How to See San Francisco on a Budget

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All information in this post is accurate as of the publishing date, however it is always best to check timetables, pricing, or opening hours before visiting a destination or venue.

San Francisco is one of our favourite cities we’ve ever been to. It has so many great things to see and do with great parks, cool suburbs, interesting history and of course an amazing bridge. It also just has some of the most incredible architecture in the suburbs so just walking around and admiring that is something you should do too. However, it is well known as being one of the most expensive cities in the United States. Because of this, we’ve put together a list of some free and cheap things to do to see San Francisco on a budget.

How to See San Francisco on a Budget. A row of 5 houses in San Francisco, USA. They're all different colours, one yellow, 2 blue, one pink and one brown. They have the most beautiful architecture with wooden beams, rounded front bay windows and little turrets. Out the front are cars, the road, trees and bushes and a little step with a yellow railing beside it
Look at that incredible architecture! Those houses are just so beautiful

Pier 39 and the Sea Lions

Cost: Free

One of the main things to do when exploring San Francisco on a budget is to visit Pier 39. The pier was first built in 1978 and has a great view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Here you can find restaurants, tourist shops, an arcade and an aquarium. There is also a two story carousel and often there are street performers that keep guests entertained. It’s a great place to wander around and explore, even if you don’t buy anything.

However the main attraction of the pier is the wild sea lions that are often visiting the docks. They’re hard to miss as you can often hear them barking and see them swimming around near the pier. They first began appearing in 1989 and while their numbers do fluctuate depending on the season, there’s usually always some there. The most ever seen there at one time was 1700 in 2009, but now usually only 150-600 visit the docks. The best time to see them is late July to mid May but head down anytime of year. You never know if they’ll be some sleeping on the docks!

On pier 39 in San Francisco, USA. The floor is wooden and there are shops on either side of the pier leading away from the camera. There are coloured awnings, people walking around and a tree going up on the left side to the top of the photo "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
On the busy pier in San Francisco
Some wooden docks floating on the water and one of them is covered in brown sea lions near pier 39 in San Francisco, USA. Behind the water is the city with a ferris wheel "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Some sea lions lounging on the docks

Palace of the Fine Arts

Cost: Free

The Palace of the Fine Arts was built in 1915 for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. San Francisco built a huge amount of buildings for this world fair, including nine other palaces. However most were demolished when the exposition was over and now only 3 structures remain.

What is there is a large rotunda, lots of columns and a lagoon around it all. It was built to look like an ancient Roman ruin and is now one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks. It’s located in the Marina District right next to San Francisco Bay so is super easy to either walk or catch the bus to. It’s worth a walk to if you’re in the area and is nice just to sit in and relax.

A very large rotunda in the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco, USA. The rotunda is orange and red and is made to look like a Roman ruin so has some columns and carvings on it, with a white dome on the top. In front of it is a body of water with trees and bushes on either side of it. Behind it is a blue sky with some clouds "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The Roman looking Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco

Parks

Cost: Free and between $14.75 USD and $46.95 USD for the paid activities

San Francisco has so many beautiful parks that give a nice escape from the busy city. They’re dotted everywhere and are such an easy way to see San Francisco on a budget, as they’re all free to visit. Below we’ve just recommended three of our favourites but there really are so many to explore!

Golden Gate Park Free Activities

This park is one of the world’s largest urban parks, bigger even than Central Park in New York City. There is so much to see but luckily if you can’t see it all on foot, there is another option. The park has free minibus shuttles that run every 15-20 minutes, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can see the exact hours and the stops of the shuttle on this website.

However you decide to get around, one of our favourite areas was Stow Lake with Strawberry Hill in the middle of it. We also enjoyed the Queen Wilhelmina Garden which is beautiful especially in spring, and the Shakespeare Garden. Our favourite area is the Bison Paddock, which has been home to several bison since the 1890s. There’s around 10 here now and the paddock is free to the public.

The park has an offshoot called “The Panhandle” which is also worth visiting while you’re in the area.

