Fisherman's Wharf and the neighborhoods of northern San Francisco
Fisherman's Wharf is an incredibly fun area to explore in the northern part of San Francisco, with a large array of attractions and entertainment spots. The heart of the district, which used to be a major fishing harbor for Italian fishermen, is Pier 39, which has almost become a Disney park set, featuring the famous and quite stunning sea lions view. Not far away, Ghirardelli Square is a transformed chocolate factory into a venue of entertainment, shops, and restaurants.
- Opposite the piers lies the historic Alcatraz prison, notorious for housing America's worst criminals, including Al Capone
- Looking west from the island and the docks, the Golden Gate stands out
- Above the piers are the northern city districts, also featuring museums, beautiful squares, and interesting sites
- One of them is the iconic Lombard Street hill, a block built in a slalom to compensate for the hill's steep angle
How much time do you need for a trip to Fisherman's Wharf?
For a trip to Fisherman's Wharf and the neighborhoods of North San Francisco up in the hills, you need at least a full day tour. It's better to add another half-day tour and sail to Alcatraz.
12 Things You Must See and Do at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco
- Get chills in the central cell of Alcatraz prison
- Experiments for kids and adults at Exploratorium
- Climb the slalom on Lombard Street section
- Feel like you're in Disneyland at Pier 39
- Visit the ship and submarine of the US Navy at Pier 45
- Chocolate shops at Ghirardelli Square
- Ship cemetery at Hyde Street Pier as part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
- Vintage arcade machines at the Mechanical Museum
- Amazing panoramic views of the bay from Coit Tower
- The history of comics and cartoons at the Cartoon Art Museum
- The iconic campanile towers of Saints Peter and Paul Church at Washington Square
- The historic production site of Levi's at Levi's Plaza
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What is Fisherman's Wharf?
Fisherman's Wharf is the most lively and colorful district in San Francisco. The district is located on the northern part of the peninsula where the city sits along the shores of San Francisco Bay, north of the Embarcadero piers.
- The neighborhood west of the district is the Marina District, built on the grounds and facilities of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in the city in 1915.
- Fisherman's Wharf is located on the northern slopes of the hilly area between the downtown and the SoMa District, hills with their southern slopes leading to Chinatown and Nob Hill
- On these slopes is also the city's iconic street, Lombard Street, designed as a slalom to offset the steepness of the incline.
The district itself developed with the settlement of many Italian immigrants in the area north of downtown. The Italians came to San Francisco with the city's rapid development following the Gold Rush.
- When the Italians settled in the area, docks were built from which the immigrant fishing boats operated. With the fish came the fabulous restaurants that made the whole area attractive to city residents.
- During this period, the area was solidified as the lively entertainment hub of San Francisco, and the city decided to develop it as part of the northern expansion from downtown.
- Major events were held in the area, the biggest of which was, of course, the Expo of 1915.
- Today, the entire area is one big celebration of tourism and attractions, from the breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge built in the 1930s, to the legendary Alcatraz Island and the bustling piers.
- Museums, tourist attractions, shopping malls, and everything that completes the area into one big festival for tourists seeking to combine fun, attractions, and iconic sites have been built in place.
- The main tourist hubs in the district are Pier 39, a bustling open mall, and Pier 45, home to intriguing museums and significant ships worth visiting.
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Map of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco
Fisherman’s Wharf Walking Tour
- It’s best to start the morning early at Fisherman’s Wharf, with a ferry ride to the preserved prison island of Alcatraz.
- After a short tour and returning to the shore, start the land adventure in the lively and popular district of Pier 39.
- Then continue to Pier 45 where historic ships are available to board, including the Pampanito submarine.
- From the pier, it's worth heading to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and the ships at Hyde Street Pier, which are part of the museum's exhibits.
- Near the museum is Ghirardelli Square, a perfect spot for lunch.
- From Ghirardelli Square, you can hop on the cable car on Hyde Street towards the lower end of Lombard Street, the city's iconic twisted road in the Russian Hill neighborhood.
- From there, continue to Washington Square, where the stunning Saints Peter and Paul Church is located.
- Head east from the square towards Coit Tower, offering breathtaking views of the entire metropolis and the bay.
- Descend from the tower to Levi's Plaza, the square of the jeans brand born in the city, and continue to the famous Exploratorium science museum.
Everything to See and Do at Fisherman’s Wharf
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is one of the most famous attractions in San Francisco and a well-known icon of the city. Also nicknamed The Rock, it stands isolated across from Fisherman's Wharf, about two kilometers away, at the entrance of the bay toward the Pacific Ocean. This is a turbulent and somewhat intimidating area due to the water currents flowing from the ocean into the bay at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge opposite. With California joining the United States in the mid-19th century, a U.S. Army base was established on the island, including a detention facility.
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- In 1934, the already abandoned base was transformed into a federal prison considered the most secure in the world
- The prison on Alcatraz operated for only 29 years and was closed in 1963 due to high maintenance costs and its destructive impact on the bay's water quality from sewage treatment
- In a short period, the prison gained an almost mythical reputation and since then has become one of the most popular attractions in California.
