24 Hours in San Francisco: The Perfect 1 Day Itinerary!

If you’re checking out this post, then you undoubtedly must enjoy traveling. If you travel a lot then you know that one of the most challenging and often frustrating aspects of traveling is knowing how to best spend your time… What sites should you see? Where should you grab dinner? How do you make the best of your time? In this post, I lay out some of our favorite places to visit, eat, and grab a drink while in San Francisco for the day.

I recently stopped in San Francisco for 1 night while traveling through California this past summer. We ventured into San Francisco from Yosemite Valley National Park where we recently had just spent the past two days exploring and hiking through the park. To read more about our time at Yosemite, check out Yosemite National Park: The Ultimate Guide or check out some of our related posts at the bottom of this page! Coming into the city we drove across the Bay Bridge giving us some great views of the city.. Once in town we made our way to the Cartwright Hotel where we were staying for the night.

The Cartwright is a charming little hotel right in the heart of San Francisco. It sits just steps from Union Square in what is known as the greater Union Square District. This district contains hundreds of department stores, luxury boutiques, art galleries, salons, fine food establishments, countless bars and cocktail lounges, and so much more. The Square itself is also a historical site so if you are more of a history buff than this is a great place to explore as well. The Square gets its name from the fact that the space was used as a rallying post for the Union during the American Civil War. It now sits at the center of one of the most popular areas of the city!

From here we headed over to the famed Fishermans Wharf where we had ticket reservations for the Alcatraz Ferry over to Alcatraz Island. We embarked in our Uber over to the Wharf area where we then ventured out on foot to check out all the area had to offer. From indoor and outdoor dining spots, unique shopping experiences, bay cruises, and many different family friendly attractions as well as museums, the Wharf has something for everyone! Don’t forget to save some time to venture over to see the Sea Lions at Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square home to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, historic ships including the USS Pampanito at the Hyde Street Pier, and the Cannery which is a massive indoor shopping mall! Before boarding our ferry, we stopped in at Budin's Bakery where I had their crab salad sandwich. We sat outside to eat and listened to a man playing music and singing on the street corner. After finishing our lunch, we walked over to Pier 33 where we had the tickets to catch the ferry over to Alcatraz Island.

The ferry ride itself is a wonderful experience. We sat atop the rooftop deck which allowed for some spectacular views of the bay, the city skyline, Alcatraz Island, and the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges! It gets a little cooler on the water so be sure to be prepared and dress accordingly.

Once on Alcatraz Island we walked around the property checking out the warden's mansion, enjoyed the first half of a guided "phone" tour of the cell house including the inmate quarters, solitary confinement, dinning hall, and a few other smaller areas of the main building. Later we then walked more around the outside of the prison past the guard tower, flower gardens, and the inmate recreation area. We also enjoyed some of the native bird species which now make the island home, as there were hundreds of these birds all around the grounds. Overall we probably spent about 2 hours on the Island. You can spend more or less time depending on your interest in the Islands history. I would highly recommend the guided ”phone” tour as it was very well done and helped us learn a lot more about the Island and the inmates who called it home than if we were to have walked around the grounds without any guidance. We then went back to the boat and made our way back across the bay to pier 33.

After returning to the mainland we Ubered out to New Belgium Brewing Co. and sampled a couple beers. While at New Belgium, our bartender was extremely helpful and gave us some recommendations for a few wineries to check out in Napa Valley as that was our next stop the following day. That was an added surprise and helped us out a lot in our planning for our Napa itinerary. After New Belgium we made our way over to the Civic Center area where we met up with some friends before heading out for dinner and drinks for the rest of the night!

As far as transportation goes in the city there are many options available including the famed city cable car, ample public transportation options, and of course Uber, which was our transportation of choice throughout the city as the prices were rather reasonable and it did not take long to get from point A to point B. It is also fairly easy to walk around much of the city as San Francisco, although a large city, encompasses less than 50 square miles of land making it very easy to get around on foot or by bike.

