Plan a family weekend trip to San Francisco and explore interactive science exhibits, make your own art or record a music album. Take the kids catamaran sailing to enjoy incredible views of the San Francisco skyline, visit an aquarium, stop at the zoo, and have the best ice cream in town. Our list of best things to do with kids in the Bay Area includes ideas for both younger and older children. Most offer indoor and outdoor areas where you can interact with animals, play hide-and-seek, crawl through tunnels, and admire scenic city views.
What is 18 Fun Kid-Friendly Things to Do in San Francisco and Oakland known for? What to do. What are the 18 Fun Kid-Friendly Things to Do in San Francisco and Oakland?
The 18 Fun Kid-Friendly Things to Do in San Francisco and Oakland according to local experts are:
- Exploratorium
- The San Francisco Art Institute
- Children’s Creativity Museum
- The Bay Area Discovery Museum
- The Ice Cream Bar
- Del Popolo
- Children’s Fairyland
- Devil's Teeth Baking Company
- Dynamo Donut and Coffee
- Batter Bakery
- Flax Art and Design
- California Academy of Sciences
- Bi-Rite Market
- Bob's Donuts
- Tacolicious
- Pier 39 & Adventure Cat Sailing Charters
- San Francisco Zoo & Gardens
- Aquarium of the Bay
Hotel Spotlight: The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco is located in downtown San Francisco, in the middle of the excitement and hustle and bustle of the city. Originally built in the early 1900's, this building was transformed into a modern yet classic hotel that sleeps thousands of visitors every year. The hotel has received many awards and was recently rated in U.S. News and World Report's Best Hotels Rankings, receiving a gold badge award, and Zagat ranked the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco as the best hotel in the city of San Francisco. Well-known and highly recommended, this hotel has it all.
All of the rooms at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco are luxurious. Guests can choose to stay in a suite or guest room while staying at the hotel. The one bedroom, club one bedroom, and San Francisco suites all offer around 800 square feet of living space. The one-bedroom suite includes a king sized bed in a beautifully decorated master bedroom and a crib and rollaway bed upon request. This suite sleeps up to three people. It has a spacious bathroom, with dual sinks, and large tub for a nice bubble bath or shower with a rainforest shower head. This suite also has a separate living room to relax in after a long day of exploring. The suite also includes a powder room with a make-up mirror.
Other amenities include amazing views of both the city and courtyard, a Nespresso gourmet coffee and tea machine for one's caffeine fix, and two high-definition LCD flat-panel TVs with dual speakers. All guests of this suite and all rooms at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco have 24-hour wireless internet access as well. The Junior Suite has the same layout as the one-bedroom suite but is a little smaller at 600 square feet. Another option is the club one-bedroom suite. It has a similar set-up and offers similar amenities to those of the other suites, but also includes exclusive club lounge access. This means guests have access to the club lounge and can nibble on complimentary food and beverage displays throughout the day. Guests of this suite can also sip on unique wine and taste delicious caviar during the themed weekend food and beverage series. Also available to guests who stay in the club suite is a full-service club concierge, just waiting to take care of all guest requests.
The San Francisco Suite is another suite guests can reserve at the Ritz- Carlton, San Francisco. On top of the master bedroom, posh bathroom, living room and amenities, this suite offers an optional connecting King room to become a two-bedroom suite and showcases magnificent views of the city. From this suite, guests can see famous attractions like the Coit Tower, Alcatraz Island, and the Transamerica pyramid. Those guests staying in the San Francisco Suite are also granted exclusive access to the club lounge to enjoy complimentary food and beverage as well as concierge service all day long.
The most extravagant suites include the Ritz-Carlton Suites and the Presidential Suite. Both suites are over 1900 square feet and feature a fully stocked food pantry with large refrigerator and wet bar as well as one and a half marble baths. They also include a foyer with an additional guest bathroom. These suites have a spacious living room and a dining room with a table that seats up to 6 people which are perfect if guests plan on hosting a fun night in with family and friends. Both suites offer an optional adjoining suite as well for additional sleeping space. For guests seeking a balcony, the Presidential Suite should be a top pick. This lavish suite has a 1,200-foot balcony that guests can hang out and sip cocktails on and offers breathtaking city and courtyard views.
