Golden Gate Park is the perfect spot to get away from the craziness of downtown San Francisco, the park is splendidly tranquil and peaceful, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to relax and slow down. Boasting lakes, gardens and a range of forested areas, Golden Gate Park is the perfect location for a good old fashioned picnic. Whether it’s sandwiches from the local convenience store, or a freshly caught seafood takeaway, there’s no better place to enjoy a bite than inside the park’s wonderful grounds.

The park is also packed full of awesome activities and attractions, from the vibrantly colourful Conservatory of Flowers to the immensely fascinating Steinhart Aquarium. You certainly won’t be short of things to do across the park, you could potentially end up spending the entire day here! My personal favourite activity inside Golden Gate Park though, is the organised segway tours. These awesome tours allow visitors to see everything the vast park has to offer, as well as giving them the opportunity to gain plenty of fascinating information about the park. (I mean come on, what’s cooler than zooming around on a segway?!)

Panoramic views don’t get much more amazing than the one on offer at San Francisco’s Twin Peaks. The view over the city from this tremendous location is truly spectacular. The reason this spot is so impressive, is that the peaks boast an elevation of 282 metres, yet they’re still centrally located right in the very heart of San Francisco. This means visitors can soak up incredible views over both the surrounding bay and vibrant downtown area. The Twin Peaks are also highly regarded as the absolute best spot in town to witness a truly unforgettable sunset.

As the Twin Peaks are located so close to downtown San Francisco, it’s definitely a spot that’s easy to access, unlike many other panoramic viewpoints around the world. Visitors can opt to walk directly from central downtown, or alternatively take a bus or taxi to the bottom of the twin peaks and then begin their ascent to the viewpoint. Either way, you can be certain the view will make the walk well worthwhile!

This spot is a truly iconic and extremely recognisable Hollywood filming location. Visitors are able to snap a memorable shot in front of the house used during filming of the Mrs Doubtfire movie. Located in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighbourhood, this wonderful home was built way back in 1893, and has now become a hot spot amongst tourists, especially those that were devoted fans of the extraordinarily talented Robin Williams.

After your mini photoshoot, I’d definitely recommend spending some more time exploring the Pacific Heights neighbourhood a little. This delightful part of town is home to a large collection of wonderfully quaint cafes and charming parks, as well as boasting some pretty impressive sweeping views out over the bay.

Muir Woods is located just 16 miles North of downtown San Francisco, so it’s extremely easy to get to. Most visitors opt to reach the woods via the range of shuttle buses that operate to and from the city, but of course travellers also have the option to simply drive their own hire vehicle to the carpark at Muir Woods.

The woods themselves are truly magnificent, having been state protected as a national monument since 1908, this primeval forest has continued to thrive throughout the decades. Including the vast variety of wildlife that choose to call Muir Woods their home. My favourite locals have to be the super cute river otters, these fascinating creatures can be seen weaving in and out of the towering trees all day long, as they attempt to burn off some of their pent up energy.

Talking of trees, that’s one of the main highlights that draws travellers into visiting Muir Woods. The area is home to a vast number of Coastal Redwood’s, these sensational trees are renowned for their stunning red bark and dizzying heights. The majority of Redwood’s found across Muir Woods have an age of between 600 and 800 years, with some even surpassing the 1000 year mark!

Hiking is also a heavily integral part of Muir Woods, even the most experienced of hikers will be able to test their abilities on a vast selection of challenging trails. Don’t worry though, there’s also plenty of routes for beginners too, so I’d strongly recommend bringing along your walking boots!

Baseball is a huge sporting spectacle across the US, with pretty much every major city in the country having their own baseball stadium. The home ground for the local San Francisco Giants, is the mighty Oracle Park and let me tell you, this venue certainly doesn’t disappoint. Boasting 41,265 seats, Oracle Park is the 17th largest stadium in the country, so you can always expect this venue to kick up quite the atmosphere!

This was one of my favourite experiences during my time in San Francisco, even though I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the actual game haha. Although I have to admit, things do seem to get super exciting during the closing minutes of play. There’s also plenty of options to keep you satisfied in your seat too, I’d recommend munching down on some classic American hotdogs before guzzling away at a supersized beer!

The aspect of general novelty is also great fun at baseball games, with random chants regularly erupting around the stadium and of course, the famous giant screen you see in the movies. Be sure to do a lot of frantic waving with your large foam finger and you just might get lucky enough to make a short appearance on the big screen!

