9 of the Best Museums in San Francisco and How To Visit

Home to art ranging from African masks to Mesoamerican earthenware and modern American paintings, the de Young Museum embodies San Francisco’s eccentric spirit. The museum is housed in a distinctive steel-and-glass building in the heart of Golden Gate Park, making it worth visiting for the architecture and location as well as the art.

Inside, you can marvel at international art, explore the unusual contemporary architectural spaces, and take a breather at the outdoor art gallery space and café. Purchase a general admission ticket for access to most of the collection, though you can add on tickets to the museum's special exhibitions or an audio tour for an extra cost.

Don’t miss: The best views of San Francisco and Golden Gate Park from the Hamon Observation Tower.

Multiple Jackson Pollock works, Mark Rothko’s red–purplish No. 14 painting, and Andy Warhol’s Puma Invader: SF MoMa’s collection is a catalogue of who’s who in contemporary 20th-century art. Given the A-list art on view and the museum’s convenient downtown location, this is a great first stop for art lovers. Book admission ahead of time to avoid lines, and prepare to spend half a day or longer on your feet to explore the museum's seven floors of mind-bending modern art. Just leave enough time for the rooftop sculpture garden.

Don’t miss: Diego Rivera’s Pan-American Unity mural in the free-to-the-public Roberts Family Gallery on the first floor.

Related: Art Lover's Guide to San Francisco

Perched atop Lincoln Park, not far from Ocean Beach, the Legion of Honor is the most staid (and elegant) museum in a city hooked on innovation. But that doesn’t mean it’s boring—step into the lovely courtyard to sit under a bronze reproduction of Rodin’s original The Thinker sculpture, and head inside to explore graceful halls filled with European, graphic, and contemporary art. The museum also has a dedicated Hall of Antiquities on the lower level, where you can find ancient art from the Mediterranean, such as a 4,000-year-old Egyptian wood carving.

Don’t miss: Free pipe organ concerts in the Rodin Gallery every Saturday at 4pm.

Insider tip: Head to the Legion of Honor later in the day, as admission to the permanent collections is free after 4:30pm.

Among San Francisco’s art museums, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) is one of the youngest and most experimental. It tells the grand story of the African Diaspora—the global movement of the people and culture of Africa—through its rotating collection of contemporary art. Described as a place of storytelling and experiences rather than a collection of artifacts, its exhibitions are typically in flux: On one visit you might see silk velvet paintings by a Bermudian-born artist, while on another you could see landscape photographs by a local Oakland–based painter.

Don’t miss: Drop-in tours on the second Saturday of every month at 1pm, free with admission.

With interactive exhibits dedicated to physics and human anatomy and perception, the Exploratorium at the waterfront Embarcadero is quite a popular museum in San Francisco. Here, you can act out the stuff of dreams: Place your hand through a tornado, journey through total darkness, and make shadows in bright colors—but be forewarned, the Exploratorium is typically brimming with visitors. Be sure to grab skip-the-line admission before your visit to beat the crowds and make the most of your visit to this unique museum.

Don’t miss: The Tactile Dome, an interactive journey through total darkness that visitors must navigate with their sense of touch.

Did you know?: Frank Oppenheimer, younger brother of Robert Oppenheimer (the leader of the Manhattan Project), founded the Exploratorium.

The other half of the San Francisco science museums’ one-two punch, the California Academy of Sciences is a nature lover’s dream. It's a robust natural history museum complete with an aquarium, a planetarium, a four-story rainforest dome, and a living green rooftop populated with native plants. It’s located directly across from the de Young and steps from the Japanese Tea Garden, making it an ideal stop during a day exploring Golden Gate Park and beyond. Though the museum is geared toward kids and families, it also hosts "NightLife" adults-only events with cocktails and behind-the-scenes looks at various exhibitions.

Don’t miss: Daily starry-eyed trips into the outer cosmos at the Morrison Planetarium.

The Asian Art Museum is wholly dedicated to Asian and Asian-American art and culture. Here, you’ll encounter traditional Chinese ink paintings, Korean moon jars, and artworks crafted exclusively from bamboo in a grand beaux-arts building that was once San Francisco’s main public library.

The museum is also within a few blocks of San Francisco City Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, and the War Memorial Opera House, making it easy to visit on a hop-on hop-off bus tour stopping in Civic Center.

Don’t miss: The Masako Martha Suzuki Japanese Tea House which features seasonal displays of objects such as Japanese tea bowls, flower vases, and freshwater jars.

Most of San Francisco’s cultural attractions lie north of Market Street, the main thoroughfare splitting the city in half—but the Museum of Craft and Design, located in the Dogpatch neighborhood east of Potrero Hill, cuts against the grain. Here, you'll find original stained-glass compositions, contemporary culture-critical rugs, hand-sewn clothing, and luxurious art jewelry that blur the line between decorative and art objects.

Don’t miss: The award-winning museum store, filled with hand-crafted jewelry, home goods, books, and gifts.

After touring San Francisco on an iconic cable car, visit this free museum in Nob Hill to learn about the heritage of the 19th-century machines, how they work, and how they changed the city. Local legend has it that British-born Andrew Smith Hallidie created the cable-pulled railway after witnessing suffering horses, whipped and struggling up Jackson Street, one block from the museum. Shortly thereafter, the first system was set up in 1873 and it has remained fundamentally the same since. In addition to learning more about this story, you can see the tracks, grips, cables, and brake systems that are still in use today.

Don’t miss: Three completely original antique cable cars from the 1870s.