We Ubered around town the rest of the night stopping in and out of a few local favorite watering holes which were highly recommended from some locals who live in downtown San Francisco. Our first stop was Puerto Alegre where we started with some pitchers of margaritas and enjoyed some delicious Mexican food for dinner. I had their famous burrito which did not let me down. After dinner our next stop was Vesuvio Cafe which is a historic San Francisco cocktail bar. It is most notably known for its history as Jack Kerouac’s favorite watering hole decades ago. We enjoyed our drinks outside on their patio, appropriately named Jack Kerouac Alley. From Vesuvio's we walked over to the Lipo Lounge for a round of Mai Tais, which is what they are most famous for! After our round at Lipo Lounge, we ended our night at Tunnel Top Lounge and Bar, an intimate 2 story bar that sits atop the Stockton Street Tunnel and provides a soothing and relaxing environment that did not disappoint!

The next morning on our way out of town up to Napa Valley we spent some time at Golden Gate Park and admiring the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a fairly foggy day that morning which provided for some great photos of the bridge, but going on a clear day around sunrise or sunset would also be a great time to walk through the park and catch some amazing photo opportunities. We pulled off at both the Golden Gate Observation Deck and Golden Gate View Point each on Conzelman Rd. which can easily be reached from just off the second exit after driving across the bridge heading north over the bay.

Overall, San Francisco was a blast! Although we did not do everything we had hoped to do throughout the day, we did get to see a good amount of the city considering we were only in San Francisco for one day and one night. I would happily come back to San Francisco again for a long weekend in order to spend more time exploring the city, it's landmarks, the food scene, and the local arts and culture. I hope you are able to enjoy the city just as much as we did when you next visit San Francisco! If something on our itinerary doesn’t quite fit well for you then check out a few of our other recommendations below. These are more attractions and sites that are highly recommended by both locals and most travelers to the city!

ADDITIONAL SITES & ACTIVITIES

The Bay Bridge: Formally known as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it acts as the main connector between San Francisco and Oakland. This double decked bridge is one of the longest spans in the United States.

The Cable Car: Probably nothing more uniquely San Francisco than the infamous city cable cars. The most popular route is undoubtedly the Powell-Hyde line as it passes by many of the city’s most popular sites, but honestly any route will be worth the few bucks to enjoy this uniquely San Francisco experience!

Twin Peaks: Part of an overall 64-acre park, you can hike all the way up to the top or drive if hiking is not your thing! These two prominent hills arise nearly 1000 ft above sea level offering unmatched panoramic views of San Francisco!

Coit Tower: Built in the 1930’s, this 210-foot tower is the centerpiece of the city’s Pioneer Park located in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. The tower offers some of the best panoramic views of the city and the bay.

Walking Tours: The city boasts dozens of different guided tours either by foot or by bike which allow you to learn more about the city and it’s diverse neighborhoods, from nightly ghost tours, a tour of the Giants home ballpark Oracle Park, to a variety of ”tastes of the city” which guide you through the culinary and cultural differences within the cities neighborhoods.

Museums: San Francisco is also home to many world-class museums including everything from history, art, and maritime to science and the abnormal! Here’s a list of the top museums found throughout the city. For more details regarding each specific museum check out our post, “The 10 Best Museums in San Francisco”!

• Aquarium of the Bay

• Cable Car Museum

• California Academy of Sciences

• Children’s Creativity Museum

• Exploratorium

• Madame Tussauds

• Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum

• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

• The Walt Disney Family Museum

Neighborhoods: Depending on your time and where you stay in the city, San Francisco is home to a diverse population spread out amongst many unique neighborhoods. Below is our list of our top neighborhoods based off personal experience as well as advice from many of the locals we met. For more details regarding each specific neighborhood check out our post, “The 10 Best Neighborhoods in San Francisco”!

• Chinatown

• Civic Center

• Fisherman’s Wharf

• Haight-Ashbury

• Mission

• Nob Hill

• North Beach

• Russian Hill

• Telegraph Hill

• Union Square

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