Hi all! Here’s my summary of things to do in San Francisco with young kids. This is a compilation of personal experience, advice of friends and some reading through guidebooks. Thanks to all of my friends who added to this sheet! Please feel free to add more comments below! Erin (www.theskinnyscoop.com)
MUSEUMS
- Definitely check out the California Academy of Sciences! The albino aligator and the octopus are worth it alone.
- CA Academy of Sciences for both 4 and 7 yr old (if you’re a member, go on the Members morning when you get in an hour before the public; if not, buy tickets online and go early; Planetarium show starts at 9:30, Rainforest opens at 10:00, aquarium/living roof open all the time)
Friday nights at the de Young are also really fun with Tut themed activities for kids and music. - King Tut for 7 yr old, maybe not for 4 yr old (drive/park at the museum garage or along the perimeter driveway, go midweek at the 9:00 am viewing and get the audio tour for all participants). The fact that Tut became king at age 9 (a 3rd grader!) and died at 19 was a big selling point.
- Randal Museum (they have a great model train set there) Stern Grove does SUnday music in the park Farmers Market at the Ferry Building Ferry ride to Sausalito Ghiradelli Square (ice cream) Tour AT&T park
YERBA BUENA
Yerba Buena exhibits/carousel if neither kid naps; I think they’re mainly open in the afternoon
Zeum
WALKS
actually walk up/down Lombard Street, or the Filbert Steps
Chinatown walkabout, fun to see tai chi in the parks and sample the food
Lands End could be a cool hike and then play in the sand at Ocean Beach or lunch at the Cliff House afterward.
we also love the cliff walk which starts at the parking lot above sutro baths.
GG PARK
Gardens/play areas in GG Park; BYO picnic lunch
Just a thought if you are in GG park, of course the playground and carousel are a fun stop there as well. The tower at the deYoung is free if you are across at the Academy of Science even if you aren’t checking out the King Tut exhibit.
One thing I’ve wanted to do but haven’t yet is go to the Conservatory of Flowers – they had an exhibit that was miniature recently that i think may be gone but there is one now called Edible Expeditions.
Children’s PLayground – GGP
TOURS
My parents have taken my little ones on the Quacker tour. It’s a SF tour that is a boat that converts into a bus. They had a blast.
FERRIES
We tried Alcatraz with friends who had slightly older kids (9 and 7 yo) and I wouldn’t recommend it. It was too lengthy, too conceptual and for the younger ones, way too scary and dark. Maybe a hike on Angel Island instead.
we like taking the ferry over to tiburon, where the kids can run around and play and then we eat a guaymas and get ice cream before taking the ferry back across.
ferry to Sausalito for ice cream and back is fun trip, shop at the ferry plaza farmers market beforehand, on tues i think.
ferry r/t to Sausalito (BART from Millbrae to Embarcadero, walk to Ferry Bldg), interesting food/water views/people watching
SHOPPING
The Westfield Shopping Centre’s Food Emporium (Union Square) is a great place to eat with kids. If you’re there, check out San Francisco Soup Company which has a lot of kid-friendly options.
CABLE CARS
I had a great time with a friend doing a cable car from the Ritz Carlton down to the Ferry Building!
We parked at the Ritz Parking lot which I think was $7. It was her bday so i treated her to a mimosa before we hit the road. You can get on the cable car to the ferry building right in front of the hotel! We took it all the way down, wandered through the farmer’s market that they have which is wonderful. We decided to then walk down the Pier 39/ Fishermans’s Wharf area. At Beach St. they have the big cable car turn around which will also land at the Ritz. You go up a lot of hills and if you have the time/ ability, one of the stops is Lombard Street! A good hint: if the line at the turn around his huge, walk up the hill one block and there is a stop! You can hop on without a line 
It was a great day.
FARMERS MARKET
farmers market on saturday mornings at the ferry building is fun.
CRISSY FIELD
finally, one of our favorite things to do is to spend the day at crissy field — at the picnic tables over near the warming hut. we bring bikes and balls and sand toys. also, there is a planet granite there too if your kids are into the climbing thing.