You may not have heard of Lombard Street, but this famous stretch of tarmac is officially crowned as the most crooked road on planet Earth, pretty cool right? This unusual section of Lombard Street boasts eight, extremely tight hairpin bends, that were first introduced to help decrease the steep gradient of the road. It’s a bit of a fine art for drivers to get used to the bends, but with a speed limit of just 5mph, you can rest assured they’ll make it down safely.

Over the years, this peculiar and unorthodox portion of road has been the filming location for a number of Hollywood blockbusters, including most recently, Ant-Man and the Wasp. The area certainly draws in huge crowds of tourists, with Lombard Street attracting up to 20,000 visitors per day during peak summer season! In addition to its quirky layout, Lombard Street is also covered in a vast array of colourful flowers and trees, making those candid snaps look even more beautiful than they already were.

Who doesn’t love the taste of freshly caught seafood? Well, you best prepare yourself, cos San Francisco’s Pier 39 dishes up some of the most exquisite seafood on the planet. Think tasty shrimps, delicious mussels, juicy oysters and tantalising lobster. Honestly, the food on offer here is some of the best I’ve ever had the privilege of tasting, I can honestly guarantee it’ll blow your mind, as well as your tastebuds!

The iconic Pier 39 is located in the beating heart of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. A lively and eccentric district that’s a bustling melting pot of entertainment for tourists and locals alike. You certainly won’t be short of things to do in this wonderful part of town. In addition to Pier 39’s wonderful range of seafood restaurants, the vibrant jetty is also home to a wide selection of handy giftshops, quirky cafes, thrilling fair rides and impressive street performers. One thing’s for sure, no matter what time of day or night you decide to visit Pier 39, you’re always guaranteed to be greeted with fantastic vibes and an energetic atmosphere.

If you’re lucky, you might also get the chance to spot a few of the local sealions hanging around, these splendid creatures genuinely love spending time relaxing and sunbathing near the pier. (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the huge amount of seafood laying around, haha!)

Few manmade structures on the planet, are as famous as the world renowned Golden Gate Bridge. This spectacular engineering marvel was certainly no mean feat, comprised of 83,000 tons of steel and 80,000 miles of wire, this mind boggling project took over four years to complete. Upon its grand opening in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge became the longest suspension bridge ever made, fast forward to the present day and the bridge still remains in the top twenty longest suspension bridges in the world!

For over 80 years now, pedestrians have taken the long walk across the Golden Gate Bridge’s 1.7 mile span. Nowadays, the activity has become an absolute must do experience for anyone visiting the city of San Francisco. Not only can you marvel at the bridge’s sensational workmanship and impressive engineering, but you can also soak up a range of splendid views over the bay of San Francisco. I’d definitely recommend taking your time when crossing the bridge, there’s no need to rush your way across, but just be sure to wear enough layers, as the winds can get pretty chilly!

Surrounded by whirling currents right in the heart of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island holds a notable spot in the American history books. Surrounded entirely by water, the prison was famously labelled as “escape-proof” and followed a wide range of extremely high security protocols, in fact Alcatraz was purpose built to house America’s most hardened and dangerous criminals. A number of high profile inmates were actually moved to Alcatraz from a range of various jails around the country, including the infamous Al Capone.

Travellers who opt to visit Alcatraz will get the opportunity to roam freely around almost every inch of this fascinating island, whilst listening to an extremely informative and well organised audio guide. Visitors will be verbally guided through different sections of the prison, whilst learning indepth facts about the island’s intriguing history, as well as the range of practices that were carried out during the prison’s 29 years of operation.

There are a number of tour options available at Alcatraz, including a day tour, night tour and behind the scenes tour, so be sure to do some research into which option matches your own personal taste. Dates often tend to sell out quite far in advance, so once you’ve nailed down your travel plans, I’d strongly recommend grabbing your tickets online, to eliminate the chance of any disappointment further down the line.

I think it’s fair to say, no one in history has taken a trip to San Francisco and not ridden on one of the city’s famous cable cars. Hanging off the edge of these authentic, yet surprisingly smooth cable cars is without a doubt the absolute best thing to do in all of San Francisco! There’s no better feeling than having the wind in your hair as you zoom up and down the steep streets of San Fran, after all, those hills don’t half start to make your legs ache after a while!

San Francisco’s cable car system has been around for a verrry long time, dating way back to the year 1873! Today, the city’s cable car system is the only remaining manually operated cable car system on the planet, yet it still continues to transport over 15,000 passengers around the streets of San Francisco every single day! Of the 23 previously established lines, only three lines still remain in operation, however with over 8km of track still in use, these lines still conveniently connect a great proportion of the city’s bustling districts.