20 Attractions to Explore Near Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Aquatic Park Historic District is a National Historic Landmark and building complex on the San Francisco Bay waterfront within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The district includes a beach, bathhouse, municipal pier, restrooms, concessions stand, stadia, and two speaker towers.

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility.

A majestic public square with shops and restaurants and a 5-star hotel in the Marina area of San Francisco, California. A portion of the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company. ​​​​​​​The square once featured over 40 specialty shops and restaurants. Some of the original shops and restaurants still occupy the square.

Lombard Street is an east-west street in San Francisco, California that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. Stretching from The Presidio east to The Embarcadero. The famous one-block section claimed to be "the most crooked street in the world", is located along the eastern segment in the Russian Hill neighborhood. It is a major tourist attraction.

The Cartoon Art Museum is a California art museum that specializes in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art. The permanent collection features some 7,000 pieces as of 2015, including original animation cels, comic book pages and sculptures.

Hyde Street Pier is home to the fleet of historic landmark vessels in the collection of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, which is a unit of the National Park System. For a modest admission fee, visitors can board this fleet of turn-of-century historic ships.

One of the popular tourist attractions in San Francisco. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street. It is one of the busiest and well-known tourist attractions in the western United States. Other tourist attractions at the wharf include museums, souvenir stores, historical buildings, scenic vistas over the Bay and the famous sea lions at Pier 39.

The Wave Organ is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture located on a jetty in the San Francisco Bay. There is a panoramic view of the city across the narrow channel into the St. Francis and Golden Gate yacht clubs, bounded on the left by the Fort Mason piers and to the right by a towering eucalyptus grove bordering Crissy Field. The park and trail to it are wheelchair accessible, with the trailhead at the Marina Green park.

The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is one of two remaining fully functional Liberty ships of the 2,710 built and launched during World War II. Now based in San Francisco, she is a rare survivor of the 6,939-ship 6 June 1944 D-Day armada off the coast of Normandy, France.

The USS Pampanito is a meticulously restored World War II diesel-electric powered submarine. Located at Historic Pier 45, in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf, Pampanito is both a museum and a memorial to those who served in the "silent service." Built in 1943, Pampanito made six patrols in the Pacific during which she sank six enemy ships and damaged four others. Open daily to the public, offering self-guided audio tours and docent-led tours.

The Musée Mécanique is a for-profit interactive museum of 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts, located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. With over 300 mechanical machines, it is one of the world's largest privately owned collections.

Madame Tussauds San Francisco is a wax museum located in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco in California. The attraction opened on June 26, 2014 and became the 17th Madame Tussauds museum to open worldwide. The attraction features wax figures of famous figures from movies, music, politics, popular culture and sport. It also celebrates “The Spirit of San Francisco” with wax figures of local artists, musicians and activists from the city's past.

PIER 39—the most visited destination in San Francisco offers two levels of dining, entertainment, shopping and attractions, all surrounded by unbeatable views of the city and the Bay. A two-story carousel is one of the pier's more dominant features, although it is not directly visible from the street and sits towards the end of the pier. The family-oriented entertainment and presence of marine mammals make this a popular tourist location for families with kids.

This is one of the city's first parks established in 1847. It has been featured in many feature films. The park is bordered by sidewalk cafes and restaurants such as Mama's, Park Tavern restaurant and the Liguria Bakery as well as the Sts. Peter and Paul Church.

Aquarium of the Bay is a public aquarium located at The Embarcadero and Beach Street. Ithas focused its mission on enabling ocean conservation and climate action both locally and globally. It is one of seven institutions under parent company Bay Ecotarium, the largest watershed conservation organization in the Bay Area. It contains over 750,000 gallons of salt water that over 24,000 animals from 200+ species call home. It is the only Smithsonian-affiliated aquarium in the state of California.

Swan Oyster Depot is larger than life and arguably, the best seafood restaurant in San Francisco. Swan's menu has remained largely unchanged throughout its history, and it has had exactly the same 18 wooden stools and marble counter that were installed for the post-earthquake reopening in 1912.

This is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. Situated in the Marina District of San Francisco, California. In addition to hosting art exhibitions, it remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals.

The San Francisco Cable Car Museum in the Nob Hill area offers exhibits that trace the history and workings of the iconic San Francisco cable cars. The museum is part of the complex that also houses the cable car power house, which drives the cables, and the car depot.

Coit Tower, is one of the city’s most interesting destinations. Located on top of Telegraph Hill, it provides 360-degree views of the entire city. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Grace Cathedral is an Episcopal church in the heart of San Francisco. This is a house of prayer for all as we are a warm, diverse and an inviting congregat.The parish, which was founded in 1849, lost its previous church building in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The cathedral is famed for its mosaics by Jan Henryk De Rosen, a replica of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, two labyrinths, varied stained glass windows, Keith Haring AIDS Chapel altarpiece, and medieval and contemporary furnishings.