25 Free Things to Do with Kids in San Francisco
San Francisco is the 3rd most expensive city in the United States, but don’t let that discourage you and your family from visiting and exploring this beautiful city by the bay.
There are still tons of great FREE things to do in San Francisco that your family will actually find to be really fun!
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Free Activities in One of the Most Expensive Cities in the US
San Francisco is famous for its Golden Gate Bridge, steep hills, gorgeous Pacific Ocean views, eclectic people, appealing job market, and amazing food.
Because of all this, it has grown to be one of the most expensive cities to travel to (and live in) in the United States of America!
Don’t let that discourage you from traveling to this City by the Bay, however. There are plenty of great ways to see this great city that won’t completely hurt your family’s budget.
In this post, we’ll dive into 25 family-friendly things to do in San Francisco that the kids will actually enjoy.
With these free activities, your family will be able to enjoy the amazing views, history, and culture that make San Francisco such a desirable place to visit and live in.
And stick around until the end for more budget-friendly California travel ideas for your family.
Popular Tourist Areas
1) Free shows at Pier 39
Since San Francisco’s Pier 39 is technically a retail space located in one of the most touristy area of the city, visiting this popular spot can be quite expensive.
However, Pier 39 offers FREE entertainment every day, several times day at the stage located right behind the carousel at the Bay End of the Pier.
Watch musicians, magicians, jugglers, acrobats and more all for free!
Check out Pier 39’s website for current schedules.
2) Sea Lions at Pier 39
These boisterous San Francisco Bay residents started making Pier 39 their home shortly after the big Loma Prieta earthquake that rattled San Francisco in 1989.
Now, they are the loudest, most charming attraction at the Pier and you can find them at the Pier’s K-dock
The kids will love them!
3) Walk across Golden Gate Bridge
No trip to San Francisco is complete without a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge and what’s great about the bridge is that you don’t have to spend a dime in order to experience its grandeur.
Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is completely FREE, so bundle up, put on some comfortable walking shoes, let the kids lead the way.
The views from the bridge will blow your family away.
4) Watch 3 free baseball innings at Oracle Park
Depending on the day and game, lines could get long for these standing-room-only spots, so arrive early to guarantee your spot.
By the Water
5) Baker Beach
Baker Beach is a great beach located on the western shoreline of the Presidio of San Francisco.
Even though it’s only about a mile long, its offers spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands located on opposite side of the bay.
It’s a great place for picnics and sandcastles, but not so great for swimming because of the frigid water. Regardless, the views here make the visit worth it.
6) Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach is 3.5 miles long and is located in an area of San Francisco that very few tourists go to. This means that it’s less busy and offers more space for kids to run, jump, and be as loud as they want.
Like all beaches in San Francisco, Ocean Beach water might be too cold and too rough to swim in, but it’s still a great place to fly kites, build sand castles, and watch the local surfers.
7) Crissy Field East Beach
The East Beach of Crissy Field is a sweet little San Francisco Beach offers amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge and is a popular beach among city locals.
Again, like other San Francisco beaches, the water here is quite frigid, however, the water is calm enough to wade and splash in since this beach leads to the San Francisco Bay as opposed to the Pacific Ocean.
8) The Wave Organ at High Tide
In collaboration with The Exploratorium, artist Peter Richards created the Wave Organ in 1986.
The Wave Organ is an acoustic sculpture located on a jetty on the San Francisco Bay.
During high tide, this unique work of art projects the splashing and gurgling sounds of the water through its many pipes.
Kids will have a great time bouncing from pipe to pipe, listening to the different sounds.
9) Hike Lands End: Mile Rock Beach
Mile Rock Beach is a hidden cove in San Francisco’s Lands End Recreational Area and is a great place to have lunch by the crashing waves.
Getting here requires a short hike down Lands End Trail, to the California Coastal Trail, and from there there are signs that leave the way to Mile Rock Beach.
This beach is rocky, so don’t expect to build sand castles here. This beach, however, is perfect for rock stacking, which is a challenging, beach activity a lot of kids have fun with.
Parks & Gardens
10) Japanese Tea Garden
The Japanese Tea Garden is FREE to San Francisco non-residents every Monday, Wednesday and Friday before 10am. It’s an amazing San Francisco gem that makes you feel like you’re in a totally different country the second you step through it’s front gate.
At the Japanese Tea Garden, kids can climb a drum bridge, look at giant koi, and walk under beautiful Japanese pagodas, while parents can enjoy the tranquil, perfectly manicured landscaping.
11) Botanical Gardens
Admission to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens is FREE to non-residents every day before 9am. It’s also FREE all day on the second Tuesday of every month.
This local favorites is a place where you and your kids can stroll through and explore 8,000 different types of plants form around there world.
There is also a great little pond where kids can find koi and turtles. In addition, the garden offers plenty of open space to have picnics on.
12) Salesforce Park
Salesforce Park is a little green oasis, located in the middle of San Francisco’s busy downtown area.
This free public park is actually a living roof sitting above street level and is filled with lots of space for kids to run and families to play in.
The park is home to lots fun things like walking trails, grassy picnic areas, and dancing water fountains. What’s also great about this park is that it offers FREE programs and activities that include things like yoga, story times, and live music for the you and your family to enjoy.
Here is a link to their events calendar.
13) Koret Children’s Quarter
The Koret Children’s Quarter is a favorite, FREE activity among many San Francisco families.
