Tours, tickets and day trips in San Francisco
The sights with published visitor numbers, the heritage listings, and the towns close enough for a day out.
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Gate National Recreation Area | 12,400,045 | 2020 |
| San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park | 1,936,101 | 2020 |
| Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | 1,500,761 | 2015 |
| Fort Point | 1,315,241 | 2010 |
| San Francisco Museum of Modern Art | 632,519 | 2012 |
| M. H. de Young Memorial Museum | 394,402 | 2021 |
| Legion of Honor | 302,175 | 2015 |
| Musée Mécanique | 100,000 | — |
| Randall Museum | 90,000 | — |
The busiest is Golden Gate National Recreation Area at 12,400,045 visitors in 2020. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
Day trips from San Francisco
| Route | Country | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco to Berkeley | United States | 17 km (10 mi) | about 16 min |
| San Francisco to Richmond | United States | 19 km (12 mi) | about 19 min |
| San Francisco to San Mateo | United States | 25 km (16 mi) | about 24 min |
| San Francisco to Hayward | United States | 32 km (20 mi) | about 31 min |
| San Francisco to Vallejo | United States | 39 km (24 mi) | about 38 min |
| San Francisco to Concord | United States | 41 km (25 mi) | about 40 min |
| San Francisco to Fremont | United States | 46 km (28 mi) | about 44 min |
| San Francisco to Sunnyvale | United States | 56 km (35 mi) | about 55 min |
| San Francisco to San Jose | United States | 67 km (42 mi) | about 1 h 5 min |
| San Francisco to Fresno | United States | 261 km (162 mi) | about 4 h 14 min |
| San Francisco to Sacramento | United States | 121 km (75 mi) | about 1 h 58 min |
| San Francisco to Stockton | United States | 101 km (63 mi) | about 1 h 39 min |
Distances are straight-line; road and rail routes run about 15–25% longer. Times are estimates from distance and typical speeds, not timetables.
Where to book tours and tickets
We take no bookings for these providers and hold no reservation with them. The provider you choose handles payment, confirmation, changes and refunds. How that works.
Common questions
What is the most visited attraction in San Francisco?
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with 12,400,045 visitors in 2020 (Wikidata).
How are the journey times on this page worked out?
From straight-line distance and typical speeds for each mode, so they are estimates for planning, not timetables. Road and rail routes run 15–25% longer than the straight line.
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.