Best time to travel in San Francisco?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with 2015-2024 averages
Best time: April to May, September to October
Best avoided if possible: December to February and July (less pleasant weather or big crowds).
Temperatures and rainfall: 1991-2020 normals from the San Francisco Downtown station, NOAA data (public domain).
Cool Mediterranean under oceanic influence: frequent fog from June to August with 17 to 20°C in the afternoon, September and October the warmest and clearest months, and mild winters around 14°C with most of the rain from November to March. The best time to visit San Francisco is April, May, September and October, with temperatures reaching 21-23°C (September). By contrast, January, February, March, June, July, August, November and December are generally less favourable (less pleasant weather or big crowds, depending on the destination), though a trip is still possible with a bit of planning. In high season, book early: prices and visitor numbers climb fast.
Go against the flow. To avoid the crowds without sacrificing too much on the weather, aim for March, June and November: the crowds thin out, prices drop too, and the climate stays pleasant.
Do these months appeal to you? See what's best elsewhere too: where to go in April · where to go in May · where to go in September · where to go in October.
At a glance
Why go to San Francisco?
San Francisco fits into a square 11 km across, yet few cities wear their geography so boldly: grid-plan streets that scale hills at 30% gradients, a bay on each side and the ocean to the west, and a fog that slides under the Golden Gate in the late afternoon and blankets some neighbourhoods while others stay in the sun. Viewpoints, from Twin Peaks to Telegraph Hill, are everywhere, and you cross the city on foot, by cable car and by ferry.
It is also a city of successive stories, each told by a different neighbourhood. The 1849 Gold Rush took it from a few hundred to 25,000 inhabitants in two years, and the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed three quarters of it. North Beach saw the birth of the Beat Generation, Haight-Ashbury the Summer of Love of 1967, and the Castro the struggle of Harvey Milk and the rainbow flag. Silicon Valley, to the south, and the tech headquarters downtown have made it one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Finally, San Francisco is one of the best cities in the United States for eating: sourdough bread, oysters from Tomales Bay, Chinatown dim sum, Mission burritos, and Californian cuisine, born here in the 1970s around seasonal produce. The vineyards of Napa and Sonoma are an hour's drive away, the redwoods of Muir Woods 45 minutes, Yosemite four hours. The city is the natural starting point for a trip through California along the coast or via the Sierra.
Tourist map of San Francisco: what's where?
The map below pinpoints the 6 places covered in this guide: a handy way to picture the distances between each stop and plan your route in San Francisco.
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Alcatraz
- Chinatown
- Ferry Building
- Golden Gate Park
- Lands End
How much does a trip to San Francisco cost in 2026? Budget calculator
Estimate your budget for San Francisco based on your travel style: accommodation, meals, activities and local transport included (flights excluded). Adjust the length and the number of travellers, and the totals update.
Totals for all travellers over the chosen length; the daily amount is per person. Flights extra, indicative amounts to adjust depending on the season.
Cards, including contactless, are accepted everywhere, and some shops even refuse cash. Prices are shown before tax: allow about 8.6% sales tax and about 14% tax on hotel rooms. A tip of 18 to 22% is expected in restaurants, on top of any service surcharges, and a dollar or two per drink at the bar.
Safety in San Francisco: should you be worried?
San Francisco is generally safe for visitors, but calls for a few precautions. Car break-ins are very common: never leave anything visible, not even an empty bag, in a parked car, including at the Golden Gate and Twin Peaks viewpoints. The Tenderloin and the stretch of Market Street between 5th and 8th Streets concentrate homelessness, open drug use and petty crime: cross them by day without lingering. Keep your phone in hand discreetly on the metro and in busy streets. Ocean Beach and Baker Beach have dangerous currents and water at 12-14°C, so swimming there is not advised. The city lies in an earthquake zone: check the instructions posted in your hotel. Healthcare is excellent but very expensive, so insurance covering the United States is essential.
Things to see and do in San Francisco
Our first-hand favourites, and the great classics:
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Alcatraz
- Cable cars
- Chinatown
- Ferry Building
- Golden Gate Park
- Mission District
- Lands End
What to book before you go to San Francisco →
🧭 Discover the San Francisco itinerary, day by dayMap, timings, budget and where to stay: free to access, to fit your dates. Create my tailor-made itinerary →North Beach and Telegraph Hill
The old Italian quarter, between Chinatown and the bay, keeps its espresso cafés, bakeries and trattorias around Washington Square and the church of Saints Peter and Paul. City Lights bookshop, founded in 1953 by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, published Allen Ginsberg's Howl and stays open late. Above, on Telegraph Hill, the 1933 Coit Tower houses 1930s murals of California at work on its ground floor. The Filbert Street Steps lead back down to the bay through gardens that are home to wild parrots.