A green field in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, USA. In the field are three bison that are big and furry and are standing around some trees behind a wired fence "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Seeing a bison as Australians was very exciting

Golden Gate Park Paid Activities

There are also lots of paid activities within the park that may interest you. The San Francisco Botanical Garden is $14.75 USD for entry or is free between 7:30am – 9am every day. Then there’s the Conservatory of Flowers which is open Thursday-Tuesday and also costs $14.75 USD. Lastly, there’s the Japanese Tea Garden which costs $18.75 USD or is free between 9am – 10am every day.

In the garden there are also two museums you might be interested in visiting. The de Young Museum is a fine arts museum which is open Tuesday to Sunday and costs $20 USD per adult. There’s also the California Academy of Sciences which is open every day and costs $46.95 USD each. So there really is so much to do in this amazing park, whether you are doing San Francisco on a budget or not.

A big field with short green grass and lots of people sitting on it in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, USA. Around the field are some big trees and the sky is clear and blue "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Everyone relaxing in the sun in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

Presidio of San Francisco

This is a park and a former US army post that’s part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. After being used for military purposes for over 215 years, it has been a commercial and public park since 1994. It’s a huge area down on the bay near the Golden Gate Bridge and is right behind the Palace of the Fine Arts. There’s some great views of the bridge from this park as well as a golf course and The Walt Disney Family Museum. It is more of a woody park and is good for walks and getting nice views of the bay.

A large patch of short green grass with some large orange and red buildings on the left side in Presidio Park in San Francisco, USA. Behind the grass you can see the bay and some hills in the background "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Part of the army buildings in the park
A woody patch in Presidio Park in San Francisco, USA. There's a dense area with trees and some green grass "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The woody area of the Presidio

Alamo Square Park & The Painted Ladies

Alamo Square is a lovely neighbourhood near Golden Gate Park that has a great park with the same name. Alamo Square Park has a hill in the middle, giving you a wonderful view of the city. It has shaded sections, a tennis court, a playground, a dog area and some bathrooms.

It also has a view of the Painted Ladies, the famous coloured houses of San Francisco. These Victorian and Edwardian houses are beautiful colours. They’re sometimes called “Postcard Row” or “The Seven Sisters” and they were built between 1892 and 1896. While the term “Painted Ladies” isn’t solely used for these houses, these are the most famous after being featured in movies, tv shows and ads. The view from the park is amazing as you can see both the houses and a view of the city. So definitely a must-do thing to do when visiting San Francisco on a budget.

The Painted Ladies in San Francisco, USA. They're 6 identical houses in different colours with a 7th house on the left side with beautiful wooden beams and rounded bay windows. There's trees in front of the houses, a road with cars parked on it and a green grassy hill "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The Painted Ladies definitely looking a bit muted now but they’re still so pretty!

Intersting Suburbs

Cost: Free

San Francisco has some very cool suburbs and similar to the parks, has so many of them! Again we’re just recommending a couple of the nice ones we visited. However some we aren’t going into detail about but are worth checking out are Chinatown and Japantown for good food, and Union Square for the proper city centre of the city.

The Castro

This was one of the first gay neighbourhoods in the country and is still one of the main areas for LGBTQ+ events in the city. The main part goes down Market and Castro Streets. Some landmarks to keep an eye out for are the The Castro Theatre, built in 1922, which shows independent films, musical sing-alongs and drag shows. There’s also the Twin Peaks Tavern which was the first gay bar in San Francisco. Don’t forget to check out Fabulosa Books which has a huge selection of LGBTQ+ books.

Apart from those, keep an eye out for all the rainbow decorations around and for the Rainbow Honor Walk. This is a set of over 500 bronze plaques representing LGBTQ+ icons who have been and still are inspiring others that is located within this neighbourhood. Lastly, there’s the GLBT Historical Society Museum. This is only the second museum of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history in the world. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, shutting between 1:00pm and 1:30pm every day, and tickets are only $10 USD each.

