186 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in San Francisco - Atlas Obscura
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The Atlas Obscura Guide To

San Francisco

186 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in San Francisco, California

Unusual Attractions in San Francisco

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in San Francisco

Atlas Obscura Trips
Art of Joshua Tree and the Mojave
Join us as we venture deep into the High Desert, glimpsing massive sculptures, fluorescent painted mountains, and revitalizing domes along the way.
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Stories About San Francisco

Podcast: The Institute of Illegal Images

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
by The Podcast Team
May 3, 2021
Fernando Padilla has designed all of Boudin's breads for the last 40 years.

The Master Baker Giving San Francisco Sourdough a New Shape

For 40 years, Fernando Padilla has sculpted with dough.
by Anne Ewbank
July 2, 2020
In 1933, Minnie Sun worked as a nurse in the baby ward of the Chinese Hospital. Bruce Lee would be born there seven years later.

When Chinese Americans Were Blamed for 19th-Century Epidemics, They Built Their Own Hospital

The Chinese Hospital in San Francisco is still one-of-a-kind.
by Claire Wang
April 13, 2020
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Lists Featuring San Francisco

San Francisco's Top 8 Wonders of 2018
The Wave Organ, San Francisco Bay
Alcatraz from the Bay 2012

San Francisco’s Top 8 Wonders of 2018

The strange and unusual places Atlas Obscura readers wanted to visit most in the “City by the Bay” in 2018.

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Including Seward Street Slides, Labyrinth at Land’s End, and The Wave Organ

When Stairs and Slides Are Hiding in Plain Sight
They were built in 1979.
It is popular with runners and climbers.

When Stairs and Slides Are Hiding in Plain Sight

Play real-life Chutes and Ladders at these obscure thruways.

9

Including Secret Tiled Staircase, Winfield Street Slides , and Howe Street Stairs