Fisherman's Wharf and the Marina
The touristy waterfront, between Pier 39, where hundreds of sea lions have lounged on the pontoons since 1990, and Ghirardelli Square, a former chocolate factory converted into a shopping arcade. You eat Dungeness crab and clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, and board the boat to Alcatraz from nearby Pier 33. Further west, Fort Mason and the Marina lead to Crissy Field, a former military airfield returned to the dunes, and to the Palace of Fine Arts, a 1915 rotunda reflected in a pond.
Haight-Ashbury and Alamo Square
The corner of Haight and Ashbury, on the edge of Golden Gate Park, was the centre of the Summer of Love and the hippie counterculture in 1967, and keeps its vintage shops, record stores and colourful Victorian facades. A little to the east, Alamo Square lines up the Painted Ladies, six Victorian houses from the 1890s painted in pastel colours in front of the downtown skyscrapers, seen a thousand times in films and on television. The lawn on the hill is the best place to photograph them in the late afternoon.
The Castro
San Francisco's gay neighbourhood since the 1970s, where Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, ran a camera shop before his assassination in 1978. A huge rainbow flag flies at the corner of Castro and Market, in tribute to its creator, Gilbert Baker, who designed it in San Francisco in 1978. The Castro Theatre, a 1922 cinema with an illuminated sign, is its landmark. The GLBT Historical Society runs a small museum here, and the bars fill up in the evenings and at weekends.
The Presidio
A Spanish and then American military post from 1776 to 1994, turned into a 600-hectare park at the foot of the Golden Gate, with eucalyptus forests, coastal trails, Baker Beach and converted officers' houses. The Presidio Tunnel Tops, a landscaped park opened in 2022 above the motorway, offer a view over the bay and picnic lawns. The Walt Disney Family Museum tells the story of Walt Disney's life. A free shuttle, Presidio GO, links the park to downtown, except at certain weekday rush hours when it is reserved for residents.
Sausalito and Muir Woods
On the other side of the Golden Gate, Sausalito is a bayside village of hillside homes and colourful houseboats on Richardson Bay, reached by bike across the bridge or by ferry from the Ferry Building. 30 minutes away, Muir Woods protects a forest of coast redwoods, the tallest trees in the world, at the bottom of a damp valley. Parking or the shuttle must be booked in advance. Mount Tamalpais, above, offers a view over the whole bay.
How many days, and which itinerary in San Francisco?
Three days cover the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Chinatown, the cable cars and one neighbourhood. Four or five days add Golden Gate Park, Lands End, the Mission and an outing to Sausalito or Muir Woods. A week allows for a day in the vineyards of Napa or Sonoma.
🗺️ Day-by-day San Francisco itinerary · 📓 Printable San Francisco travel guide (PDF) · 🌍 Discover all of the American West
The essentials (3 days)
Day 1: Union Square, the Powell-Hyde cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, the sea lions of Pier 39, Alcatraz in the afternoon from Pier 33, dinner in North Beach. Day 2: breakfast at the Ferry Building, Chinatown on foot, up to Coit Tower and down the Filbert Street Steps, then Lombard Street and sunset from Fort Mason. Day 3: across the Golden Gate by bike to Sausalito, back by ferry, then the Mission, its murals and a burrito for dinner.
The city in depth (5 days)
The three days of the essentials, plus a day in the west: Golden Gate Park by bike, the de Young museum and its tower, the Japanese Tea Garden, then Lands End, the Sutro Baths and sunset over Ocean Beach. On the fifth day, Haight-Ashbury and the Painted Ladies of Alamo Square in the morning, the Castro in the afternoon, and dinner in the Hayes Valley neighbourhood. Get a multi-day Muni Visitor Passport, which covers buses, streetcars and cable cars.
San Francisco and the Bay (1 week)
Four days in the city, then three days around the bay by car: Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais in the morning, the coast road to Point Reyes and its seals, a day in the vineyards of Sonoma or Napa with tastings, and a detour to Berkeley and its campus. Hire the car only for those days: in the city it is expensive to park and attracts break-ins.
How to get to San Francisco and get around?
From Europe, there are non-stop flights to San Francisco, including Air France, United and French Bee from Paris, in about 11 hours 30 minutes. From SFO airport, the BART regional metro reaches the centre, Powell Street station, in 30 minutes for $11.80, about €10. A taxi or ride-hailing car costs $50-70 to the centre.
The Muni network covers the city with buses, streetcars and light rail, along with the cable cars and the historic streetcars of the F line, which run along the Embarcadero. A ride costs $2.85, about €2.50, by contactless card, Clipper card or the MuniMobile app, $3 in cash, and remains valid for 2 hours. Visitor Passports for one, three or seven days, $15-47, about €13-40, include the cable cars.
The city is easy to explore on foot, as long as you accept the climbs: allow an hour's walk between Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf. Shared bikes and e-bikes are available everywhere, and Waymo driverless taxis operate across the whole city, bookable by app.
