San Francisco, California Attractions
Unusual landmarks, museums, roadside attractions, and hidden wonders in San Francisco and the surrounding area. There's plenty to see right in town, but we've also mapped hidden treasures we've discovered in surrounding cities, from Marin County to the East Bay.
New Reports
Mare Island Naval Missile Park
Vallejo, California
Decommissioned naval base park features a Polaris missile, Nazi suicide sub, 19th century bandstand, and dozens of concrete "Personnel Safety Shelters."
Mare Island Naval Shipyard Museum
Vallejo, California
History museum chronicles the U.S. Navy's first west coast installation, supporting the Pacific fleet -- from wooden sloops-of-war to subs with nuclear-tipped missiles.
Intel Museum
Santa Clara, California
Find out what it's like to be inside of an automated silicon chip fabrication plant, travel through Intel silicon history, write your name in binary code!
Sights for Oddball Excursions
Bailey Art Museum - Robots of Clayton Bailey
Crockett, California
Cybernetic sculpture gallery and cabinet of curiosities for artists Clayton and Betty Bailey.
Playland Not-At-The-Beach
El Cerrito, California
San Franciscans go ape pining for their lost amusements; this museum is a packed shrine to the leisure past at Playland-at-the-Beach.
Big Mike the Muffler Man
Hayward, California
1960s vintage fiberglass Paul Bunyan statue spent career standing in front of Hayward businesses before finding a home at a local plastics fabrication business.
Magic Bus
San Francisco, California
Trippy tour of the Summer of Love using an old bus and 21st century tech.
Winchester Mystery House
San Jose, California
Sarah Winchester kept vengeful ghosts at bay by continually adding to her mansion. She ended up with a house with 160 rooms and 10,000 windows.
In and Around San Francisco
Choice field reports and tips. Or check out: Complete list of California attractions.
- Vallejo: Mare Island Naval Shipyard Museum
- San Jose: Winchester Mystery House
- San Francisco: Wave Organ
- San Francisco: Magic Bus
- San Francisco: San Francisco Dungeon
- Richmond: Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center
- Novato: Olompali: Miwoks, Chosen Family, Grateful Dead
- El Cerrito: Playland Not-At-The-Beach
- Crockett: Bailey Art Museum - Robots of Clayton Bailey
- Crockett: Crockett History: Sugar, Sturgeon, Switchboard
- Burlingame: Museum of Pez Memorabilia
- San Francisco: Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum [tips]
- San Francisco: Paxton Gate - Taxidermied Mice
- San Francisco: Tonga Room
- San Francisco: Urge - Robot Mimics You
- San Francisco: Crookedest Street in the World
- San Francisco: Real Crookedest Street in San Francisco
- San Francisco: Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Odditorium [tips]
- San Francisco: Madame Tussauds
- San Francisco: Musee Mecanique
- San Francisco: USS Pampanito Submarine Museum
