- Hours: Open daily
- Cost: No admission fee
- Location: Jefferson Street between Powell and Hyde
- How Long: A slow walk takes about half an hour. Allow more time for souvenir shopping, seeing attractions or eating in a
- Best Time to Visit: Any time
- See It Now: Photo Tour
Often tourist-packed, today's Fisherman's Wharf is home to sidewalk seafood vendors, souvenir shops and other attractions. While there's little "real" here, most visitors feel they haven't seen San Francisco unless they go. It's popular with all ages and interests.
Fisherman's Wharf Attractions
This guide includes attractions between Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square.You have a lot of options for getting discounts for the attractions here, and we suggest that you do a little math before you buy. Viator.com offers the San Francisco Citypass and you can buy the Fisherman's Wharf Pass direct, or the Go San Francisco Card offers a lot of attractions all over town at a very reasonable price. You can only do so many of them before your card expires, so be sure you can do enough to make it a good deal for you.
In geographical order, going west toward Ghirardelli Square:
- Wax Museum: 145 Jefferson. This long-time Fisherman's Wharf attraction features celebrities, U. S. Presidents and others sculpted in wax.
- Ripley's Believe It or Not: 175 Jefferson. Two floors of Ripley's famous oddities.
- USS Pampanito and SS Jeremiah O'Brien: Pier 45, just behind The Franciscan restaurant. The World War II Balao-class Fleet submarine, restored to late 1945 vintage sits next to the Jeremiah O'Brien, a fully-restored, operating, World War II Liberty Ship.
- Take a Rest: The quiet pier behind The Franciscan and across fromt the ships has nice benches, is uncrowded on even the busiest day and offers great views of Alcatraz.
- Boudin Bakery: Housed in a two-story building that replaced the old bakery in the same location, Boudin's sells the best San Francisco sourdough bread. There's a cafe upstairs and self-guided bakery tours.
- Tourists' Fisherman's Wharf: Jefferson at Taylor. A few fishing boats berthed along Jefferson and a cluster of seafood stands at the corner attract most tourists. The big sign at this corner makes a good "I was there" photo.
- Musee Mecanique: Behind Fisherman's Grotto #9. Even the X-Box generation enjoys this collection of coin-operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines.
- The Real Fisherman's Wharf: To see the less-tarted-up Fisherman's Wharf, turn toward the water at the alley next to Castagnola’s, walk past Scoma’s to the end of short pier, where you can watch some enterprising herons and egrets jockeying to steal fish from the local bait shop. To see fishermen bringing in their catch, come here EARLY, about 6:00 to 7:00 a.m.
- The Cannery Shopping Center: Jefferson at Leavenworth. Originally a Del Monte cannery, built in 1907 and the world's largest fruit and vegetable cannery by 1909, today it houses a shopping and dining area. Upstairs restaurants have nice views.
- San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park: Run by the National Park Service, the Hyde Street Pier museum provides a good overview of San Francisco's maritime history. Exhibits include the ferryboat Eureka (possibly the largest floating wooden vessel in the world), the C. A. Thayer and the Balaclutha.
Where to "Go" at Fisherman's Wharf
You'll find restrooms at Pier 39, in The Cannery and Anchorage shopping centers and at Ghirardelli Square. There's also a public facility in the parking lot behind Boudin's.Review
We rate Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco 3 stars out of 5. It's an icon, but a tired one at best.Others may disagree. You can see what other people think about Fisherman's Wharf, then bookmark this page and after you've been there, come back and tell us what you think.
What do you think of Fisherman's Wharf?
- 0 = Yuck! Just say no to this flea-bitten tourist trap
- 1 = So-So More fun than a night in jail, but you might enjoy a good nap more
- 2 = OK Some people find it interesting. I didn't
- 3 = Good It's not a big deal if you miss it
- 4 = Great I really liked it. I think you will, too
- 5 = Awesome! It's a must-see sight I recommend to everyone
Getting to Fisherman's Wharf
Fisherman's Wharf is about halfway between the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. The historic "F" trolley goes there, and the cable car stop at Mason and Bay, about a block away is less busy than the one at Hyde Street below Ghirardelli Square, but the best way to get here depends on where you're coming from. Check out all the other options.Driving? Expect to pay $15 per day and up for parking, enough to make you rethink whether that "cheap" hotel further away is such a bargain when you add car rental and parking costs. Scarce parking meters have a one-hour limit and non-metered spots require a resident permit.
