Same Day
Alcatraz is a wonderful place to visit and kids love it. (see: Bay Adventure) But while the island is open to everyone, only one Ferry company is allowed to bring tourists there. We will show you how to reserve tickets.
5. Using a Car to Get Around in the City
Most visitors are shocked at how small San Francisco actually is. With just 730,000 residents, it's the fourteenth largest city in the United States in population, but the second most densely populated behind Manhattan. There's not a lot of land here, and thus nowhere to park. Just about everything is within a reasonable walk.