The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Best Art Galleries in San Francisco

By <a href="#author-bio">Stuart Bak</a>
By Stuart Bak

San Francisco is something of a treasure trove for art lovers. At one end of the spectrum are the dozens of small independent galleries scattered around the city while, at the other, you've got the big guns, in this case the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), one of the largest modern and contemporary art museums on the planet. There’s plenty around the city for everyone, from excitable toddlers to easily bored teens to seen-it-all-before museum mavens. Join us as we explore some of the best art galleries in San Francisco.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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It would be remiss not to kick this list off with the daddy of them all. And let’s get this straight: SFMOMA is huge. We’re talking 170,000 square feet and seven stories huge, so it’s a good idea to plan your must-sees before you get here. And what a collection you have to choose from. There are commissioned murals from Bay Area artists as well as crucial pieces from household names that read like a who’s who of modern and contemporary art. Think Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, Gerhard Richter, Frida Kahlo, Willem de Kooning, Henri Matisse and Paul Klee and you’ve barely scratched the surface. Don’t miss the rooftop sculpture garden and accompanying views of the Downtown skyline, and make time to visit the living wall, a vast dense forest of lush foliage. As a piece of art it is simply stunning, and provides different sensory experiences depending on the season. It is also, naturally, the largest living wall of its kind in the world.

Cartoon Art Museum

Located in Fisherman’s Wharf, the Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) celebrates all things comic-related, displaying comic strips, political cartoons, anime, graphic novels and more from its fine collection of over 7,000 pieces. Pop by to catch one of the regularly rotating exhibitions – the eclectic range of past themes include Wonder Woman, Popeye, Garfield and Disney Villains, as well as explorations of wartime comics and controversial political cartoons, and celebrations of the work of influential 20th-century illustrators including Edward Gorey and Charles M. Schulz. There are tables where kids (and adults) can create their own comic art, and the gift shop is sure to make all your Batman/Hellboy/Calvin and Hobbes dreams come true.

Asian Art Museum

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The Asian Art Museum boasts one of the largest and most important collections of Asian art in the world and can be found in one of the beautiful Beaux Arts buildings in the San Francisco Civic Center. Here’s where you can see Chinese Jades from the Neolithic period, Persian ceramics, Korean paintings, Cambodia bronzes, Samurai armor, Hindu deities and much more. Around 2,000 pieces from the museum’s 18,000-strong collection are on display at any given time, with the bulk of these originating from China, including ritual bronzes, lacquerware and decorative ceramics, some of which date from over 6,000 years ago. Don’t miss the incredibly well-preserved bronze Buddha statue, dated 338.

De Young Museum

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You don’t really need an excuse to visit Golden Gate Park, with its 10 lakes, picture-perfect Dutch windmill, smattering of world-class museums and acres of formal gardens. But, if you did, the de Young Museum is as good a reason as any. The building has taken many forms since it opened on this site at the end of the 19th Century. Its latest – complete with dramatic copper facade – is something of a work of art in itself; likewise the views from its 144-foot Hamon Observation Tower. Step inside, where an extensive collection of American paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning the last five centuries is supported by smaller collections from Africa, the Americas and Oceania. Must-see highlights include George Caleb Bingham’s Renaissance-style 1846 masterpiece Boatmen on the Missouri, Albert Bierstadt’s pastoral Sacramento riverbank scene California Spring and the absorbing installation of wire sculptures by celebrated modernist Ruth Asawa in the tower lobby. It’s easily one of the best art galleries in San Francisco.

Exploratorium

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The Exploratorium on Pier 15 is an art and science extravaganza, with stacks of ​​interactive galleries focusing on sight, touch, sound, memory and perception. It’s the type of place kids and adults can spend hours exploring together and, with hands-on exhibits galore, it’s ideal for a family day out whether your little darlings are curious toddlers or difficult-to-please teens. The artworks here are not just for looking at; they’re for interacting with. Simulate sandstorms in the Aeolian Landscape exhibit and listen to the eerie singing of the Aeolian Harp when the wind picks up outside. Lose your way on the Fog Bridge and step inside a real mini-tornado. Have a boogie with your animated twin in the Recollections installation and experience Sun Painting, an ever-changing kaleidoscopic work of colorful art made by reflecting and refracting the sun’s rays onto a massive canvas. Seems like a lot, right? But this barely scratches the surface of one of the city's most wide-ranging museums.

Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Located in the SoMa neighborhood, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) merits a visit to goggle at the building alone. Part former gas and electric substation, part enormous deconstructivist blue steel cube known as the ‘Yud’, it’s really quite something. The Yud’s 36 diamond-shaped windows make for an awe-inspiring space that’s used for a variety of installations and events, and that highly contemporary look nods to the kinds of things you can expect here. There’s no permanent collection; instead, the CJM curates an ever-changing series of captivating exhibitions that explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history and art. Past exhibitions have focused on the legend of the golem and other Jewish folklore, explored the life and work of Leonard Cohen, and celebrated the art of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Whatever you do, don’t miss the masterpiece that is the challah French toast with maple syrup at Wise Sons, the museum’s authentic Jewish deli.

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Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Freelance travel writer

Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.

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Alcatraz Island in San Francisco
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San Francisco in May

With spring drawing to an end ready to usher in San Francisco’s busy summer season, May is a fine time to visit the Golden City, thanks to its mild climate and the kicking off in earnest of the city’s colorful festival season. If it’s pleasant weather, fewer crowds, and affordable accommodation you’re after, May in the Bay could well be for you. Visiting San Francisco in May Average Temperature: 51–64°F • Average Rainfall: 3 days/mth • Average Sunshine: 10 hours/day Daytime temperatures in May reach average highs in the mid-60s, meaning it's still cool enough to explore the city on foot. So the chances of looking like you’ve just stepped off a treadmill in those essential hilltop selfies are vastly reduced. There’s also little or no need to remember to pack an umbrella. April showers having apparently purged the clouds of their cargo for the foreseeable future, you can expect a mere three days of rain on average in May. Better yet, hotel prices have yet to rise for peak season and it’s another month before the tourist hordes descend, meaning shorter queuing times at the big attractions. What more can we say to convince you to spend May in San Francisco? Read on... Things to do in May Of course no visit to the Golden City would be complete without seeing the bucket-list attractions. The Golden Gate Bridge will be at the top of most itineraries and May is as good a time as any to visit. Better, perhaps, as the summer fogs are yet to roll in and shroud it. Top tip: wrap up warm if you’re planning to stroll out to the middle of the bridge for those picture-perfect Bay views – it can be breezy and teeth-chatteringly chilly up here at the best of times, so stick on your thermals and a fleece. Or two. Bay cruises are another great way to get a different perspective on the famous San Francisco skyline, and May’s clear blue skies will make for some fine photo opportunities. Most cruises will take in the Pier 39 sea lion colony, the historic waterfront, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. You can also just get straight to the notorious island penitentiary, should you so desire, with a cruise and tour of the facility. Those rolling historic landmarks that are San Francisco’s painted wooden cable cars can get really busy, and we mean sardines-in-a-can busy, in summer. You’ll likely still find queues in May, but nothing like during peak season. It’s worth the short wait to travel in style, as the bell rings out and your carriage rattles over the San Francisco hills, affording splendid views of the Bay, loopy Lombard Street and the ultra-luxe hotels in swanky Nob Hill, depending which of the three lines you take. And if the weather gets a little too cool for your liking, duck into any number of world-class museums around the city. Art museums including SFMOMA in the heart of downtown and the striking, copper-clad de Young in Golden Gate Park are among the best in the country. Golden Gate Park is also where you’ll find the California Academy of the Sciences which contains – beneath its living rooftop – a planetarium, an aquarium, a rainforest dome and a huge natural history museum. Embarcadero icon the Exploratorium is the place for interactive art and science exhibits: step into a tornado, get lost in the fog and see the San Francisco skyline modeled from thousands of tiny toothpicks. What’s on in May? Memorial Weekend May sees San Francisco’s festival season crank up a gear as Mother’s Day and Memorial Weekend give locals all the excuse they need to celebrate. Memorial Weekend is the biggie, with a major ceremony at the National Cemetery in the Presidio to honor and remember America’s veterans. Expect a reflective but celebratory tone that includes music, parades, speeches and a 21-gun salute. Down in the trendy Mission district, it’s all kicking off as the two-day Carnaval Festival rolls into town. This riot of color and sound celebrates the arts and traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean through lively street performances, flamboyant costumes and some of the best street food this side of the Mexican border. Beer and cannabis gardens help you stay mellow and there is, of course, a grand parade through the streets. Cinco de Mayo Also held in The Mission (we’re sensing a pattern here), the Cinco de Mayo festival celebrates Mexican and Central American culture and is held annually on – as the name suggests – the 5th of May. Families bring picnics and deckchairs to immerse themselves in the action in and around Valencia Street, where food vendors hawk spicy treats and live bands get the party started with mariachi, salsa, merengue music and more. There are costumed dancers, artists, magicians and street performers galore, and even a petting zoo to keep the kids entertained. Bay to Breakers Bay to Breakers is a 12k fun run that usually takes place on the third Sunday of May. Weaving its way east to west from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach, it takes in nine of the city’s neighborhoods. Fun-loving San Franciscans have gamely established a tradition for donning fancy dress during the race, which means you can expect to see overgrown chickens, shambling pantomime horses and huge conga-lines in which teams of 13 or more runners tether themselves together for the duration of the race. In other words: it’s great fun. Get involved yourself: it includes many fun sections like Golden Gate Park, where you might even get to spot the resident buffalo. On the other hand, Hayes Street Hill is an absolute beast that rises over 200 feet above sea level and will challenge even the most seasoned runner. If all that sounds a bit much, you can always just find a nice spot on the sidelines and enjoy all of the fun with none of the exertion. Save on attractions in San Francisco Save on admission to San Francisco attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Walkers on a hike to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
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Best Walks in San Francisco

