San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 300,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States. Around 9.2 million live in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest in the United States.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
San Francisco has much to see — these are just the most significant sights. For more detail see the individual district sections, often linked from this entry. Passes are available which offer discounts to some attractions: San Francisco CityPASS. Gets admission to some museums, the Zoo and a Blue and Gold Fleet bay cruise.
From Wikivoyage: San Francisco, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
One of the best ways to see San Francisco is from the waters of San Francisco Bay. There are many companies offering harbor tours of varying durations and prices but they all provide marvelous views of the bay, the bridges, the island of Alcatraz and the city.
From Wikivoyage: San Francisco, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
San Francisco is a "foodie" city with a vast array of restaurants. In fact, San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any major city in North America, with 1 restaurant for every 250 residents (in comparison, New York City has 1 restaurant for every 940 residents). The price range is huge, of course, and you can spend anywhere from a small fortune to a couple bucks for every type of cuisine.
From Wikivoyage: San Francisco, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to San Francisco
- Airports
- San Francisco (SFO), 18 km · Oakland San Francisco Bay (OAK), 18 km · Mineta San Jose (SJC), 63 km
- San Jose → San Francisco8 km · quickest by road, 28 min · $1–1.5
- Sacramento → San Francisco121 km · quickest by road, 2h 37m · $11–16
- Fresno → San Francisco261 km · quickest by road, 4h 38m · $24–33
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for San Francisco
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for San Francisco. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inA particularly scenic method is to disembark at Jack London Square and take the ferry (San Francisco Bay Ferry) to San Francisco.
- Get in511.org compiles information from all of the Bay Area's different regional bus, train and ferry systems into one site including a handy trip planner program.
- Get inCruise ships and private yachts are regular visitors to San Francisco, and passenger ferries regularly link other Bay Area cities to San Francisco.
- Get inFerries run to San Francisco from Larkspur, Sausalito and Tiburon in Marin County, from Vallejo in Solano County and from Richmond, Alameda and Oakland in the East Bay.
- Get inIn San Francisco, the ferries dock at one or both of the city's two ferry terminals at Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry Building, the later of which is walking distance from the Amtrak San Francisco bus stop as well as Embarcadero Station, where the BART and Muni trains stop, and the stop for the historic streetcars that run above ground down Market Street.
From Wikivoyage: San Francisco, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,150 km
- 021,230 km
- 031,272 km
- 041,296 km
- 051,340 km
If you know how people move in San Francisco – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to San Francisco
San Francisco is 13 km from Oakland, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.