One day in San Francisco with kids

Wondering how to spend one day in San Francisco with kids? We visited the Golden Gate City in April 2023, on route to Yosemite. We only had 24 hours in San Francisco with kids so had to decide which sights to concentrate on during our visit.

We love being outdoors so we decided to visit Alcatraz and go on a bike ride. We were lucky with the weather – there was not a cloud in the sky and the famous fog stayed away. We had glorious views over San Francisco for the whole of our stay.

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So, if you’re short on time – as we were – I hope you find this one day San Francisco itinerary for families useful. Our kids were aged 11 and nine at the time of our trip. We spent two nights in San Francisco so we had one full day to explore.

I’d love to return to California with our kids are teenagers. There are so many brilliant places to explore in this part of the US. If you’d like to read about other teen-friendly holiday ideas, check out my blog post all about family holidays with teenagers.

One day itinerary in San Francisco with kids

This is how we spent our one day in San Francisco with kids:

• Morning tour of Alcatraz
• Lunch at Pier 39
• Visit the sea lions 
• Afternoon bike hire from Fisherman’s Wharf and cycle over Golden Gate Bridge 
• Evening cable car trip to downtown San Francisco for dinner

We loved visiting San Francisco for a day but wished we’d stayed longer!

Morning Visit to Alcatraz

If you’re travelling with kids, a trip to Alcatraz is one of the essential things to see in San Francisco in one day. It’s important to pre-book tickets for Alcatraz. We booked ours about a week before and availability was fine but I think some dates sell out far in advance.

Book Alcatraz tickets direct here.

Tickets to Alcatraz include the boat crossing – a great way to see the skyline of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We also saw dolphins gliding through the waves during our crossing. 

We booked a crossing for 10:10am which gave us time for a relaxed breakfast before the ten minute walk from our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf to Pier 33 where the boat departs from.

Although there are guided tours of Alcatraz, most people do the self guided audio tour of the prison island. Our children really enjoyed the audio tour – it was not too long or too detailed and had just the right amount of dialogue to engage them in the history of the place.

Our boys loved hearing about the daring escapes and seeing the sparse cells that the prisoners lived in. A truly grim existence.

There was a really interesting exhibition about the Native Americans and how they occupied Alcatraz. It was a good opportunity to explain to our children about the history of American people.

After exploring Alcatraz we hopped back on the boat to Pier 33 at about midday. There was a really long queue for the boat and we assumed we wouldn’t get on and would have to queue for a later crossing but the boat took everyone in the queue. 

Lunch at Pier 39

Yes, Pier 39 is a touristy place – a bit like Covent Garden by the sea I guess. There are lots of shops selling souvenirs, ice creams, donuts and all the other essentials you might need on holiday.

We visited the US when the Pound was painfully weak against the Dollar so eating out was pretty expensive. I had expected Pier 39 eateries to offer average food at inflated prices but we found a good value Mexican style restaurant – Taco Cantina which worked well for our little family. It has indoor and outdoor seating with views over the water.

If you’re short on time and you’re keen to fit in the three main elements of this 24 hour San Francisco itinerary for families, resist the temptation to browse the shops at Pier 39. I did make an exception and popped into the left handed shop to see if there was anything for sale that would revolutionise my left handed life. There wasn’t.

Check out the sea lions at Pier 39

The famous sea lions bask in the sunshine at the far end of the pier on the left hand side. After lunch we wandered down to check them out before heading over to the bike hire shop.

Bike hire at Fisherman’s Wharf

There are several bike rental outfits at Fisherman’s Wharf. We used Blazing Saddles as it was the closest one to where we had lunch. The bikes were fairly old and heavy but they all had decent gears and the boys made no complaints about them.

Cycling the Golden Gate Bridge with kids

The bike ride from Fisherman’s Wharf over the Golden Gate Bridge is around 8 miles one way. A lot of people drop down into the little seaside town of Sausalito after cycling over the bridge. From Sausalito there’s a ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf but we decided to do the bike ride back and skip Sausalito to save ourselves some bucks. During our visit, the cost of the ferry was $14 per adult and slightly cheaper for children. 

It’s downhill all the way back to Fisherman’s Wharf so the return journey is a lot quicker. We set off on our bike ride at about 3pm and with a couple of stops in each direction our cycle took us around three and a half hours. Ideally we should have got back a bit earlier as it meant we ended up going out for dinner rather late.

If you’re cycling with little kids, note that there are a couple of sections where you’ll be sharing the road with cars. However, we found drivers to be careful and considerate during our trip. 

The highlight of cycling the Golden Gate Bridge isn’t – in my opinion – the actual ride over the bridge but the journey to get there through Presidio park. We had views of the sea and the bridge for much of the ride and it was incredibly scenic (we were very lucky with the weather). There are several inclines on the way to the bridge including a fairly steep road section as you near the bridge. There were very few vehicles on the road and those that we did come across were travelling at a very slow speed. 

If your kids need a little break from pedalling, the Presidio Tunnel Tops park is a great place to break the journey. We stopped there for about half an hour. There are several mobile food trucks but strangely we couldn’t locate anywhere selling coffee.

The Golden Gate Bridge is 1.7 miles long. Cyclists travel across the western side of the bridge whilst pedestrians walk across on the eastern side. There are good views of the coastline from the bridge. However, with four lanes of traffic, it’s quite noisy. Cyclists are separated from the vehicles by a fence so it feels safe.