A rainbow crosswalk on the road in The Castro in San Francisco, USA. The crosswalk is in purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red lines and behind it is a green building with rainbow flags on it. There's also cars, some traffic lights and above it all are lots of tram lines crossing each other "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The great crosswalk in The Castro
Inside Fabulosa Books in San Francisco, USA. In the front of the photo is a sign that says "Queer Stuff" with a table of books on it. Behind it are more tables with books, books all along the walls, posters around the walls and people browsing "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Inside Fabulosa Books

Haight Ashbury

This suburb, named after the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, is located right next to Golden Gate Park. It was one of the main centres of the hippie community in the 1960s. It’s where a lot of shops opened selling marijuana and LSD, and some of these are still open today. You’ll also find heaps of wonderful vintage clothing shops on Haight Street if that’s something you enjoy. There’s also some record shops and places to get great food including Slice House where we had some great pizza.

Because of it’s history, you’ll see a range of eclectic people here, as well as lots of coloured buildings and street art.

A red building in Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, USA. It says Wasteland in red writing on the front, and the building has an arched roof with long windows and clothes on mannequins out the front. There are people walking along the street and an empty road in the foreground. There's also buildings on either side of the Wasteland shop "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
A vintage store in Haight Ashbury

Steep Streets

Cost: Free

Of course San Francisco is known for its hills, so while there you need to go experience them! The easiest place to go is around the Telegraph Hill and Russian Hill areas. Here you’ll find Filbert Street which at it’s steepest is at a 31.5% angle and is very strange to walk up. The houses are at an angle because of how slanted the street is. While walking up it is a struggle, it’s worth it for the novelty.

Of course there’s also Lombard street, which at its steepest is at a 27% angle. This street is famous for having one section that claims to be “the crookedest street in the world”. The eight hairpin turns were put on the street in the 1920s as the street was too steep for cars at the time to drive down. It’s definitely worth a visit and you can drive down it but there is sometimes a wait. The easiest way to see it is just to walk there and there are even stairs down the hairpin turn section of the street. However do keep in mind that it gets over 2 million visitors every year so will sometimes be super busy.

A residential building on Lombard Street in San Francisco, USA. The camera is in line with the road so the building looks super slanted. The white building has rectangle and arched windows, a balcony with a black railing and a brown garage door. There's also a plant outside and more buildings on either side of the main building "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
When the is camera in line with the road, this is how slanted the buildings are!
Below Lombard Street in San Francisco, USA. The road zig zags up with low plants on all sides of the road and cars driving down it. On either side of the wide street are buildings and there's a sign saying "do not enter" at the bottom of the street as it's one way "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
On the bottom of Lombard street

Coit Tower

Cost: $10 USD

Coit Tower is a 64 meter tower built in 1933 in the beautiful suburb of Telegraph Hill. It’s easy to get to as there’s parking up the top or a bus that goes right to the tower or you can walk up the hill. It was built after Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a patron of the cities firefighters, died. In her will she asked for part of her money to go towards “adding to the beauty of the city”, so this tower was built. It has an incredible 360 degree view of the city from its two story observation deck.

Luckily visiting is super cheap so it’s a great way to see San Francisco on a budget. Inside are some amazing murals and you can get a guided tour of those murals for $10 USD. You can also book a $5 USD guided tour of the second floor and those tickets can be booked at the tower. If you just want to go see the view, entry tickets are $10 USD and while there is a lift, it is often broken. So be prepared to walk up the 13 flights of stairs if you visit! However from the top there is a great view of the city and there is also a bathroom and a café on the ground floor.

A large green space with short grass with some tall bare trees on either side in San Francisco, USA. Behind those are buildings, smaller leafy trees, and a hill with Coit Tower on top. Coit tower is a small thin white round tower with some windows on top for people to look out of. Above it all is a blue sky with some wispy clouds "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Coit Tower standing tall over Washington Square Park in San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge Walk

Cost: Free to cross plus the cost of the bus there and back

One of the best things to do in San Francisco on a budget is to walk across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. You can take a bus up to the Golden Gate Bridge welcome centre, where there’s a coffee shop, a gift shop, information about the bridge and some amazing views. From here it’s about a 30-45 minute walk across the bridge. The walk itself is easy enough, with a high barrier on the water side and another one next to the road. There’s also enough path room so it doesn’t feel too cramped if its busy. From the bridge keep an eye out in the water for seals, dolphins and whales!

