# San Francisco sightseeing help **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922 "2012-12-13T14:23:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/21 "2012-12-13T22:30:20Z")
The Ferry Building’s fun, especially if there’s a farmer’s market being held at the same time. And there are a few iconic hotels that are worth stopping by as well - the Palace Hotel and the Fairmont Hotel are both breathtaking inside. They’re all good free alternatives should the afternoon turn into a rainy one. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/22 "2012-12-14T00:40:44Z")
If you can manage it, go over to the old Navy base in Alameda to see the aircraft carrier that’s now a museum. It’s not far; you can take BART to 12th Street Station and then the bus to the pier. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/23 "2012-12-14T01:15:38Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe he is thinking of the California Academy of Sciences, which is in Golden Gate Park and which does have penguins. Nice place, if a bit expensive (it just got extensively remodeled.) But not anywhere near to a zoo, though they do have a nice rain forest exhibit with birds and butterflies. Yeah, don’t confuse these two. Academy of Sciences is a can’t miss, while the zoo is very much a meh. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/24 "2012-12-14T01:30:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe he is thinking of the California Academy of Sciences, which is in Golden Gate Park and which does have penguins. Nice place, if a bit expensive **(it just got extensively remodeled.)** But not anywhere near to a zoo, though they do have a nice rain forest exhibit with birds and butterflies. That’s a bit of an understatement! It got torn down, demolished, vaporized to atomic plasma, then re-built from scratch from the foundation up! I liked the overall classical look of the old building better. The new one just looks (from the outside) like a big cubic block of glass and steel like any other modern office building. Although they did try to disguise it as a Hobbit hole by piling a bunch of dirt on the roof and planting a lawn there. As for **Soul Brother Number Two** and **tdn** : Search this board for other threads about San Francisco. There have been numerous threads already, this past year alone, seeking sight-seeing advice in S.F. and the surrounding Bay Area, and much good advice was given! Not necessarily car-free advice, but among all the suggestion there must be a variety of car-free ideas there. Check them out! ETA: Just how expensive is Cal Academy these days? [del]Do they still have a free day (sponsored by Crocker Bank, IIRC) once a month?[/del] Okay, I just googled that for myself. > **[Plan a Visit to the California Academy of Sciences](https://www.calacademy.org/plan-your-visit)** > > We're open every day of the year. Visit an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum—all under one living roof and with a single ticket. Free days courtesy of Chase Bank, for times a year. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/25 "2012-12-15T12:32:35Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If you can manage it, go over to the old Navy base in Alameda to see the aircraft carrier that’s now a museum. It’s not far; you can take BART to 12th Street Station and then the bus to the pier. That’s the USS Hornet, and yes, it’s a good attraction. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/26 "2012-12-15T13:39:04Z")
I’m just posting in this thread to say that I probably wont be able to help you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922/27 "2012-12-15T19:57:00Z")
At the end of the day, go to The Buena Vista and have an Irish Coffee. It can be touristy at times, but I’ve been there when it’s just a nice place to have a drink on a cold day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-sightseeing-help/643922.md?page=1)