On our way back, we were desperate for a coffee so we diverted from our route and explored the shopping area of Chestnut Street. It’s a lovely neighbourhood and not too far from the bike route if you need some refreshments. Somehow, our kids’ need for calories outweighed our need for coffee and we ended up at Over the Moon Creamery. The shop sells ices cream served in cones made from cookies – they were delicious and a great way to energize us for the remaining journey.

Back in Fisherman’s Wharf, we nipped back to our hotel to change and then made our way to the cable car.

Taking the cable car to downtown San Francisco

Although we were all quite tired after the bike ride, the lure of travelling up and down the vertiginous hills of San Francisco motivated us to head out for dinner in downtown San Francisco.

When I asked my two boys what they liked most about San Francisco, one of them said Alcatraz and the other said riding the cable car. These rickety yellow vehicles are really good fun. They rattle up the steep streets and hurtle down them again at quite an alarming pace. Some passengers sit on the seats, others hang off the sides of the tram. Our kids loved the experience.

The cable cars have a turnaround point at the crossing of Taylor and Bay Street. This is just a few minutes walk from the main hotels in Fisherman’s Wharf and half a mile from Pier 39.

How do you pay for a San Francisco cable car ride?

We hadn’t done the research on buying tickets and expected to just use our phones – this was a mistake. We messed around quite a bit and missed the first cable car before eventually downloading the app and putting in an American friend’s phone number as it wouldn’t accept a UK number. Not the ideal way to pay!

If we had our time again, I would make sure we had the exact cash to pay for the tickets – the driver doesn’t carry much change. Alternatively, you can buy your tickets in advance from a kiosk such as SFMTA Hyde and Beach Public Transit Kiosk which is located at Hyde and Beach Street in Fisherman’s Wharf.

Where to eat around Union Square with kids

I would recommend pre-booking a restaurant in downtown San Francisco, or arriving early. We couldn’t get into the restaurant I’d earmarked – Uncle Vito’s – and spent a bit of time wandering around trying to find somewhere suitable. We ended up in the tiny but charming Gusto Pinsa Romana which did great pizzas. 

None of us had the energy to figure out how to find a cable car back to Fisherman’s Wharf so we hopped in an Uber – marginally cheaper than the cable car – which whisked us back to our hotel in about 10 minutes.

Where to stay in San Francisco with kids

If I had my time again I would probably book a different hotel in San Francisco. I was a bit lazy about booking the hotel as we were originally only staying one night (which, at last minute, changed to two nights due to a schedule change on an internal flight) and I just went with a recommendation without doing my own research. 

We stayed at the Riu Plaza in Fisherman’s Wharf. It has a great location for this itinerary – just a short walk to the waterfront and the cable car stop. However, car parking is pricey (we were driving to Yosemite the next day) and there was a compulsory charge for “access” to the hotel facilities (swimming pool, etc), even if you weren’t planning to use them. The hotel is a huge machine – the amount of food produced at breakfast was terrifying (our kids loved the unlimited pancakes and bacon). We had a spacious room with two queen beds.

Check rates at the Riu Plaza Hotel

There are a few other hotels to consider in Fisherman’s Wharf. We wandered past the Hotel Zephyr (another big hotel) a few times and felt it might have been a better option. It has a big internal courtyard with play area and firepits which would have been fun if we had been staying longer. As well as rooms with two double beds, there are also connecting rooms making it ideal for larger families.

Check rates for the Hotel Zephyr

If you’re after something more boutique from your stay in Fisherman’s Wharf, I like the look of the Argonaut which is handily located next to the Powell and Hyde cable car turnaround. Despite its smaller size, it’s still suitable for families with rooms sleeping up to four in two doubles along with interconnecting rooms.

Check rates for the Hotel Argonaut

Another option, a little further from Fisherman’s Wharf but perfect for the shops and cafes of Chestnut Street is the good value Hotel del Sol. It’s small and simple and it has a pool. There are rooms with two doubles or rooms with a double and a sofa bed. Executive suites have a kitchenette.

Check rates for Hotel del Sol

While Fisherman’s Wharf is a bit of a tourist trap, staying there is a good choice for families looking to do the Alcatraz tour and the Golden Gate bike ride. However, if you’d prefer to stay downtown, it doesn’t take too long to get to Fisherman’s Wharf from the Union Square area.

For value, it’s worth checking availability at the old fashioned Golden Gate Hotel which has family rooms and a good location close to the cable car line on Powell Street.

Check rates for the Golden Gate Hotel

I also like the look of the Axiom Hotel which has some interesting features I know my kids would love – vintage arcade games and table football. The Axiom is well located too, next to the Powell – Hyde cable car turnaround.

Check rates for the Axiom Hotel

Final thoughts on our one day in San Francisco with kids

During our 24 hours in San Francisco, we would have saved ourselves a bit of time if we’d figured out the cable cars in advance and made a dinner reservation. I guess we’re slightly out of practice when it comes to visiting big cities. 

I loved the bike ride – it was great watching locals hanging out at the beach in the spring sunshine. Lots of cyclists, dog walkers, people having BBQs. The kids loved Alcatraz and the cable car ride – they’re both rather unique attractions which make San Francisco such a fun place for families to visit.

We loved San Francisco – it’s a fabulous city, especially when the sun is shining. We would love to have stayed there longer.

Have you visited San Francisco in a day with kids? What was your San Francisco with kids itinerary? Let me know in the comments below.

Looking for more holiday ideas and inspiration? Read my article about family adventure holidays in the UK or take a look at my blog post about European family holiday ideas.