- The most dangerous criminals in the United States were sent to this prison. It was the place of incarceration of Al Capone, the famous mobster from Chicago, as well as Robert Franklin Stroud, known as the Birdman. A critically acclaimed film, starring top actors, was produced in 1955 about his character.
- Besides the Birdman film, Alcatraz is an almost iconic symbol in American culture. Many other films tell its story, with the most notable being “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood from 1979, and the epic “The Rock” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage from 1996.
There are several companies that organize cruises and tours to Alcatraz Island. Access to the island is from Pier 33, where the boats depart to the dock on the island itself. The island tour allows access to the prison cells, the Alcatraz Lighthouse, the renowned Water Tower, and, of course, the gardens and courtyards. The island is very touristy, equipped with good facilities for visitors like souvenir shops and a visitor center.
Pier 39
Pier 39 is the most charming and attractive part of the many piers of Fisherman's Wharf and south of the Embarcadero towards Downtown. The pier, which was rather gray and unpleasant in the past and served as a departure point for fishing boats, underwent a makeover in 1978 with the declared purpose of transforming it into the district's tourist hub. Indeed, today the pier is the main attraction and place to visit in the entire district.
The pier is designed as an open-air mall resembling a fishing village. Its style is more akin to Disney's world than an urban setting, featuring tightly packed wooden houses hosting excellent restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues, all atop a massive deck floor.
The pier is packed with attractions for kids and the whole family, including a small amusement park with a popular carousel, cool souvenir shops, outdoor performances, and all the fun a family outing needs.
At the end of the pier, there's an observation deck where you can watch groups of sea lions and seals, possibly the most fun attraction in San Francisco for kids and the young at heart.
Nearby, at the pier's end, there is a large observation deck where the Heart of San Francisco currently stands. From here, you can enjoy a stunning view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, with a fishing boat dock on the pier's side.
Madame Tussauds San Francisco
One of the newest attractions in the lively tourist area is the wax museum of the renowned commercial network under the brand Madame Tussauds. This museum, opened in San Francisco in 2014, is situated between Pier 43 where the grand Pier 43 Ferry Arch is located and Pier 45. It’s the perfect spot to snap photos with wax figures of celebs, focusing on famous personalities from San Francisco and the Bay Area like Bruce Lee, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry), and more. You can also pose with all the Silicon Valley heroes like Steve Jobs and local politicians like Nancy Pelosi.
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Address: Jefferson St. 145, Suite 600, San Francisco
Pier 45
Pier 45 has always been a rather drab place as part of a deep port that served larger ships. Today, the long and large pier still serves as part of Fisherman’s Wharf, with large warehouses, a wholesale fish market, and various commercial functions that are not particularly interesting. Yet, the pier remains one of the district's major tourist attractions, mainly due to its marine attractions – the SS Jeremiah O'Brien ship and the Pampanito submarine, which are now museums. Nearby, in yet another drab warehouse, is the Mechanical Museum.
The SS Jeremiah O'Brien
The American naval warship is located at the end of Pier 45. The ship is now a floating museum after being preserved, and visitors can board and explore it. Launched in 1944, the ship quickly returned to the San Francisco port where it remained abandoned for 33 years. It was eventually decided to make the ship an attraction, and today visitors can step aboard.
USS Pampanito Museum and Memorial
Adjacent to the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, the Pampanito is also now a floating museum for preservation. This remarkable American Navy submarine was part of the battles of World War II. It boasts a rich history, including the sinking of six enemy warships. Two of these ships held British and Australian prisoners of war, and Pampanito played a role in rescuing 73 of them. The submarine returned to San Francisco at the end of its service and became a memorial and museum.
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Musée Mécanique
One of the coolest museums in San Francisco is the Mechanical Museum located in a gray warehouse building on Pier 45. This unique museum of arcade machines includes 300 unique and rare models of various types such as pinball, fortune tellers, peep shows, automatic piano music boxes, and more. It is a fascinating museum that depicts the evolution of the mechanical world before it was completely replaced by the digital world and early computer games.
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San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
In a large ship-shaped building at the southern end of Aquatic Cove, across the street from Ghirardelli Square, lies the famous San Francisco Maritime Museum. The museum opened in 1951 in the main exhibit hall of the Golden Gate International Exposition held in the city in 1939. The museum is the command center for the historic ships docked at nearby Hyde Street Pier and houses many exhibits and items related to the world of shipping and the sea.
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Hyde Street Pier
Between Pier 45 and the large breakwater of Aquatic Cove, you'll find the small pier at the end of Hyde Street. This is a particularly narrow pier where several historic ships are permanently docked as part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park display. In the past, it was one of the city's important ferry ports, but today it's mainly a lovely place to walk and see the ships with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Docked here are several ships, including the Hercules Tugboat, the Star of Alaska ship built in 1886, the historic Eppleton Hall Paddlewheel Tugboat, and more.
Ghirardelli Square
Ghirardelli Square is located in the southern part of Aquatic Cove, within the large factory building that used to be the site of the company's chocolate production. The entire factory has undergone a transformation, changing from a gray, industrial space into an open-air mall with restaurants, entertainment venues, and chocolate shops now managed by the Swiss giant Lindt. Much like Pier 39, this square is a bustling and especially attractive place for young children.