San Francisco is a city to get lost in and the best way to achieve that is on foot. Sure, its many hills make for some steep climbs and descents, but you just know it's going to be worth it for those views: of the Downtown skyline, the glittering Bay, the soaring Twin Peaks, the majestic Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in summer fog. Former resident Jack Kerouac perhaps said it best in On The Road, when he waxed lyrical about ‘the city of San Francisco on her eleven mystic hills with the blue Pacific and its advancing wall of potato-patch fog beyond’. Step into your sensible shoes and take a stroll through the Golden City with us as we reveal our pick of the best walks in San Francisco. Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate Park Start your day with a (literally) breathtaking climb to the summit of Buena Vista Park. Enter from the south side and, as you crest this really rather steep hill, your efforts will be rewarded with the awe-inspiring views that gave the park its name. Pause here for a well-earned rest as you take in that buena vista of the Golden Gate Bridge and its namesake park. Afterwards, amble down into the Haight Ashbury district, where the bohemian spirit of the ‘69 summer of love can still be felt in the colorful wall murals and laidback coffee joints. Spend some time meandering around Haight and Central, where rows of Victorian houses in flamboyant hues – cornflower blue, flamingo pink, mellow yellow – make for perfect Instagram eye candy. Onwards to Golden Gate Park, where strolling in more or less any direction will reveal untold wonders. It’s here you’ll find some of the city’s best museums: the majestic de Young fine art museum with its eye-catching burnished copper skin and soaring tower, and the huge California Academy of the Sciences, which houses an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest and natural history museum beneath the rolling green hills of its living roof. Visit the Japanese Tea Garden where gently winding paths, tranquil ponds and a splendid five-tiered pagoda make for a lovely stroll. Dedicated walkers can skirt the shimmering Stow Lake and make for the far end of the park, where bison roam their paddock and the traditional Dutch Windmill is one of the park’s most photographed attractions. Lombard Street A short one, to be sure, but no list of the best places to walk in San Francisco would be complete without mentioning the most photographed street in the city. The steep, one-block section of Lombard that lies between Hyde and Leavenworth on Russian Hill is a rollercoaster ride of eight hairpin bends that’s said to resemble a playground slide. Stairs along both sides allow you to take your sweet time, admiring the street’s vibrant floral borders and quirky architecture and flooding your Instagram with as many snaps as you can. Chinatown and North Beach Start your Chinatown meander at Portsmouth Square, the heart of the neighborhood, where locals indulge in traditional pursuits including t’ai chi and Chinese chess, then head north into atmospheric lanes and alleyways that are alive with bustling markets, mah jong parlors and Chinese bakeries. Grab an egg-custard tart or three for sustenance as you wander to Waverly Place with its colorful flag-covered temple balconies, and Ross Alley, where workers in the tiny Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory assemble thousands of the crunchy future-predicting treats by hand every day. Head east along Jack Kerouac Alley to Columbus. This is Beat Generation territory, where Kerouac and fellow beatniks including Ginsberg