How to Spend One Perfect Day in San Francisco: A First-Timer's Itinerary
If you’re short on time but want to experience the best of San Francisco in just one day, you’re in for a treat!
This iconic city offers a little bit of everything—stunning natural beauty, rich history, vibrant neighborhoods, and world-famous landmarks. Whether you're catching a misty glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge, wandering through Fisherman’s Wharf, or soaking in the city views from Twin Peaks, San Francisco delivers an unforgettable day trip experience.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to spend one amazing day in San Francisco, including must-see sights, local gems, and food stops that you won’t want to miss!
Morning Arrival and Hotel Drop Off
We landed in San Francisco around 8:00 AM, which gave us the entire day to explore before our evening commitments. We were in town for the NBA All-Star Weekend and couldn’t wait to check out this new-to-us city!
Tip: Drop your bags at your hotel first so you can explore hands-free. We stayed at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, a central downtown location that made walking to major attractions super easy.
To start off your morning site-seeing, breakfast is a must to fuel you up!
Take an uber to Pier 39 to eat breakfast at Eagle Café. I had the omlet and my husband had the eggs benedict and both were delicious! The serving size was more than I could eat, and I totally recommend getting your potatoes dressed with the onion, bacon and sour cream….yummmmm. This restaurant is a local favorite and gives a comfy feel that’s perfect for morning mimosas or coffee while overlooking the pier.
Tip: order the sourdough bread!
From there take a leisurely stroll down Pier 39 and shop till your hearts content! There is everything from clothes, novelties, hot sauces and more.
One of my favorite things from the day – seeing the Sea Lions! This will also be your first look at the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge! If you head to the end of Pier 39 and go to the left (towards the bridge), just follow the sound of the honking, whining babies in the water. Seriously. They are so dang cute. The smell is something else though……
You’ll also be able to see Alcatraz from here. With 1 day in San Francisco, you can probably do the visit, but it wasn’t something on our list (I don’t do well on Ferry rides). I hear it’s super cool to see though! Maybe next time.
On your way out of the pier, I highly encourage you to stop for some Mini Donuts at Trish’s! They were delicious and will fuel your walk down towards Fisherman’s Wharf.
Fisherman’s Wharf is a cool spot to walk around the shops, see the old warehouses on the docks and even grab some food in case you are hungry. There’s some great spots to sit down for a drink and apps while people watching out towards the piers.
From there, keep walking down towards Ghirardelli’s Square to see where the famous chocolate maker got their start in San Francisco. There’s a beautiful grassy area to your left under Ghirardelli and on your right you’ll see people swimming laps in the water, and another stunning look out towards Golden Gate. You can take a tour of the factory for a chocolate experience or stop in their shop to grab something sweet.
Grab another Uber to drive you over to either of two options:
Option 1: If the weather is great, have your driver drop you off at Chrissy Field where you can walk down the beach or on the trails towards the Golden Gate Bridge to get ALLLLL the views from the water level. As you get closer, you can walk out on Torpedo Wharf or grab a refreshment at The Warming Hut. Then walk up the trails to see the magnificent bridge from the street level where there are multiple view points. You want to eventually get to the Postcard Viewpoint to have the best views IMO – all spots are on Maps as well to make them easier to find!
Option 2: Go straight to the Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion and bypass the walking trails along the shoreline.
Such a gorgeous stop!
Next up – you guessed it, another Uber ride. You can totally rent bikes or walk, but this next stop will be quite a distance away and I didn’t want to trek through all of the crazy hills in this city on my feet. Uber prices were also pretty darn cheap so you won’t be breaking the bank I promise!
We stopped at the famous Full House Painted Ladies street! I LOVED this show growing up and it was so cool to see this scene in person. It’s a quick stopover, so we put it in the Uber ride as a stop (so our driver waited), with the final destination being the China Town Gates.
After a quick 5 minute stop, we continued the journey to the entrance of China Town for lunch! We are total suckers for any Asian food so we knew we needed to eat here….twice….during our weekend stop and lunch was the perfect time to jump on in. We ate at A-1 Café Restaurant and the food was super yummy! There was even someone from the local paper who was taking pictures and writing up an article on the chef and his restaurant since it’s loved by so many.
After lunch it was a quick walk back to our hotel at the Marriott Marquis where we took a quick power nap before our event that evening. BUT if you are up for more action here are some other recommendations on what to add to your to-do list in San Francisco!
Rooftop drinks:
- Cavana
Events:
- See the Giants play baseball at Oracle Park
- Watch the Golden State Warriors play basketball at the Chase Center
Museums:
- Exploratorium – such a cool science museum (this was were our event was that evening in a private setting)
- de Young – Classic paintings and sculptures
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- California Academy of Sciences - nature museum that has an aquarium, planetarium and a rainforest (how neat!?)
Finish off your day by enjoying dinner and drinks in this beautiful city! San Francisco can easily be seen in 1 day if you like to move fast with hitting all the highlights along the way. If you have another day in the city and want to experience somewhere new, check out this post on HOW TO VISIT NAPA IN ONE DAY!