San Francisco Tourist Trap Tips by tinyvulture

The Exploratorium is probably really cool if you have kids who like science. But we really wanted to try out the "Tactile Dome" we had read about; it is some kind of maze that you go through entirely in the dark. Unfortunately, when we got there (pretty early) it was already sold out for the rest of the day. If that is what you are going for, just be aware.

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At Least Do This: Call and reserve a time for the Tactile Dome far in advance.
Alternative: Have a picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts, it is right next door to the Exploratorium if you are in that area.

To get to the boat for Alcatraz, we had to walk through Fishermans Wharf. It was over ridden with loud, herd-like tourists (the kind who stop and abruptly turn around and walk right into you as though they are oblivious to the fact that there are other people on the planet besides them!), nasty over priced food stands, and fishmongers who yell in your face to try and get you to buy their fish when you are just trying to pass by.

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At Least Do This: The “Musee Mecanique” is free and it's very interesting too! It is full of old “peep show” and other mechanical games from the early 20th century. Most of them still work, so get a couple dollars in quarters and check them out. What a weird thing to collect!
Alternative: The alternative would be...do not go to Fishermans Wharf :)

The location is kind of inconvenient. I think the 39 Muni only runs every 1/2 hour so we had to wait a long time, and then you gotta hike back down a series of steps. We got some decent pics of the city (taken through the thick glass windows at the top of the tower) but for the effort, it just was not that exciting.

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At Least Do This: At least take the bus, do not try to walk it! It is up a lot higher than it may appear.
Alternative: Take a Bay Cruise offered by Blue and Gold Ferries. You have to brave Fishermans Wharf to do this, but it is a good way to get some great pics of the whole city and the water. Riding on a boat is kind of more exciting than riding up an elevator.

If you ride the Powell-Hyde cable car north, one of the stops is at Lombard St. Unfortunately, once you get off at the top of the street, there is really nowhere to stand where you can get a good view of just how crooked the street is. And it's kind of scary to try to walk down the street because cars are actually lined up to drive it and you have to stay out of their way.

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At Least Do This: Maybe it's more fun if you are in a car; at least then you can say you drove down the crookedest street ever.
Alternative: I think it's better seen from a distance. If you take a ride up in Coit Tower you can see the whole of Lombard St. in all its crooked glory, as well as great views of the rest of San Francisco.