For guests on a business trip or guests just looking for a smaller accommodation, the deluxe guest room, superior guest room, and club level guest rooms are great choices. These three are roughly 400 square feet and include a king or two queen sized beds, oversized executive work desks, a lounging area with an oversized armchair, and a spacious bathroom. The club level guest room is the only one that comes with exclusive club lounge access. Other amenities available to guests of the hotel's guest rooms include cozy terry cloth bathrobes and slippers, a coffee and tea machine, high-definition digital television, and twice-daily housekeeping services.
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco offers great food and drink options for its guests onsite. The Parallel 37, has a globally inspired menu and classy vibe that visitors love. Chef Michael Rotondo, a reputable chef in the restaurant industry, created a menu full of fresh and unique dishes that are filled with ingredients from local farmer's markets and small businesses that produce the highest quality in-season ingredients in the area. Open for breakfast and dinner, Parallel 37 offers meal choices like the egg white frittata, filled with asparagus, wild mushrooms, and goat cheese, and French toast topped with local strawberries and honey for breakfast. For dinner, guests can indulge and enjoy items like a roasted beet salad and short-rib and crispy potato pancakes for an appetizer, and dishes like the organic roasted chicken or duck confit served with blackberry and sourdough bread for dinner.
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The restaurant offers plenty of meat and vegetarian dishes to satisfy every kind of palate. Chef Michael Rotondo also offers five course menu options and wine pairings as well. Also at the Parallel 37, is a beautifully bar that offers an impressive beverage program. Those guests looking to enjoy some tasty and unforgettable cocktails should look no further than the bar and lounge at Parallel 37. With cocktails like the Holy Trinity, made with lime vodka, celery, lemon verbena, and soda, and the Honey Scrub cocktail, made with bar hill gin, grilled lemon, and sage, guests can sit back, watch mixologists at work, and enjoy delicious cocktails. The bar and lounge also offers local beer on tap and canned as well as an extensive wine list. For guests with the munchies, the bar and lounge serves up bar snacks like tuna poke and Bangkok style chicken wings served with picked vegetables. For those looking for some musical entertainment, the lounge features live music Tuesday through Saturday from six to nine at night.
Since the hotel is in the middle of the city, there are hundreds of restaurant options within walking distance. A few worth mentioning include Roxanne Café for a traditional, hearty American breakfast and Burrit Room and Akikos Restaurant and Sushi Bar for yummy rolls like the rainbow and avocado rolls and exotic fish dishes. Guests can find every kind of cuisine imaginable within walking distance of the hotel.
The Ritz- Carlton, San Francisco offers one of the most elegant wedding venues in the city. Guests can choose the terrace courtyard venue which is situated underneath a great white tent in the beautifully landscaped courtyard that overlooks the city skyline, or the grand ballroom that's filled with dazzling chandeliers, fancy carpeting and mirrored walls. The Terrace Courtyard venue accommodates up to 200 guests and features herb and flower gardens, as well as a variety of other plants and an elaborate water fountain. The Ballroom venue is over 9,000 square feet in size and can accommodate up to 500 guests for a wedding ceremony. The wedding reception can also be held in the ballroom or in the terrace room for those who decide to have the ceremony in the terrace courtyard. The terrace room can hold up to 110 guests and includes a dance floor.
When it comes to business meetings, the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco also has its guests covered. It has exclusive conference rooms and board rooms on site and over 24,000 square feet of meeting space for every sized company or group. The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco also has complimentary 24-hour computer kiosks on-site for all visitors to use whenever they need too, and projection, sound and lighting services, as well as audio visual services.
The hotel has it all to make any type of meeting or event go off without a hitch. Companies or groups can also choose to put on themed events to make their meeting as memorable as possible. The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco offers an Italian Garden Theme and an Awards Night theme, that showcases a red carpet, Hollywood sign, and gold star decorated ballroom. It is also happy to throw an Alcatraz themed event, where a chain link fence is placed at the entrance of the ballroom and an electric chair surrounded by cell bars sits in the middle of the room to present a jail like scene. The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco enjoys spicing up a traditional business meeting and event.
