Audium 1616 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94109, Located at the Corner of Franklin Street, 415-771-1616, This one-of-a-kind theater presents a unique exploration of space through music. One can listen as 136 speakers produce sounds that move past and under and surround the listener in the darkness of this 49-seat theater. more... 

Bay Area Discovery Museum 557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito, CA 94965, 415-487-4398, This hands-on family museum features exhibits that focus on natural sciences, the arts, and other multimedia presentations. Attractions include an exploration of San Francisco Bay, the chance to outwit and navigate a maze, and the opportunity to create innovative art projects. more... 

Cheese School of San Francisco, The 1555 Pacific Avenue Second Florr, San Francisco, CA 94109, 415-346-7530, A one in a lifetime experience is waiting for you at this facility. The Cheese School offers fantastic and delicious education including classes like For the Love of Chocolate, Triple Crèmes & Champagnes, American Cheese & Wine and many more! A great way to spend an afternoon doing something new and different! more...

Zeum 221 Fourth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415-777-2800, This fun and inspiring children's museum offers amazing hands-on fun for kids, including exhibits that nurture creativity, an animator's studio, a movie production lab, and an outdoor carousel. more... 

Haas-Lilienthal House (circa 1886) 2007 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, Located Between Washington & Jackson, 415-441-3015, This elegant Queen Anne Victorian home delights visitors with one-hour tours of its large, formal rooms and many original furnishings; the Ballroom features books, postcards and more for sale. more... 

Mission Dolores (circa 1782) 3321 Sixteenth Street, San Francisco, CA 94114, 415-621-8203, Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this place is San Francisco's first registered landmark and it is the oldest intact building in the city. The structure houses a variety of paintings and artifacts from California's Mission period. more... 

Hyde Street Pier Historic Ships Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-561-7100, The only "floating" National Park, this area is home to the world's largest collection of historic ships. Some of these National Landmark vessels include the 1886 square rigged ship Balclutha, the 1895 schooner C.A. Thayer, and the 1890 ferryboat Eureka; tours. Special events, and programs are held throughout the year, and some ships are also available for private rentals.

Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library & Museum 1111 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108-2284, 415-776-7000 ext. 143, This library and museum seeks to tell the story of Freemasonry in California through books, photographs, special exhibits, lectures, and tours of the building. more... 

Maritime Museum Library Located at Building E, Fort Mason Center, 415-561-7040, This library holds one of the world's largest collections of maritime records, including maps, logbooks, ship plans, photographs, and oral histories. more...

San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108, Located at Veterans Building, Fourth Floor, 415-255-4800, Numerous exhibitions, presentations, and extensive educational programs are featured at this performing arts research library. more... 

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-581-3500, One of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco's collection includes over 17,000 pieces of art work spanning 6,000 years of history.  more...

California Academy of Sciences 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, Located in Golden Gate Park, 415-379-8000, "The greenest museum of its size in the world," the 412,000 square foot California Academy of Sciences is a multifaceted scientific institution that features a four-story tropical rainforest, an aquarium, a colony of African penguins, a planetarium, natural history museum and more. more...

Cartoon Art Museum 655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, 415-227-8666, This is one of only two museums in the United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of cartoon art. The museum features 11,000 original pieces in its permanent collection, as well as a 3,000-volume research and library facility. more... 

Chinese Historical Society of America 965 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-391-1188, This museum and learning center houses the largest collection of Chinese American artifacts in the country, and it traces the history of the Chinese American from the 1850s to the present.  more... 

Exploratorium-Museum of Science 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123, 415-563-7337, Voted the best museum in San Francisco, this experimental, hands-on museum features over 650 interactive exhibits which are designed to stimulate the mind and spark curiosity. more... 

Golden Gate Railroad Museum Located at Hunters Point Shipyard, Building 809, 415-822-8728, This museum offers visitors the chance to learn about local railroad history by touring old passenger cars, taking a cab or train ride, using a handcar, and learning how to run a locomotive. The museum has preserved numerous pieces of steam and passenger railroad equipment. more...

Jewish Museum, The 166 Geary Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-591-8800, Exhibitions having to do with Jewish history that are geared towards a multicultural audience of Jews and non-Jews are featured in an effort to serve the diverse and broad-based Bay Area community at this museum. more... 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 2911 Russell Street, San Francisco, CA 94705, 510-549-6950, Situated on beautiful park-like grounds, this museum of Jewish art, culture, and history features an unmatched archive of Western United States Jewish history, as well as tens of thousands of Jewish ceremonial, folk, and art pieces from around the world. more... 

Legion of Honor, The Thirty-Fourtth Avenue & Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94122, Located at Lincoln Park, 415-863-3330, This museum showcases ancient and European art that dates from 2,500 B.C. through the 20th century, and it has one of the world's leading collections of Rodin sculptures. Other artists represented at this museum include El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, and Picasso. more... 

Mexican Museum Located at Fort Mason, Building D, 415-202-9700, Artistic expressions of the Mexican and Latino peoples and cultures are featured in many collections and exhibitions at this cultural museum. more...

Museum of Craft and Folk Art Located at Fort Mason Center, Landmark Building A, 415-775-0991, This unusual museum features witty and elegant exhibitions of contemporary crafts, American folk art, and traditional ethnic art, from both home and abroad, as well as offers educational programs and interesting publications. more...

Octagon House 2645 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, Located at Union Street, 415-441-7512, Situated in a former circa 1861 residence, this museum features Early American decorative arts and documents, including the signatures of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Informal tours are held monthly on the second Sunday and the fourth Thursday of the month. 

Presidio Museum Lincoln Boulevard and Funston Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108, Located at Fort Mason, 415-561-4331, Originally built as a hospital in the 1860s, this museum focuses on the role of the military in the history and development of San Francisco from 1776 to the present. 

