Visiting San Francisco in February

[brismom]

Any suggestions on kid friendly things to do? What is a good area to stay in for easy walking around?

[Snow mom]

How old is your LO? Here are a couple of recommendations for places to visit:

You have to check out the Exploratorium (now at the Palace of Fine arts, which is also a nice place to walk around with a LO) http://www.exploratorium.edu/

The SF zoo is decent. It's right by the beach and often foggy and cold.

Pier 39 is a total tourist trap, but their are sea lions that bask on the docks there. I'd recommend riding the cable car from downtown to Pier 39 and making a quick trip in to watch the sea lions.

I'll let you know if I think of something else. I grew up in SF so I'm trying to think of things I enjoyed as a kid.

[citymama]

New California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park is a must! It just opened in September. However, it's impossible to get in on weekends, so plan on going during the week.

Older kids: Exploratorium or Zeum

If the weather is nice, Crissy Field is fun (beach overlooking the GG Bridge)

If you like to hike, Land's End is a fun trail, with spectacular views of the Bay and the GG Bridge

The touristy thing is to go to Fisherman's wharf and see the seals, and they're pretty fun! But the rest of the scene is like any other big city tourist trap.

Outside the city, if you have a car, you MUST go to Muir Woods to see the redwoods.

I can also give you additional reccs if you tell me where you're staying and how old your child is. Fun!

[codex57]

Definitely Academy of Science. But yeah, since it just recently opened after being closed for so long, it's PACKED!

Chinatown is also pure toursist trap, but tourist traps can be kinda fun. Especially for a young kid cuz there's so much new stuff to see.

[brismom]

thanks for all the suggestions. My dd is 19 months so still a bit wee. We are probably staying in the union square area. Our visit is during the v-day/pres. day weekend so we are there sat to mon.

[csnoop]

We live in SF and my DD is almost 18 months. She is in the climbing phase and loves stairs and slides.

I would recommend Yerba Buena. It's about a 10-15 mins walk from Union Square. There is a large playground, lots of grassy area, and a carousel. I would recommend riding the cable cars as well. You can also take BART or bus to the Ferry Building (10 mins ride). They have a farmer's market (pricey & crowded on weekends) plus a number of other shops. There is a restaurant there called Taylor's Refresher's that is very child-friendly (American food, yummy shakes).

It would hard for you to visit the Exploratorium and Cal Academy of Science by public tranp or w/o a car. I went to Cal Academy of Science not too long ago. It was so crowded that it was kind of a traumatic experience for everyone.

CC