I hadn’t been to the Bay Area since I was a child, so when my great aunt hinted that we should visit, I jumped at the chance. I really don’t know why it’s been this long since I reconnected with my family in the Oakland and Union City area, but I’m glad I finally took the opportunity. It was also a perfect time for Victoria to meet family members she had never met before, like her great, great grandfather! In just one short weekend we were able to see and do so much in San Francisco. We did splurge on a couple of meals, but mostly our trip was affordable. We found that San Francisco has plenty of things you can do without spending a lot of money. The most costly expenses were typically parking (if you wanted to be close to the attraction) and dining. Luckily my great aunt hosted us so we didn’t have to pay for lodging and our flights were purchased with credits we had from canceling our Puerto Rico trip last year. Today I’m sharing cheap family-friendly things to do in San Francisco!
Cheap things to do in the Bay Area with kids:
- Visit Ghirardelli Square and get your free sample. We also purchased chocolate but you can save by sticking to the samples.
- Drive or walk down Lombard Street (the Crooked Street).
- Walk through Boudin Museum. See how the sourdough is made!
- Walk around Pier 39, soak in the view of Alcatraz and say hello to the seals. Take in the street performances at Fisherman’s Wharf. We paid $10 to ride the carousel at the pier.
- See the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city from the Marin Headlands. Drive, walk or ride a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Picnic at Golden Gate Park. We stopped to admire the bison. I loved people-watching as people ran, walked, and just hung out.
- Hike Muir Woods. (You do have to pay admission, but kids age 15 and younger enter free. Save by bringing your food and taking the shuttle or carpooling.)
- Search for the Full House facade house. I had no idea this was a different house than the Painted Lady, but it was cool to see.
- Hang out Alamo Square in front of the Painted Ladies. We visited the city on an absolutely gorgeous weekend. People brought their snacks and drinks and took in the views from the park.
- Walk around Chinatown. You don’t need to buy anything, just take in the sights, sounds and smells. We visited before the new year; it would have been nice to catch the celebrations.
Have you visited San Francisco? Also, are you a “Full House” fan? I pretty much had the theme song in my head the entire time.
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Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.
oh my gosh this is perfect- were planning a trip there too and this is exactly what ive been looking for 🙂 thanks friend!
Thanks for sharing these! I lived in the Bay Area for 8 years but didn’t go to San Francisco much. I’m going to NorCal in September with my husband and new baby and we may need to stop a some of these!
Love this post! I’ve never visited San Fran but I love that there’s so much to see and do (for free). Saving this for the future. 🙂
Love this so much!! I’m actually going to be visiting San Francisco this summer with my daughter (she’ll be 12 months at the time) and sister. I’m so excited about it! 🙂 I just pinned this and jotted down some notes for our trip!
San Francisco is my all time favorite US city. We visited often when we lived in Irvine and San Diego.
San Francisco is at the top of my bucket list of places to visit! I really want to see the home where “Full House” was filmed, I want to ride on a trolly, see the golden gate bridge and so much more.
We didn’t get to ride a trolley but that would be so fun! Enjoy!
We are headed to San Francisco this fall! This is the perfect list. Thank tou
San Francisco is on my list. I want to see the Disney Family Museum. Those little bread bears are so cute.