Everything here is under a roof and costs nothing. Check the free day on each card: some of these museums are free only at certain hours.
Always free in San Francisco6
Open to everyone, every day they are open. No ticket to buy.
Fort Point
Presidio
Always freeIndoorGood with kids
A Civil War era brick fort sitting directly under the south arch of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can climb to the roof and look straight up at the steel.
Free when
Always · Thursday to Monday, 10 am to 5 pm. Roof closes at 4:30 pm. Closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Free for whom
Everyone, no entrance pass required
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
45 min
How to get there
Walk 15 minutes downhill from the bridge toll plaza (Muni 28), or follow the Crissy Field promenade west to its end
Worth it? Yes.The best close view of the bridge and almost nobody plans for it. Check the weekday before you walk down, it is shut Tuesday and Wednesday.
The 1898 ferry terminal at the foot of Market Street, now a food hall, with a farmers market outside three days a week and the Bay Bridge off the back deck.
Free when
Always · Building open daily 6 am to 10 pm. Farmers market Tuesday and Thursday 10 am to 2 pm, Saturday 8 am to 2 pm.
Free for whom
Everyone. Browsing is free, the food is not.
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
45 min to 1h
How to get there
BART or Muni Metro to Embarcadero, one block. The F Market streetcar stops in front.
Worth it? Yes.Go on Saturday, when the market wraps around the whole building and stalls hand out fruit samples. On a non-market day it is a nice food court with a view, nothing more.
The working powerhouse of the cable car system. From a gallery you watch the huge wheels pull the cables that run under the streets, with three 1870s cars on display.
Free when
Always · Tuesday to Thursday 10 am to 4 pm, Friday to Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. Closed Monday, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
30 to 45 min
How to get there
1201 Mason St at Washington. 10 minutes uphill on foot from Chinatown along Washington St. Both Powell cable car lines stop at the door but cost a fare.
Worth it? Yes.The best free museum in the city for the time it takes. Go downstairs to the viewing room where the cables leave the building under the street. It is loud and smells of machine oil, which is the point.
A warehouse on Pier 45 holding more than 300 coin-operated machines, from 1900s music boxes and fortune tellers to 1980s arcade cabinets, all in working order.
Free when
Always · Every day of the year, 10 am to 8 pm
Free for whom
Everyone. Entry is free, each machine takes coins.
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
30 min to 1h
How to get there
Pier 45 at the end of Taylor St. F Market streetcar to Jefferson and Taylor.
Worth it? Yes.The one thing at Fisherman's Wharf worth walking in for. Looking costs nothing, but you will want a few quarters, so set a limit before you go in with kids.
The glass-walled ninth floor of the de Young's twisted copper tower, with a full circle view over Golden Gate Park to the ocean, the bridge towers and downtown.
Free when
Always · Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. The tower closes 45 minutes before the museum. Closed Monday.
Free for whom
Everyone, no museum ticket needed
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
20 min
How to get there
Muni 44 to the Music Concourse stop on Tea Garden Dr, or 5 Fulton to 8th Ave and a 5-minute walk into the park
Worth it? Yes.Walk in the main entrance and take the tower elevator, nobody asks for a ticket. It is the only free indoor viewpoint in the city, useful when it is too cold for Twin Peaks.
About 45,000 square feet of SFMOMA on Floors 1 and 2 need no ticket. That covers large installations made for the museum by both entrances and the rotating Bay Area Walls murals upstairs.
Free when
Always · Monday and Tuesday 10 am to 5 pm, Thursday noon to 8 pm, Friday to Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. Closed Wednesday.
Free for whom
Everyone. Visitors 18 and younger get free admission to the whole museum every day.
Reservation
Not needed for the free floors. Under-18 tickets can be reserved online.
Time needed
20 to 40 min
How to get there
151 Third St. BART or Muni Metro to Montgomery, or Muni T Third to Yerba Buena/Moscone.
Worth it? Depends.A decent rain stop and a fair sample of the building, but the collection is upstairs behind the ticket line. Travelling with teenagers changes the math, since they get in free.
Mostly museums. The free window, who it applies to and the booking rule are on each card.
de Young Museum, free first Tuesday
Golden Gate Park
Free on certain daysBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
The city's main fine arts museum in Golden Gate Park, strong on American painting, textiles and art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
Free when
First Tuesday of every month, 9:30 am to 5:15 pm. Permanent collection galleries only, special exhibitions stay full price.
Free for whom
Everyone, no residency requirement
Reservation
Reserve a free timed ticket at famsf.org a few days ahead. Same-day tickets at the desk depend on capacity.
Time needed
2h
How to get there
Muni 44 to the Music Concourse stop on Tea Garden Dr, or 5 Fulton to 8th Ave and a 5-minute walk into the park
Worth it? Yes.This is the free day a visitor can actually use, since Saturdays are for Bay Area residents. Arrive at opening. The same morning the Conservatory of Flowers, a 10-minute walk east, is free too.
Free on certain daysBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
European painting and sculpture in a colonnaded building on a bluff above the Golden Gate, with a cast of Rodin's Thinker in the courtyard.
Free when
First Tuesday of every month, 9:30 am to 5:15 pm. Permanent collection galleries only, special exhibitions stay full price.
Free for whom
Everyone, no residency requirement
Reservation
Reserve a free timed ticket at famsf.org a few days ahead. Same-day tickets at the desk depend on capacity.
Time needed
1h30
How to get there
Muni 18 to the Legion of Honor stop, or 38 Geary to 33rd Ave and a 15-minute walk uphill through Lincoln Park
Worth it? Yes.Quieter than the de Young on free day and the setting does half the work. Combine it with the Lands End trail, which ends a few minutes from the door. Doing both museums the same Tuesday is possible but rushed.
One of the largest collections of Asian art outside Asia, in the old main library facing City Hall. The jade and the Chinese bronzes are the strongest rooms.
Free when
First Sunday of every month, 10 am to 5 pm. General admission is free, special exhibitions cost $10. The date can shift when it falls on a holiday.
Free for whom
Everyone. Children 12 and under are free every day.
Reservation
Not needed, entry is first come, first served
Time needed
1h30 to 2h
How to get there
200 Larkin St. BART or Muni Metro to Civic Center, 5 minutes on foot.
Worth it? Yes.Start on the third floor and work down, the galleries run in geographic order from there. Family storytelling sessions make late morning the busiest time, so come at 10 or after 2.
Free on certain daysResidents onlyBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
Both Fine Arts Museums give free general admission every Saturday to people who live in the nine Bay Area counties.
Free when
Every Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:15 pm. Permanent collection galleries only, special exhibitions stay full price.
Free for whom
Residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties. Bring a driver's license or a postmarked envelope with your address.
Reservation
Reserve a free resident ticket at famsf.org. ID is checked at the door.
Time needed
2h per museum
How to get there
de Young: Muni 44 to the Music Concourse stop or 5 Fulton to 8th Ave. Legion of Honor: Muni 18 to the Legion of Honor stop.
Worth it? Yes.No use to a visitor from outside the Bay Area, the ID check is real. If that is you, aim for the first Tuesday instead, or go up the free Hamon Tower.
If you spend on one thing in San Francisco, make it this.
Alcatraz Island, by the official ferry
You can look at Alcatraz from a dozen free spots, but the cellhouse audio tour, narrated by former guards and inmates, only exists on the island. The ferry ticket includes it and the park ranger talks. Book weeks ahead in summer, since the single official operator sells out.
Everything above is free. This is the only paid pick on the page, chosen because no free option replaces it.