Ripley's Believe It or Not 175 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, CA 94133, Located at Fisherman's Wharf, 415-771-6188, This museum invites visitors to see the odd, the unusual, and the unbelievable, including such oddities and curiosities as a shrunken torso, a cable car made of match sticks, and hundreds of other hard-to-believe artifacts. more... 

San Francisco Airport Museum 1766 El Camino Real, San Francisco, CA 94010, Located at San Francisco International Airport, 650-821-6700, Exhibitions featured throughout these airport terminals highlight aviation history in the Pacific area, and it showcases the unique cultural life of San Francisco. more... 

San Francisco Art Institute 800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94133, Located Between Leavenworth & Jones Streets, 415-771-7020, This museum features numerous contemporary art exhibitions, artistic projects, a Diego Rivera mural, and a cafe that offers spectacular views of the Bay. more... 

San Francisco Maritime Museum 900 Beach Street at the Foot of Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, Located Across from Ghirardelli Square, 415-561-7100, Housed in an historic Art-Deco building, this museum features hundreds of maritime artifacts, photographs, artwork, and model ships. One of the highlights is Sparks, Waves, and Wizards, the only exhibit of its kind to document the history of communication at sea. more... 

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 151 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, Located Between Mission and Howard Streets, 415-357-4000, This spectacular museum offers the West Coast's most comprehensive collection of 20th century art, as well as shopping at the Museum Store and dining at the Caffe Museo. The extensive and varied collection includes important works in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture and design, and media arts. more... 

Society of California Pioneers 300 Fourth Street at Folsom, San Francisco, CA 94107, 415-957-1849, Established in 1850, the Society of California Pioneers is the oldest historical society west of the Mississippi. They offer a historical museum, an art gallery, a research library, and a variety of educational programs. more... 

SomArts Cultural Center 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415-552-2131, This museum showcases a variety of cultural art created by emerging and professional multicultural artists, as well as hosts shows and special events throughout the year. more... 

Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf 145 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-885-4834, 800-439-4305, At this wax museum, visitors can learn about the art and craft of sculpting in wax, as well as see life-like replicas of famous celebrities and historical and legendary figures from the past.  more... 

Wells Fargo History Museum 420 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-396-2619, Two levels of this legendary bank's headquarters are filled with an assortment of artifacts from the time of Wells Fargo's founding to the present, including such items as stagecoaches and real gold nuggets. more... 

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415-978-2787, This spectacular downtown arts complex presents a variety of visual arts, as well as showcases the works of contemporary artists and the performing arts. The center presents a wide and varied range of artists and artistic styles in order to reflect America's many cultural communities. more... 

Conservatory of Flowers JFK Drive, San Francisco, CA 94117, Located in Golden Gate Park, 415-666-7001, 1,700 plant species from the tropical forests of more than 50 countries around the world are represented via exhibits and floral displays at the Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest public conservatory in the western hemisphere. more...

California Academy of the Sciences 55 Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, Located at Golden Gate Park, 415-750-7145, At this science center, visitors can experience an earthquake, explore the deep sea, view starry skies, and track wild animals of Africa, among other adventures. more...

USS Pampanito Submarine Located at Pier 45, Fisherman's Wharf, 415-755-1942, Having seen action in the Pacific during World War Two, this submarine is one of the most completely restored naval vessels in the United States. Visitors can come aboard and explore the details of the submarine, and listen to a state-of-the-art audio tour that incorporates the actual voices of Pampanito crewmen telling tales of their adventures aboard the vessel.  more...

Blue and Gold Fleet Located at Pier 41, Marine Terminal, 415-705-8200, This company offers cruises that provide wonderful views of San Francisco Bay, the island of Alcartaz, private charters, and commuter ferry services to and from Tiburon, Vallejo, and the East Bay.  more...

Dockside Boat and Bed Located at Pier 39, 415-392-5526, 800-436-2574, Here one can spend a night on a yacht, taking advantage of the dockside accommodations that feature 22 private motor and sailing yachts from which to choose. This is the way to truly experience the ocean, as one catches whiffs of the salt air, listens to the gently lapping waves, and gently, soothingly rocks with the motion of the undulating waves, while being bedazzled by beautiful sunsets or the lights shimmering on the night waters. more...

Gray Line San Francisco Sightseeing Located at Pier 43 1/2 Embarcadero, 415-434-8687, 888-428-6937, Half-day, full-day, and evening tours of San Francisco, Muir Woods, Sausalito, the Wine Country, Yosemite, and more are offered by this full service company that specializes in charters and customized tours.  more...

Hornblower Cruises and Events Located at Pier 33, 415-788-8866, 800-ON-THE-BAY, This company offers premier dining cruises that feature imaginative cuisine, spectacular views, and lively entertainment. more...

Red and White Fleet Pier 43 -1/2 at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-673-2900, Founded in 1892, the historic Red and White Fleet is legendary for its premiere San Francisco Cruises. Family owned, the Red and White Fleet is committed to environmental sustainability and community education. Enjoy spectacular views of San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the San Francisco skyline.  more...

Rendezvous Charters Located at Pier 40, South Beach Harbor, 415-543-7333, Enjoy a romantic cruise at sunset, or a beautiful Sunday morning brunch, aboard one of these classic schooners. One option is to sail around the bay in the oldest certified sailing vessel in San Francisco. Charters include two to three hour cruises, and special tours can be arranged for holidays and special occasions.  more...

San Francisco Electric Tour Company 165 Jefferson Street, Suite 2F, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-474-3130, 877-474-3130, Guided Segway tours of the San Francisco waterfront is provided through this company that provides three hours of fun where visitors can see San Francisco traveling at eight miles per hour. more...