Highly Popular Tourist Attractions in San Francisco for First Timers

One of the best things about San Francisco is that you can be in a museum at one point of time and on a mountain at another point of time in the same day. The 4th most populous city in California, San Francisco has lots of cultural attractions, incredible landmarks and invigorating outdoor activities.

From the hippie haunts of Haight-Ashbury to Chinatown – San Francisco is known for its diversity. Tourists and vacationers from around the world take flights to San Francisco for its cultural attractions, seafood, architecture, and the many sights and places of interest in the city. Following can be some of the highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for First Timers.

• Alcatraz: A rocky island that is located in San Francisco Bay is perhaps one of the most famous prisons in the world. Though it is today managed by the National Park service, it used to serve as home to some of the most dangerous criminals of the world. Definitely worthy of a visit, the Alcatraz Island, located in beautiful waters, would be one of the highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for fist timers. If you have seen it only in movies like the Birdman of Alcatraz or Escape from Alcatraz, here is your chance to see it in reality.

Alcatraz

• Fisherman's Wharf: Known for its historic waterfront, delicious seafood, spectacular sights and unique shopping, Fisherman’s Wharf is highly popular with tourists taking flights to San Francisco for the first time. Visitors can find here many seafood restaurants and quite a few tourist attractions, such as the USS Pampanito, a World War II Submarine serving today as a museum. Moreover, the area also offers some incredible views of the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and the cityscape. Fisherman’s Wharf is indeed one of the highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for first timers.

Fisherman's Wharf

• Golden Gate Bridge: This gigantic suspension bridge has become an icon of the city and a landmark achievement for the engineers. The Golden Gate Bridge is spectacular, spanning the entrance of San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.  One of the highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for first timers, the Golden Gate Bridge stretches 4,200 feet in length and matches a 65-story building in height. Now the gateway to San Francisco, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was first completed in 1937.

Golden Gate Bridge

• Lombard Street: Have you ever heard of the crookedest street in the world. If you had, then you might have known the fact that it is located in San Francisco, at a famous neighborhood known as Lombard Street. This East-West Street is famous for a section on Russian Hill, which is known worldwide as the crookedest street in the world. One of the highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for first timers, Lombard Street features 8 hairpin bends on a steep hill.

Lombard Street

There can be many other highly popular tourist attractions in San Francisco for first timers, such as Pier 39 where you can enjoy many waterfront attractions, including the sight of incredible sea lions and cable cars, which represent one of the last vestiges of old-age cable car systems in the world.