If you need help deciding where to go in San Francisco, then let Family Travel Forum guide you to Alcatraz, aquariums and more.

Fortunately for parents, San Francisco is a participant in the CityPass Program which includes admission to the following popular attractions: the Exploratorium, de Young Museum/Palace of the Legion of Honor, the SF Museum of Modern Art, the Blue & Gold Fleet Cruise Adventure, seven-day unlimited use of Cable Cars and Muni Public Transportation, Aquarium of the Bay, and the California Academy of Sciences and Steinhart Aquarium OR the Asian Art Museum for one price, reflecting a substantial savings off individual tickets.

Great Fun for the Kids

Cable Car Museum
1201 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415/474-1887
For kids who are amazed at the cable cars themselves, this free museum can be an even more exciting outing. You can discover what it is that makes the cable cars move, by watching the huge revolving sheaves in the ground. There are also several antique cable cars to look at and climb into at the mezzanine-level museum.

The Museum of Children's Art
538 Ninth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
510/465-8770
Children can view artwork made by other children, both from the U.S. and abroad. They can also create their own artwork, with the art supplies on-hand at the museum. The collection here is extremely impressive.

Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415/CAR-TOON
Newly housed in the former Ansel Adams Museum of Photography, this heart of SoMa collection features rotating exhibits of favorite animated art from comics, movies and advertisements.

California Academy of Sciences and Steinhart Aquarium
55 Music Concourse Dr.
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
415/379-8000
One of the world's largest natural history museums (with neat earthquake exhibits), a planetarium and an aquarium make this an all-day destination.

Fun for Older Children

(Up to Age 18)

Haight-Ashbury
Stroll down this street and blast 30 years back to the past with your kids--they can get Grateful Dead memorabilia, lava-lamps, trendy hemp jewelry, cool posters, and all the hippie gear their young hearts desire.

The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
415/EXP-LORE
Highly regarded as one of the world's top science museums, its well designed exhibits are tools for hands-on learning. Guides or "explainers" walk around the museum, and can answer any question your kids (or you) may have. Younger children will enjoy the scene, the cool gift shop and the above-average cafeteria.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940
831/648-4800
This aquarium receives nearly one-half-million visitors each year and is recognized as one of the world's finest. Here your kids can touch various animals (all safe to be handled) at the Touch Pool. Families can enjoy different sea animal exhibits. check out the website for current exhibits. On this daytrip from San Francisco (it's over an hour away from the city), make sure to visit the Kelp Forest.

Palace of the Legion of Honor
34th Avenue and Clement Street in Lincoln Park
San Francisco, CA 94121
415/863-3330
A world-famous collection of European masterworks, prints, drawings, ancient arts of the Near East, Greece, Rome and Egypt, and European Decorative Arts are presented in a Beaux-Arts building overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Free admission on the first Tuesday of the month.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street, between Mission and Howard Streets
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/357-4000
Formerly known as the San Francisco Museum of Art, the museum is dedicated to works of the 20th century. The collection includes paintings by Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg, Rene Magritte and Piet Mondrian, as well as sculpture, photographs and media arts. Since 1995 it is housed in a fabulous building designed by Mario Botta, located in the trendy South of Market (SoMA) neightborhood.

Special Guided Tours

This is a great town to tour with a knowledgeable guide because there's so much history behind every attraction. For local culture and culinary tours of Chinatown, call All About Chinatown (415/982-8839).

For a look behind the scenes at one of the country's most popular filming locations, call San Francisco Movie Tours (415/624-4949). Their guides take you "on location" as you visit famous movie sights, while watching clips on board their "theatre on wheels."

For a more active adventure with kids above 12-years, spend the day on Angel Island (415/897-0715), easily reached by ferry from San Francisco or Tiburon. A few days each week, guided Segway Tours of this state park's flora and history will be led on Segways--electric, self-balancing, personal transportation vehicles. Don't worry; Segway lessons and a box lunch are included and it's really fun.

Fun for the Family

Alcatraz Island
National Recreation Area
Fort Mason, B201
San Francisco, CA 94123
415/981-7625
The world's most famous prison (it served as a federal penitentiary from 1937-1963) is on an island in the middle of the cold, rough, San Francisco Bay. During high season there are slim chances that you will be able to get a ticket for a tour of "The Rock," and the parks department may soon cut off booking through tour operators and travel agents due to overcrowding. But, if you reserve them far enough in advance, your kids will delight in the eeriest and most popular of all Golden Gate City tourist attractions. You will get an up-close view of the home of the nation's most notorious criminals (at least, until 1963.) It gets quite windy and chilly, both on the boat and the island, so pack some warm clothing.

