Things to Do in San Francisco in 1 Day

California can be one of the hottest winter vacations for you: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Disneyland and all the gems in between. But we recommend to start with the coolest – tour in San Francisco in 1 day.

So many sights pop up in your head when you only think about it. It seems impossible to see all of them when you have only 24 hours in San Francisco, right? Ready for mission Impossible?

San Francisco in one day

Morning

To start it happily, make it to the Fisherman’s Wharf for an early breakfast at 9 o’clock. San Francisco is considered to be a culinary city of the USA, which has every meal you could only dream about. The ratio of amount of restaurants to the population is the highest in the USA: one restaurant is for about 250 people, when in New York this number is almost 4 times higher. That is why starting the day with American breakfast will make you have the greatest day of your life.

One of the most interesting restaurants in 2015 is “Hollywood Café” rated as Top 3 by “Tripadvisor”. It has a perfect design and a very appealing menu that has everything: eggs with bacon, French toasts with sweet or salt butter, pancakes with different syrups, waffles and an extraordinary enormous amount of fruit to most of the breakfast dishes which are served at the café and would make happy both parents and children.

After a hearty breakfast it’s time for a short Wharf tour. Fisherman’s Wharf is the most popular tourist destinations:

• with its souvenirs at the Cannery Shopping Mall,
• Maritime National Historical Park with loads of boats and breathtaking ocean views,
• Wax Museum, which features US and Russian Presidents, celebrities and other figures,
• Fisherman’s Grotto that will be fun to go to with children.

After that you can enjoy a walk along the ocean side in Embarcadero embankment, which was included into the National Register of USA Historic Places in 2002.

Afternoon

At 12 p.m. having your children entertained and hungry before lunch, make sure that on the way to the Ferry Building Marketplace, (which operates from 19^th century), you visit the Exploratorium, the interactive science museum, which intention was to change the way of how people (children) learn the World. Its building “Art Palace” was found in 1915.

For the best lunch in the city go to the “Foodie Center” of San Francisco, which is Mission District. Food range there is unbelievable. No need to go to Mexico to try its excellent fajitas with guacamole sauce, smoked pork cheeks or go to Italy for an unforgettably delicious fettuccini and pizzas, when you can find it all here and all cooked by celebrity chefs.

According to Zagas research “Delfina Restaurant” has the highest rating among Italian places in San Francisco. Let’s say 1 p.m. would be perfect timing to also try Californian wines at lunchtime, as here are hundreds of best wineries in the area.

After lunch head to downtown for a luxurious shopping at all the glamorous boutiques and enormous malls on Market street and Union Square.

Evening

By the time of sunset, which differs from 5 to 7 p.m. (depending on the season) drive to Twin Peaks to enjoy the city getting covered into night lights. The whole city itself is very popular with its hills. They call a hill any elevation of 30 meters and higher. Within a city there are 42 hills and even some areas are called in their honor.

Twin Peaks are among the highest hills in San Francisco. From different spots up on the twin hills you can see

• Financial District Down Town with its skyscrapers,
• Transamerica Pyramid, which is the highest building in the city established in 1972,
• Oakland Bay Bridge, which total length is 7200 meters,
• Golden Gate Bridge, that took more than 4 years to build,
• Telegraph Hill with the Coit Tower, which was basically built for one of the military and trade purposes,
• Alcatraz Island, which was a famous security prison for 28 years and
• Russian Hill, one of the highest spots and most prestigious areas in the city.

After some rest and peace it comes to dinner in a glammed authentic restaurant called Café Zeotrope that belongs to Frencis Ford Coppola, one of the founders of a world known film studio.

As you understand, wine testing is a must at this place.

At this point you may feel  San Francisco in 24 hours was a rude understatement and you wish you had at least 2 days in San Francisco.

Night

At 11 p.m. or later – if not yet tired and in search for a classy nightclub to have fun and dance – head to “Temple”. It has three rooms with different music and design, one is cozy and intimate with blue back lightening and low couches, another is called “a cave” due to its low ceilings, the third one is more for dancing.

In this club you might meet celebrities, who are visiting San Francisco. From time to time the venue holds special events, where they host celebrity guests: world known actors and famous singers.  The Place to be at night!

Anything you do in the city during your only day will make you come back here over and over again and you will never get enough of it.

Or else, you can relax, be lazy and do all the bucket list in 3 days in San Francisco. Let’s take it slooowly, shall we?