First time?
For those that usually ignore the clichéd recommendations in travel guides, play the tourist for once. San Francisco has some amazing attractions and you don’t want to miss them. Your first stop should be Fort Point. Its vantage point overlooking Golden Gate Bridge offers amazing views.

Been there before?
Once you’ve seen all of the staple tourist spots, I’d recommend a trip to Golden Gate Park (golden-gate-park.com). Go for tea at the Japanese Tea House and Garden or simply walk around the gardens. The California Academy of Sciences (calacademy.org), one of the world’s largest natural history museums, is a fun daytime outing whether you’re with family or friends. I always head straight to the living roof. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the roof consists of undulating green hillocks and 1.7 million native plants, mimicking the city’s topography.

Go out
If you want a chilled but fun Friday night out then head over to the De Young Museum (deyoung.famsf.org). It stays open late, keeping people entertained with the bar and live music. Bubble Lounge champagne bar (bubblelounge.com) is perfect for a girls’ night out. Although, by no means does this mean boys aren’t allowed to join the party.

Stay in
For those on a budget, Hotel des Arts, located
in the French Quarter, is an eclectic boutique close to Union Square, perfect
if you had a day of shopping planned (sfhoteldesarts.com). If you have
a bit more to spend, in
the mid-range price is Hotel Del Sol. This is a joyful-kid friendly place to stay.

Eat
Some of the city’s best food comes from a truck. Off the Grid (offthegridsf.com) is a bustling roving market with gourmet food trucks selling anything from my cupcakes to ‘eat curbside’s’ deep fried Mac n Cheese.

On Friday nights, the Fort Mason market has a bar and music, making it a really great (and super cheap!) way to spend the evening. Nick’s Crispy Tacos (at 1500 Broadway) makes the most amazing fried fish pescado tacos (ask for them made “Nick’s Way”) and carnitas (braised pork) in town.
If you’re craving pizza, there’s no other place than Una Pizza Napoletana (unapizza.com/sf). The place is small and the owner Anthony Mangieri makes pizza to order using an oven placed in the middle of the dining room.