35 Best things to see & do in San Francisco

One of the world’s best Chinese New Year celebrations, held in the oldest Chinatown in North America. The highlight is the Chinese New Year parade, complete with a 28-foot-long golden dragon.

From posh enclaves to boho ‘hoods, San Fran’s diverse neighbourhoods are the city’s character-filled, cultural heartlands, and the city’s greatest attraction.

Thanks to both the ocean and an abundance of farms on its doorstep, San Francisco is big on farm-to-table, sustainable cuisine, and has some of the best Asian food outside Asia.

Artistic San Francisco’s art scene features world-class museums, alongside a flourishing street-art scene – and everything in between.

A four-weekend festival in autumn when over 400 of the city’s best and emerging artists throw open the doors to their studios and workspaces.

Take a ride on one of San Francisco’s three remaining heritage cable cars, trundling over some of its many hills.

The Castro doesn’t have much by way of ‘attractions’, but that’s not the point. The historic and current heart of the city’s gay community, the district is one of SF’s most vibrant. Come here to commune with the colourful locals in the neighbourhood’s funky cafés, bars, shops, and restaurants.

Home to one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art on the planet, this Civic Center locale exhibits everything from future fantasy animations to Chinese jade carvings from more than 6,000 years ago.

The commercial centre of San Francisco, this stretch of streets surrounding Union Square (a park-slash-plaza so named because of its history as the site of several pro-Union Civil War rallies) is full of luxury hotels, restaurants, and shops. A lovely neighbourhood that’s still worth a wander.

With no permanent collection, San Francisco’s CJM offers ever-changing exhibits highlighting the Jewish culture and its complexities. It’s housed in a historic Pacific Gas & Electric substation that’s been modernly redesigned with elements of Jewish symbolism.