For guests looking for a nice massage or facial, the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco offers spa services on -site. The spa is open daily and recommends that guests make reservations. Outside of the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco there are so many activities, sites, and places to see in San Francisco. Within minutes, guests can get to Nob Hill where all of the cable car lines start and stop, and take the cable car to all of the different neighborhoods and districts of the city. Guests will be pleased with their stay at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco.
600 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108, Phone: 415-296-7465
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Attraction Spotlight: San Francisco Zoo
Situated along the Great Highway between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean, the San Francisco Zoo is set on 100 acres of land and is home to more than 2,000 endangered, exotic, and rescued animals representing over 250 species. Famous for being the birthplace of Koko the Gorilla and home to Elly, the oldest black rhinoceros in North America for the past 43 years, the zoo features a variety of animal enclosures and exhibits, beautifully maintained gardens, a sculpture learning plaza, and many conservation and wellness programs.
History
Founded in 1929 as the Fleishhacker Zoo, after banker Herbert Fleishhacker, the zoo featured several exhibits with animals such as zebras, buffalo, rhesus monkeys, spider monkeys and elephants, a children’s playground, and an original carousel. Over the few decades, the Zoological Society aided the zoo with fundraising and the acquisition of rare animals and was renamed the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. Today, the Zoo is home to more than 2,000 animals from over 250 species housed in several different regions.
Exhibits
The San Francisco Zoo features a range of outstanding exhibitions, including the South American Tropical Rainforest and Aviary with a realistic rainforest ecosystem teeming with exotic plants and colorful birds, a 15-foot-long green anaconda, a charming two-toed sloth and a significant herpetological collection.
The Gorilla Preserve is home to four females, a silverback male, and Hasani and features a wall of viewing windows that allow visitors to feel as if they are in the wild with the gorillas. The Grizzly Gulch features a 20,000-gallon pool with a waterfall and a sunny meadow which several grizzly bears call home, and the Lemur Forest is a forested enclosure for a variety of species of these active and engaging primates.
The Fisher Family Children's Zoo is a six-acre park-within-a-park that offers an educational experience for children to enjoy with farm animals, an insect zoo, a meerkat and a prairie dog exhibit, nature trails and a Red Panda.
Things to do at the Zoo
Interesting and exciting activities at the zoo include watching the grizzly bears being fed, taking a ride on the Little Puffer train and the Dentzel carousel, interacting with animals along the nature trail, petting goats, sheep, and pigs at the Family Farm, and going behind the scenes on a Wild Walk. Visitors can watch Magellanic penguins being hand fed by animal keepers, and get up close to a giraffe during the Keeper Talks. Children of all ages can burn energy at the Elinor Friend Playground and look for free-flying birds inside the South American Tropical Rainforest & Aviary.
Educational Programs
The San Francisco Zoo offers a variety of educational and community outreach programsfor visitors of all ages, including children’s programs for all ages, family and adult programs, zoo camp and volunteer programs. Children’s Programs include Little Learners, Animal Adventures, Young Zoologists, Conservation Club, Scout Groups, and Teens. Adult and family programs include Wild Walks, Scavenger Hunts, Bike About, Overnights at the Zoo, Twilight Tours, Conservation Speaker Series, and Senior Strolls.
Keeper Talks and feedings include Grizzly Bear Feeding, Hatchery Tours, Barnyard Stampedes, sea lion feeding at the Fred Carroll Family Sea Lion Pool, Chimpanzee Talk, and Penguin Feeding at Penguin Island. Other encounters and attractions range from Red Ivory at the Primate Discovery Center, Storytime Station, Animal Encounters at the Animal Resource Center, and Wild Walks departing from the Entry Village every two hours.
Conservation Programs
The San Francisco Zoo takes part in several conservation and animal protection programs, including Animal Wellness, Leading Local Conservation Efforts, Restoring Native Habitat, Working Green, Conservation Community, and the Wildlife Trafficking Enforcement Act.
Sloat Blvd & Great Hwy, San Francisco, CA 94132, Phone: 415-753-7080