and Cassady hung out in the 1950s, primarily at the Vesuvio bar and legendary City Lights bookstore. Hungry again already? Cannoli from the bakeries that line leafy Washington Square and its ornate, twin-spired church are some of the best in San Francisco. Suitably fortified, your steep climb up Greenwich Street to North Beach's iconic Coit Tower should just about be manageable. Finish with a walk down the Filbert Street Steps, where unusual wildflowers, chattering Telegraph Hill parrots and sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and Treasure Island are all the reward you need. Mission Murals There are over 1,000 murals adorning San Francisco’s streets, with the highest concentration found in the trendy Mission district south of Downtown. You’ll find some of the best examples on narrow Clarion Alley, where local artists have covered seemingly every available surface with portraits, political art and tributes to the likes of George Floyd and Prince. Nearby Balmy Alley is no less colorful, with a large homage to great female artists including Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe among its 40 or so pieces. While you’re in the neighborhood, take a stroll down quirky Valencia Street with its eclectic mix of fab coffee roasteries and interesting shops (Pirate Supply Store, anyone?). Then grab a gut-busting ‘Mission Burrito’ from one of the long-established local taquerias and head up to Dolores Park for sunny skies and great views of the Bay and Downtown. The San Francisco Bay Shoreline Pick up some of the sweet stuff at historic Ghirardelli Square, where the legendary Ghirardelli Company’s chocolate and ice-cream emporium has all the supplies you need to fortify you for your shoreline walk. Join the paved path that weaves westwards along the coast towards the Golden Gate Bridge and watch boats bob along in the Bay, carrying eager tourists to Alcatraz and the Angel Island State Park beyond. Both should be visible from here, fog permitting. Follow the trail as it passes through the Maritime National Historical Park, passing the picturesque Fort Mason wharves, and continue to the Palace of Fine Arts as you enter the Presidio. Built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, this faux palace is a monumental beaux-arts beauty that’s surrounded by swan-filled lagoons and lush green foliage. It’s a great spot to pause and cram in some more of that delicious chocolate before rejoining the path up to Fort Point, a Civil War-era fort beneath the Golden Gate Bridge which is where your hike ends, unless... The Golden Gate Bridge Now you’re here, it would really be foolish – nay, rude – not to. For here’s where you’ll find some of the best views in all of San Francisco, not least the Downtown skyline and out shimmering azure blues of the Pacific. The best thing about walking the iconic red bridge is that you can go as long or short a distance across it as you like. But we recommend going the whole way to really make the best of its many vantage points. Head down into downtown Sausalito for a restorative beer and save your legs by taking the ferry back across to San Francisco. Save on attractions in San Francisco Save on admission to San Francisco attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
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10+ things to do in San Francisco for adults

Culturally rich, diverse in population, and filled with an array of attractions to explore, it's easy to see why San Francisco is one of the most popular vacation spots in the US.
Katie Sagal

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