GIANTS
- Do you have boys? You can get a behind the scenes tour of the Giants Ballpark (whatever the current name is). Go on the website and they show the tour times. We did it two summers ago. It wasn’t too expensive and was fun. You can take the train up there too and there are lots of kid-friendly places to eat near the train.
- last minute tickets for a giants game is always a blast — we get cheap seats on craigslist. when we have the time, we take bart up to the game, which is also part of the adventure for the kids.
CARDS
btw, i have this box of “cards” called City Walks with Kids. It’s over 200 “walks” in San Francisco for you to do with kids, everything from that cool secret slide near the Castro to normal stuff like Ghirardelli Square. if you want to look at them (or I can look at them and send you best ones) feel free. I can try to remember to bring them to Texas. They are geared more toward older kids, I think, so I haven’t used them much yet. Also, I think many of them are more normal to us (e.g. Embarcadero Walk, walk to Coit Tower) vs cool and interesting.
BOOKS
I got a great book called Kids Adventures Around the Bay Area, 2nd edition by Elina Wong. It has been great. It lists activites and summarizes what the deal is including costs and what age group things are intended for.
SHOWS
i thought this would be so much fun (although a little on the late side…begins at 8!)
Warner Bros. Studios presents “Bugs Bunny On Broadway” Fri, Jul 17, 2009
A Davies Symphony Hall favorite, “Bugs Bunny On Broadway” returns as part of Summer and the Symphony. Classic Warner Bros. Looney Tunes starring Bugs Bunny and his friends will be projected on a giant screen with the San Francisco Symphony playing the original Carl Stalling cartoon scores live. The concert was created by and will be conducted by George Daugherty, who has been a frequent guest conductor of the SFS over the past 11 years. These will be the final San Francisco Symphony performance of the original “Bugs Bunny On Broadway” concert.
Muir Woods is definitely a cool spot, though it can be particularly crowded this time of year since it’s high tourist season. If you’re going to do it, I’d recommend carving out half a day and combining it with…
- Muir Beach overlook and Muir Beach – these are 5 minutes down the road from Muir Woods. The overlook is a quick stop (and one of my favorite spots), with a very short path out to some amazing coastal views. Muir Beach is a nice beach with some hikes that you could do up the bluffs on the south side. Again, very cool scenery and views
- Conzelman drive on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the windy road that you see on the left as you’re heading north on the Golden Gate Bridge. The drive itself offers great views of the GGB, Lands End and Point Bonita, and then turns into a one-way rode that winds back around toward Rodeo Valley and Rodeo Beach. You can stop along the way and do some short hikes among the old gun batteries to a view good overlooks of Rodeo Valley and Gerbode Valley.
Different day trip ideas (using summary above)
1 leave early, drive to muir woods (maybe 1 hr 15? But I can’t remember drive time) and do the “walk/hike” which took about an hour, but could be longer if you wanted. Stop in Sausalito at FISH on the way home for lunch. Could also check out Sausalito (but restaurant is at pier, not near shops, so you could repark). And then once into the city pick one city thing to do. I can’t remember which city thing we picked that day.
2 do SF water stuff. LOVE the tall ships exhibit, right at acquatic park. Walk around, look in shops. Go to acquarium by the bay wich I also love, only take 45 min to see the whole thing and you can touch the sharks and rays. Wanted to pick a fun SF restaurant to eat at, but kids wanted in n out. see the sea lions. Could also take trolley down to ferry building, look around, eat at taylors.
3 Do Lombard street (driving and on foot). Park near there (but have 2 hour limit) so you could also park in a garage down at the pier. Get on cable car. Ride it as far as you want, we stopped at nearest stop to china town. Walk down 3 blocks to entrance to china town. Walk through the streets ( I have guide books with walking tour). Stop in the fortune cookie “factory”(just a room, but you get samplers) and def check out the temple. Then end by walking up to the cable car museum which shows the actual motors that run all the cable cars and you can go underground and see them. SO SO cool. Then jump back on the cable car and head back to your car.
4 exploratorium, lunch on chestnut street, chrissy field