Blue & Gold Fleet
Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf
The Embarcadero at Beach Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415/705-8200
If you do miss out on the Alcatraz tour, or if you're sightseeing with children under age 6, you might prefer a narrated tour of San Francisco Bay, which passes under the stunning Golden Gate Bridge, and sails quite close to Alcatraz Island, without actually stopping.

Fisherman's Wharf
Bounded by Aquatic Park, North Point, Powell Street, and Pier 39
San Francisco, CA 94133
415/956-3493
Walk the eight blocks that make up this waterfront district, and visit some of the sights (the historic ships' museum at Hyde Street Pier and wax figures at "Ripley's Believe It or Not" are two worth checking out.) Skip the souvenir stands and mediocre seafood restaurants. The area is colorful, noisy, and filled with free entertainment, like street performers, so most kids will enjoy it.

The Ferry Building
Embarcadero at foot of Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94111
415/693-0996
Herb Caen Way is a beautiful waterfront esplanade just adjacent to The Ferry Building and its 230-ft. clock tower. You can rollerblade, have a picnic lunch or just sit and admire the view. Also on a hot day, visit the Vaillancourt Fountain just across the Embarcadero, and let your kids run behind the falling water.

Ghirardelli Square
900 North Point Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415/ 775-5500
Three Sweet Stops at Ghirardelli Square for goodies on the go, (tr)eating and buying gifts. Ghirardelli Chocolate Chocolaterie & Café, located at the corner of North Point and Larkin Streets is a place where you can eat coffee and dessert, Ghirardelli style. The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is located on the 1st floor of the Clock Tower Building and is the place to purchase soda fountain drinks, chocolates and gifts. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop and Café on West Plaza serves espresso, chocolate and yogurt.

Pacific Bell Park
24 Willie Mays Plaza, Third and King Streets
San Francisco, CA 94107
415/972-2000 Last minute tickets: 510/762-BALL
You don't have to be a baseball lover to adore PacBell Park, the waterfront's newest beauty. There are great views, terrific sightlines from every seat, reasonably priced tickets, fantastic food choices, and an array of interactive pre-game activities for kids and ball fanatics. Plus, the city's lightrail system goes right to the front door!

Rooftop at Yerba Buena Gardens
Moscone Convention Center on 4th Street at Howard
This new 10-acre family entertainment complex has a bowling alley, indoor ice-skating rink, restored historic carousel and children's play area in a garden setting. There is also a futuristic Metreon, Sony's very commercial and so-far successful movies, shops, and restaurant-packed mall (800/MET-REON). A technology museum called Zeum (415/777-2800) is designed for kids 8-18, but there's such a wide range of activities (many free) here that everyone in the family will be happy.

Favorite Daytrips from San Francisco

Red and White Fleet
Pier 43 ½, Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco, CA 94133
415/673-2900
A variety of day-long cruise and bus combination tours take visitors to Sausalito and Tiburon (home to many of the Bay Area's rich and famous), Muir Woods (the closest stand of redwoods), Angel Island (the Ellis Island of the west and a wonderful destination for hikers and picnickers, with bicycles for rent) and even to the Wine Country, as well as south to Monterey or Carmel, or to Yosemite National Park. Also offered is a Golden Gate Bay Cruise, with the option of adding Alcatraz.

Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach
415/388-2595
Day trips by coach, with an on-board narrator, carry visitors about an hour north of San Francisco to these splendid woods for a glimpse of California's famous redwood forest. Call Gray Line Tours, (800/826-0202, 415/558-9400) for seasonal schedules. The woods are also easily reached by car off Highway 1, on Panoramic Highway. With over two million visitors coming each year to see an original Redwood forest trees are up to 240 ft. high and 16 ft. wide, it's best to arrive before 10am or after 4pm. Once the crowds have left, your family can enjoy the misty, chilly and often foggy solitude of this majestic forest in peace and relative quiet. The park service maintains six miles of self-guided walking trails throughout the 560-acre parcel, and the informative Visitors Center lends out children's Discovery Packs so your kids can make discoveries on their own. Picnicking is prohibited; there is a small snackbar nearby.