A Four-Day San Francisco Itinerary
Four days is enough to cover the historic core, the park, the waterfront and one trip out of town, without doubling back across the city more than once a day.
Where to base yourself
A hotel near Union Square or the Embarcadero keeps every day below within a short cable car or walk of home base. Compare San Francisco hotels on Booking.com before fixing dates, since Alcatraz tickets and the Muir Woods reservation for day four should be booked around whatever nights you land on.
Day 1: the historic core
Start at Union Square, then walk to the Ferry Building Marketplace for coffee and produce. Cross into Chinatown through the Dragon Gate at Grant and Bush, wander Waverly Place and Ross Alley, then climb the Filbert Steps to Coit Tower for its free ground-floor WPA murals ($10 to $12 for the elevator to the observation deck). End the day in North Beach.
Day 2: Golden Gate Park and the bridge
Golden Gate Park runs 1,017 acres from Haight-Ashbury to Ocean Beach. Spend the morning at the California Academy of Sciences or the de Young Museum, whose 9th-floor Hamon Tower is free without a museum ticket. In the afternoon, walk or bike out to the Golden Gate Bridge; crossing on foot or by bike is always free in both directions. Book a bike rental for the bridge ride on GetYourGuide if you’d rather reserve one than search on arrival. Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies fit on the way back downtown.
Day 3: the waterfront and Alcatraz
Book the $47.95 Alcatraz City Cruises Day Tour from Pier 33 well before this trip at alcatrazcitycruises.com , since summer sailings sell out three to six weeks ahead. Fill the rest of the day at Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, where the sea lion colony at K-Dock has been in residence since 1989. A single cable car ride back into downtown costs $9 through early January 2027.
Day 4: Muir Woods and Sausalito
Every Muir Woods visitor by car or shuttle needs a pre-paid timed reservation at gomuirwoods.com ; parking runs $10, the shuttle $3.75 to $4.00 round trip, and entrance $15 for 16 and over. Combine the redwoods with lunch on Sausalito’s waterfront, then return by Golden Gate Ferry from the Ferry Building ($14, or $7.75 with Clipper); Blue & Gold Fleet’s Pier 41 route has been suspended since May 2026.
The verdict
Put Alcatraz and Muir Woods on whichever two days give the earliest reservations, then fill the rest around them; the neighborhoods are forgiving of a shuffled order. For a single-focus outing rather than a full itinerary, see the day trips guide .
Before you go
Layer up regardless of the season: summer in San Francisco runs colder and foggier than spring or fall, not warmer.