Cartoon Art Museum
One of the unique museums in San Francisco is located near Ghirardelli Square. The museum is entirely dedicated to the display and preservation of cartoon and comic art. Founded in 1984, it holds a vast collection of caricatures and comic books, including the original prints from which replicas were made. It's a fascinating museum focusing on what might seem like a niche art form but has significant historical impact in both the political world and pop culture. At the museum, you can see the evolution of film brands based on comic characters.
Address: Beach St. 781, San Francisco
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Lombard Street
Perhaps the most iconic street in all of San Francisco, the unique section of Lombard Street is located a 10-minute walk south from Ghirardelli Square and the piers in the Russian Hill district. Lombard Street itself crosses the northern part of the city from west to east from Golden Gate Park to the Coit Tower, but the block section between Hyde Street to the west and Leavenworth Street to the east is what has made it iconic.
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Due to the impossible driving angle uphill from Hyde Street to Leavenworth, the unique slalom road was built in the 1920s. The slalom compensates for the problematic driving angle.
You can drive no faster than 10 km/h on the street, where the edges of the winding road are adorned with flower beds and plenty of greenery. This section of the street is a particularly photogenic tourist attraction and a must-visit site for tourists coming to the city.
Washington Square
Washington Square is the heart of the North Beach district, south of Fisherman's Wharf. North Beach is still considered the Little Italy of San Francisco and historically the residential area of the fishermen of Fisherman's Wharf. Today, the district has undergone gentrification and is a popular residential area between downtown and the piers.
The main attraction of the large green square is the stunning towers of Saints Peter and Paul Church, which dominate the northern end. The square is built on top of a hill, and right at the summit is the memorial with a statue of Benjamin Franklin.
Saints Peter and Paul Church
Saints Peter and Paul Church is located at the northern end of Washington Park. It is one of the most impressive and beautiful churches in the entire western region of the USA. True to Italian building tradition, the church serves the city's Italian Catholic community, and its presence is reminiscent of various duomos throughout Italian cities. The church was completed in 1924 and since then has been called la cattedrale italiana dell'Ovest, the cathedral of the Italians in the West. It was built as a renovation of the previous church that stood a block and a half to the east on the street and was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.
The church was built in the style of Italian basilicas with a large Romanesque facade featuring a giant rose window and above it, two neo-Gothic campanile towers. The interior of the church is highly decorated and impressive with a Byzantine-style design. The church was a filming location for several movies, the most famous of which is Clint Eastwood's ‘Dirty Harry' from 1971.
Address: Filbert St. 666, San Francisco
Coit Tower
The famous Coit Tower is located just two blocks east of Washington Square, at the intersection with Filbert Street. It sits in the heart of Pioneer Park, at the peak of the high hill that forms part of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. The building was constructed in 1933 atop the hill, which is about 84 meters above bay level, just 250 meters east of the shoreline.
The tower stands 64 meters tall, making, together with the hill, an excellent platform for a scenic lookout. At the top of the tower, an observation deck offers one of the most beautiful views of the city skyline. In 1934, the tower's lobby was the site of a project initiated by several local artists (part of New Deal commissioning projects), who painted numerous murals depicting the daily life in San Francisco on the elegant entrance walls.
Address: 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd., San Francisco
Levi's Plaza
Levi's Plaza is located one block west of the Exploratorium on the pier. In the red brick granite building stands what was the original factory of Levi Strauss, the legendary jeans manufacturer. Strauss, a Jewish native of Germany, immigrated with his mother and her family to San Francisco in his childhood as part of the city's development during the Gold Rush.
Strauss was the one who came up with the idea of using canvas fabrics to make durable pants, designed to serve the gold miners. The square's structure mimics the Sierra Nevada mountains where they first mined with jeans. The square itself is a very pleasant place to stroll around, including the green garden Levi's Park, which touches upon the piers.
The Exploratorium
The famous science museum of San Francisco is set on a massive structure that covers an entire pier in the Embarcadero district, the eastern part of the piers south of Fisherman's Wharf. The museum opened to the public in 1969 and has since become one of the most popular institutions in the city for family outings. The museum offers a wide range of exhibits, experiments, experiences, and displays that all invite children to play, touch, and discover. It is considered one of the best science and technology museums on the West Coast of the USA.
Address: Pier 15, Embarcadero at Green St., San Francisco
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The Beat Museum
The museum dedicated entirely to the culture that developed in San Francisco in the 1950s is located in the southern part of North Beach on the border with Chinatown. The culture was a precursor to the beatniks before the hippie culture developed in the city's Haight-Ashbury district and in Golden Gate Park in 1967 (the Summer of Love). The museum explores the development of the movement in the city, mainly around the figure of Allen Ginsberg, who spent most of his days in San Francisco.
The nearby Columbus Avenue is full of restaurants, cafes, and entertainment venues. It stretches diagonally between the grid streets in the direction of Washington Square Park and the western part of Fisherman's Wharf.
Address: Broadway 540, San Francisco
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