Once on the other side, you’ll come to Vista Point where there’s a bathroom and a place to rest after your walk. While Vista Point has a good view of the bridge, the best view is up a short hill on the other side. You can find it at Battery Spencer on Google Maps and the view of the bridge really is worth the short but steep walk up there.

The walking path across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. The path is grey and wide enough for 3 or 4 people to walk together. On the right side is the bay with a view of the land on the other side. Between the view and the path are red railings and a big red beam that's part of the bridge. On the left side is another red railing and the road with cars driving on it. In the distance straight ahead is one of the towers of the red bridge, more land and the sky above is cloudy "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The path across the Golden Gate Bridge
An amazing view of the iconic red Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. You can see both towers with the lines of the bridge in between and there's cars driving on it. In the foreground is part of the hill we're standing on with dirt and grass. On the other side of the bridge is land with San Francisco on the left side and the sky above and water are very blue "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The most beautiful view of the bridge

Sausalito

Cost: Free to visit plus the transport there and back

Somewhere worth visiting while in San Francisco is the cute little city of Sausalito. You can catch a bus there over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. However once the bus crosses the bridge, it costs quite a lot more. So we saved money and coupled a trip to Sausalito with our walk over the bridge.

From Vista Point on the other side of the bridge, it’s only an 8 minute walk to the bus stop for the 130 bus. From there it’s only a 12 minute ride to the city of Sausalito. Just PLEASE don’t make the mistake we did and assume the bus comes often. We ended up waiting an hour as we didn’t plan ahead, so definitely time your walk over the bridge with a bus!

Apart from busing there, you can also catch a ferry which takes only half an hour from San Francisco. It costs $14 per adult each way and the schedule can be found on this website. Once in Sausalito, there are some lovely restaurants and cafes to get some good food. You can walk along the waterfront and admire the beautiful houses and coastline. There are also some great independent shops to find nice clothes and accessories. It’s just a lovely place to wander around for an hour or two.

A road in Sausalito, USA with orange, red and white buildings on the right side. There's also buildings on the left side of the street and trees in the distance. The sky is blue above it and there's a set of traffic lights on the road too "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
The main street in Sausalito
In Sausalito, USA. On the right side of the photo is a rock wall path leading to the road along the water with houses and trees going up the hill. Most of the photo is the water with a building on a pier coming off the road. Behind it are more hills with buildings on it and the sky above is blue too "How to See San Francisco on a Budget"
Walking along the water in Sausalito

Final Thoughts

While San Francisco is expensive, it can absolutely be done on a budget and you can still have an amazing time. The pier with the seals, some beautiful parks, great views, cool suburbs and a little day trip, there’s heaps to keep you entertained. We hope this list gives you some great ideas and if you find something else budget friendly in the city, please let us know!

Watch our vlogs below to see what we got up to in San Francisco!

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Our favourite travel planning resources

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Travel Insurance: Once you’ve booked flights, the very next step should be travel insurance. We highly recommend booking travel insurance for every international trip no matter the length. For our Australian readers, we use and love Travel Insurance Saver, as they accept one way trips.

Travel Items: We have some favourite travel items that we’ll never set off without. We wrote a post here about the best items that we recommend for all travellers!

Accommodation: For everywhere we stayed, we booked on either Airbnb or Booking.com. Both websites allow you to filter to only show you places in your budget, and pick from inclusions such as kitchen and laundry so it’s really easy to find exactly what you need!

Travel SIM: We used Airalo e-SIMs for data while overseas and loved them. You download the app, pick the plan you want and install it on your phone in less than 10 minutes. Our referral code KRISTE3325 will get you $3USD off your first purchase.

Tours & Activities: We booked all our day trips and some activities through GetYourGuide.

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