Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.

Nuclear waste dump site now an environmental sanctuary.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

Appropriation-friendly collection of books, periodicals, and more.

Floating man-made island and upscale restaurant.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

Panorama exhibition hall in old silent theater with a beautiful backyard garden.

A museum befitting the city responsible for supplying the majority of the world's LSD.

An invitation-only museum of items natural and bizarre, arcane and exotic.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

Early prototype for Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

Longtime headquarters of controversial boys' club for the world's wealthiest and most powerful.

A storybook European village in Berkeley.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

Handmade treasures from around the world.

This infamous prison has a store where you can buy goods crafted by incarcerated people.

This taxidermic smorgasbord was co-created by an artist poached from the Museum of Natural History.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.