Cheap things to do in San Francisco
Coffee, tacos, dive bars and parks: SF at its best without spending much.
This is San Francisco for people who want the real city: neighbourhood bakeries, murals, free hilltop views, and a cold beer in a cash-only bar. All three days run on foot and transit, and your wallet stays mostly intact. If you're after fine-dining tasting menus and rooftop cocktails, this is the wrong guide.
Day 1: North Beach, Beats and buns
Start with an espresso at Caffe Trieste, climb the Filbert Steps to Coit Tower's free lobby murals, egg tarts in Chinatown, focaccia slices at Golden Boy and a cheap beer at Vesuvio.
- 9:30 AM
Caffe Trieste
Classic Beat-era North Beach café steps from City Lights, perfect cheap espresso to start the day.
Map - 10:15 AM
Coit Tower
Climb the Filbert Steps past the parrots; the lobby murals are free, the elevator to the top is ticketed.
Map - 12:30 PM
Good Mong Kok Bakery
Legendary Chinatown bakery, cheap, cash-only, and the baked buns and egg tarts are the real deal.
Map - 2:00 PM
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
Ferlinghetti's 1953 bookshop; browsing is free, and the upstairs poetry room is the place to linger.
Map - 7:30 PM
Golden Boy Pizza
Square focaccia slices from the counter; the clam and garlic is the one, eaten standing on Green Street.
Map - 9:00 PM
Vesuvio Cafe
Kerouac's old bar on Columbus, a short walk from Golden Boy; order a beer and grab a seat on the mezzanine.
Map
Day 2: Golden Gate Park and Lands End
A cheap day out west: the de Young's free tower in Golden Gate Park, Arizmendi pizza in the Inner Sunset, the Lands End trail past the Sutro Baths ruins, then dinner at Pizzetta 211.
- 10:30 AM
de Young Museum
Skip the paid galleries and ride the free elevator up the Hamon Tower for a view over the whole park.
Map - 12:30 PM
Arizmendi Bakery
Worker owned bakery baking one vegetarian pizza a day, sold by the slice; closed Mondays.
Map - 2:30 PM
Lands End Trail
Free cliff trail with Golden Gate views, from the Sutro Baths ruins through the cypress toward Mile Rock.
Map - 7:30 PM
Pizzetta 211
Tiny Richmond pizza room with thin, blistered pies topped by the season; expect a short wait.
Map
Day 3: The Mission: murals, burritos, beer garden
The Mission on a budget is nearly perfect: the city's oldest building, two alley mural walks, La Taqueria's legendary carnitas, afternoon sun at Dolores Park, a super burrito at El Farolito, and cheap pints at Zeitgeist to close it out.
- 9:30 AM
- 10:15 AM
Mission of San Francisco de Asis
Founded in 1776, the 1791 adobe is the city's oldest building; Clarion Alley's free murals are a few blocks east.
Map - 12:30 PM
La Taqueria
Acclaimed Mission taqueria, get the carnitas burrito, cash only, legendary and dirt cheap.
Map - 2:00 PM
Mission Dolores Park
Sunniest park in the city, grab a patch of grass, soak in skyline views; free and the quintessential Mission afternoon.
Map - 7:30 PM
Taquería El Farolito
Top-rated late-night taqueria, the super burrito is a Mission rite of passage and costs next to nothing.
Map - 9:00 PM
Zeitgeist
Beloved outdoor beer garden with cheap pints, perfect last stop before midnight, cash-friendly and local.
Map
Where to stay
Hayes Valley Inn
Simple, low priced rooms in Hayes Valley, a short walk or bus to the Mission and a straight ride to North Beach.
Parker Guest House
A step up in price: an Edwardian guesthouse by Dolores Park, a walk from everything on Day 3.
Make San Francisco your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Alcatraz Island: weeks ahead
- California Academy of Sciences: a few days ahead
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: a few days ahead
- Angel Island State Park: a few days ahead
- Exploratorium: a few days ahead
- Oracle Park: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Fisherman's Wharf as a destination beyond ten minutes with the sea lions.
- Driving Lombard Street crooked block instead of looking from the bottom and walking the steps.
- Chinatown on Grant Avenue only, when Stockton Street is the locals shopping street.
- Golden Gate Bridge in summer fog with no backup plan. Check the bridge cams that morning.
The full San Francisco travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around