Located in an area of Golden Gate Park that’s close to other popular park attractions like the Japanese Tea Garden, Botanical Gardens, and the California Academy of Sciences, this playground gives young visitors plenty of space to run, climb, crawl, dig, and slide!
Pro tip: Bring some cardboard for the tall, concrete slide!
14) Presidio Tunnel Tops Outpost Playground
The Outpost playground at Presidio’s newest recreational space, Tunnel Tops, has quickly become a hippest playground in the city.
All the play structures at this playground was built using natural supplies like fallen trees, rocks, and boulders, which all provide a great natural play space for active kids.
One of the best parts about this FREE kid-friendly activity, however, is it’s amazing views of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge.
Music Concerts
15) Stern Grove Festival
The San Francisco Stern Grove Festival is a FREE summer concert series that runs annually during the summer months.
Historically, this local, kid-friendly favorite has hosted acts like the SF Symphony, Leanne Rimes, and Fitz & the Tantrums.
Concert-goers can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy during the concert, but can also take advantage of the food vendors available there.
16) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is another FREE music festival that is a huge hit among many San Francisco Families because it is located in the middle of Golden Gate Park, which mean there plenty of room for kids to run around.
This festival, which usually happens every fall, features multiple stages. This allows for acts to play simultaneously at different locations in the festival.
Like the Stern Grove Festival, guest are allowed to bring in their won food, but tons of food vendors are available at the festival as well. In fact, many concert-goes go simply for the wide range of delicious food available at the festival.
Hikes & Walks
17) Strawberry Hill and Stow Lake
Many San Francisco visitors enjoy pedal boating at Stow Lake, which costs money.
However, a great FREE kid-friendly alternative to this activity is a Strawberry Hill hike.
Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park sits on a little island in the middle of Stow Lake and the top of the hill offers some great views of San Francisco and the lake below.
During this hike, kids will come across bridges, waterfalls, turtles, a Chinese pagoda, ducks, geese, and stepping stones that cross over water.
18) Walk around Fort Funston
Fort Funston is the place to go if you have a dog-lover in your family.
This oceanside public space is one of the few spaces in San Francisco that dog-owners can let their furry pals off leash. This means that Fort Funston is a popular place for locals to take their people-friendly dogs.
On any given day, there are tons of happy dogs running around.
In addition, Fort Funston has some amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and when wind conditions are just right, para-gliders and hang-gliders can be found soaring high in the air.
19) Hike the California Coastal Trail
The California Coastal Trail is an easy 2.5 mile hike in the Presidio of San Francisco.
On this hike, there is so much for energetic kids to see and enjoy.
Along this trail, your little explorers will come across things likes war batteries, wild life, the Golden Gate Bridge, Baker Beach, and breath-taking ocean views.
20) Free Walking Tours
San Francisco City Guides offers FREE San Francisco walking tours led by serious volunteers who love sharing their passion and knowledge of San Francisco.
There are tours for specific San Francisco neighborhoods, popular historical events, and even tours that take you to places that have the best views of the city.
Museums & Historical Sites
21) Presidio Tunnel Tops Field Station
Located right by the Outpost playground at the Presidio’s Tunnel Tops, the Field Station is an amazing FREE activity center for young learners.
The Field Station offers tons of science and art activities for it’s visitors.
Some activities kids will get to experience at the Field Station include things like scavenger hunts around the center, identifying different animal prints, drawing native butterflies, and identifying mystery objects with just their hands.
The Field Station is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 11am to 4pm and weekends from 10am to 5pm.
22) Hamon Observation Tower at the De Young
The Hamon Observation Tower at the San Francisco De Young Museum would make a great FREE place to visit for families as well.
It gives visitors some amazing 360 views of San Francisco and Golden Gate Park. From that high up, it’s really fun for kids to see all the people, cars, and bikes in the park, moving around below.
What’s great as well, is that the Hamon Observation Towers is located within a short walking distance from other great Golden Gate Park attractions like the Japanese Tea Garden, the Botanical Gardens, and the California Academy of Sciences.
23) Cable Car Museum
The San Francisco Cable Car Museum is another great FREE thing to do with kids in San Francisco.
This museum is home to cable car artifacts, interesting San Francisco photos, and fascinating cable car mechanical displays.
The best part about this museum is that it’s also the powerhouse that actually moves the famous cable cars throughout the city.
Kids can literally watch the big engines and winding cables that make the cable cars go.
24) Randall Museum
Another easy FREE thing do to in San Francisco with kids is take a visit to the Randall Museum.
This local family favorite is a small, but jam-packed museum of science, art, and nature. Kids will truly enjoy the interesting art and interactive exhibits here.
They’ll especially love the live animal exhibit. This exhibit features live animals like chickens, rabbits, fish, raccoons, and birds. It’s the perfect place to get at up-close look at California’s diverse wildlife.
25) Guided Tour of Fort Point
During these 15-minute tours, rangers talk about the interesting history of the site, point out the unique structure, and discuss its significance in the Civil War.
In addition to the tours, Fort Point is located at the south anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge, so it offers some awe-inspiring views of the bridge and the San Francisco Bay.
In Conclusion
Finding free activities in
San Francisco that kids will love
is possible!
Yes, San Francisco is expensive, but theres good reasons why!
With great views, amazing food, rich culture and interesting history, it’s no wonder it’s one of the priciest cities in the US to visit an live in. This shouldn’t discourage families from visiting this amazing city though.
With this some insider tips and this simple guide, you and your kids can truly enjoy this amazing city by taking advantage of the many really fun and FREE things to do in San Francisco!
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