A car is pointless in the city, expensive to park, $40-70 a night at hotels, and a frequent target for theft. Hire one only to get out to Napa, Muir Woods or Yosemite. The Golden Gate Bridge charges an electronic toll in the north-to-south direction, billed to the rental company.
Where to stay in San Francisco?
Union Square and downtown have most of the hotels, from €150 to €350 a night, close to the cable cars and public transport. Avoid the streets of the Tenderloin, west of Union Square, and the stretch of Market Street between 5th and 8th Streets, where poverty and drug dealing are visible, especially at night.
Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach appeal to families and first-time visitors, with hotels at €180-300, the bay within walking distance and Italian restaurants. The Marina and Cow Hollow line Lombard Street with renovated 1950s motels, among the cheapest options with parking, at €120-200.
Nob Hill, at the top of the California cable car line, is home to the grand historic hotels such as the Fairmont, where the United Nations Charter was drafted in 1945, and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins with its panoramic bar. The Embarcadero and SoMa host the newer luxury hotels, at €400-800 a night.
Prices vary sharply with the big conventions, which triple rates in some weeks. Add the hotel tax of about 14% and, in many hotels, daily service fees not included in the displayed price.
Our picks stop by stop, in three price ranges →
What to eat in San Francisco?
Sourdough bread has been the city's emblem since the Gold Rush, served as a bowl filled with clam chowder on the waterfront. The Dungeness crab season, from November to spring, fills the stalls of Fisherman's Wharf. Oysters from Tomales Bay, an hour to the north, are served at the Ferry Building.
Chinatown and the Richmond district, to the west, are the best places for dim sum and Cantonese food. The Mission is the realm of taquerias: the Mission burrito, rice, beans, meat and salsa in a giant tortilla, costs $12-16. North Beach keeps its trattorias and Italian cafés.
The city has many Michelin-starred restaurants and saw the birth of seasonal Californian cuisine. Dinner at a good restaurant costs $60-120 per person, and many add a 4 to 6% surcharge for employee healthcare, on top of the tip.
The Ferry Building and its Saturday farmers' market are the ideal place to taste the region's produce: Point Reyes cheeses, strawberries, citrus fruit, coffee roasted on site. Irish coffee is said to have been popularised in the United States in 1952 at the Buena Vista Cafe, near Fisherman's Wharf, which still serves hundreds every day.
Which kind of traveller is it for?
San Francisco lends itself to a cultural, foodie and festive trip. Whether you travel as a couple, with friends or even with family, everyone finds their own pace. For accommodation, you will mostly find classic hotels, boutique hotels and apartments and rentals.
Entry requirements & practical info
UK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
Rules change: before you leave, check your country's official travel advice.
Once there, to stay online without paying roaming charges, an San Francisco eSIM activates in a few minutes and works as soon as you land (plans from €3.99). Remember suitable travel insurance too.
Frequently asked questions about San Francisco
When is the best time to visit San Francisco?
September and October, the warmest and clearest months, with 20 to 23°C in the afternoon. April and May are also pleasant. Summer is cool and foggy on the coast, often 17°C with a cold afternoon wind: bring a jacket even in July. Winter is mild but rainy.
How do you visit Alcatraz?
Only with Alcatraz City Cruises, the sole authorised operator, departing from Pier 33. Tickets go on sale 90 days ahead and sell out fast in summer: $47.95 for the day tour, about €41, $59.65 for the night tour, about €51, audio guide included. Avoid resellers who charge much more.
How much does a cable car ride cost in San Francisco?
$9 for a single ride, about €8, payable by contactless card, Clipper card or the MuniMobile app. If you plan several rides, a Muni Visitor Passport for one, three or seven days, from $15, about €13, which includes cable cars, buses and streetcars, works out cheaper.
Do you need a car in San Francisco?
No. The city can be visited on foot, by Muni, by cable car and by ferry, and parking costs $40-70 a night at hotels. Car break-ins are common. Hire one only for excursions to Napa, Muir Woods, the coast or Yosemite.
How many days do you need in San Francisco?
Three days for the essentials: the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Chinatown, the cable cars and Fisherman's Wharf. Five days to add Golden Gate Park, Lands End, the Mission and Sausalito. A week with a day in the vineyards and one at Muir Woods or Point Reyes.
Is San Francisco dangerous?
Not in most tourist areas, but some places call for vigilance, especially the Tenderloin and part of Market Street, where poverty and drug use are visible. The main risk for a visitor is car break-ins: leave nothing inside.
Can you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge?
Yes, via the east sidewalk, open to pedestrians during the day: 2.7 km each way, about 45 minutes. Cyclists use one sidewalk or the other depending on the day and time. Many visitors cross by bike and then return from Sausalito by ferry.
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