164 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in San Francisco - Atlas Obscura

Unusual
Attractions
in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

The Wave Organ

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

Added by mbison

San Francisco, California

Secret Tiled Staircase

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

rebeccaclara

Added by rebeccaclara

San Francisco, California

Seward Street Slides

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

San Francisco, California

Magowan's Infinite Mirror Maze

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

GuttersnipeRebecca

Added by GuttersnipeRebecca

San Francisco, California

Albion Castle

A 140-year-old castle with underground caves hidden in San Francisco.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

AllisonEng

Added by AllisonEng

San Francisco, California

Audium-Theatre of Sound-Sculptured Space

Only theater in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

San Francisco, California

Labyrinth at Land’s End

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

See All 164 Things to Do in San Francisco See All 164 Places

Atlas Obscura Trips

Dark Skies, Desert Beasts: A Night Photography Workshop in Borrego Springs, California

May 7—May 10, 2019

Journey deep into the desert of Southern California to explore and photograph the Dark Sky Sculptural Oasis of Borrego Springs.

Unique
Food & Drink
in San Francisco

It's It

Gastro Obscura

It's It

This classic San Franciscan ice cream sandwich is it, isn't it?

Gastro Obscura

rachelrummel

Added by rachelrummel

Sourdough Starter

Gastro Obscura

Ingredients & Condiments

Sourdough Starter

A century-old organism creates some of the world's best bread.

Gastro Obscura

Ike Allen

Added by Ike Allen

Soylent

Gastro Obscura

Soylent

One fantasy food's journey from sci-fi vegan steak to silver screen cannibalism to actual meal replacement.

Gastro Obscura

rachelrummel

Added by rachelrummel

Steam Beer

Gastro Obscura

Steam Beer

The unique style born out of the California Gold Rush blends the crispness of a lager with the flavor of an ale.

Gastro Obscura

Leigh ChavezBush

Added by Leigh ChavezBush

Explore San Francisco, California

Empty pixel.png%7c37.826664, 122.423012%7c37.713892, 122.450464%7c37.814666, 122.359167%7c37.738792, 123.053577%7c37.796093, 122.405499%7c37.727031, 122.432722%7c37.778673, 122.39737%7c37.781129, 122

Empty pixel.png%7c37.826664, 122.423012%7c37.713892, 122.450464%7c37.814666, 122.359167%7c37.738792, 123.053577%7c37.796093, 122.405499%7c37.727031, 122.432722%7c37.778673, 122.39737%7c37.781129, 122

Launch Map

San Francisco Leaderboard

Places Added

Places Edited

Places Visited

Recent San Francisco Activity

alairecomyn wants to go to Long Now Orrery

alairecomyn wants to go to California Academy of Sciences Herpetology Department

alairecomyn wants to go to San Francisco's Peregrine Falcons

alairecomyn wants to go to Yoda Fountain

alairecomyn wants to go to Wood Line

Stories
About San Francisco

Masks for Ars Minerva's production of <em>Ifigenia</em>.

A San Francisco Troupe Is Spicing Up Forgotten Baroque Operas

Expect sequins, aerialists, and LGBTQ love triangles.

by Samantha London

November 14, 2018

Abandoned Gold Rush ships in San Francisco Bay, 1849.

A Century Ago, Wood-Eating Worms Devastated San Francisco Bay

The battle against them is still being waged today.

by Matthew Taub

October 15, 2018

A late-in-life photo of Mary Jane Rathbun.

Remembering 'Brownie Mary,' San Francisco's Marijuana Pioneer

She baked thousands of pot brownies for AIDS patients.

A view of the plaza in front of the Burger King.

Why a San Francisco Burger King Blasts Classical Music Day and Night

It's not meant to be pleasant.

A dynamite blasts in front of the damaged City Hall.

Lost Footage Filmed After the 1906 San Francisco Quake Finally Gets a Premiere

The scenes, shown in a silent-film museum, provide a new glimpse of the earthquake's aftermath.

by Christina Ayele Djossa

A group of men prepares to butcher Galapagos tortoises.*

Why Gold Rush Miners Imported Sea Turtles

Starving settlers ushered in a craze and decimated surrounding lands.

February 13, 2018

You can eat inside the gingerbread, but you can't eat the gingerbread.

Building a Life-Sized Gingerbread House Takes Over 10,000 Cookie Bricks

To be ready by Christmas, you better start baking in August.

December 14, 2017

Photographer Blaine Dixon befriended activist Pat Carey, who was, he says, "a tireless Mother Teresa to the runaway teens" of the area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This image, of three men in makeshift loincloths on Polk Street, dates from 1980.

See Two Decades of San Francisco’s Wildest Queer Halloween Parties

The rise and demise of the night of the living dead.

by Natasha Frost

October 16, 2017

Lists Featuring
San Francisco