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Top 5 Things To Do In San Francisco with Teenagers

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Travel has changed quite a bit for us since the boys were younger, that said we love traveling as much, if not more, now that they are tween and teens. Late last year we drove all the way up to San Francisco and fell in love with this city.Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com

We only had a day to explore since we were in town for a wedding and it only left us wanting to see more. I did a lot of research beforehand and wanted to share what we came up with as our top choices for a quick trip to San Francisco with teenagers. We stayed at Hotel Zephyr and it ended up being the perfect location for all we wanted to do.

Top 5 Things to Do During a Day in San Francisco with Teenagers

In no particular order:

  1. Alcatraz – we did the first Alcatraz Cruises cruise of the day and HIGHLY recommend doing it, even if you’re a little bit interested in seeing Alcatraz. I enjoyed it SO much more than I thought I would. We all definitely recommend the audio tour. It is so well done and you’ll love all the interesting facts. The first morning tour was perfect, just make sure to book early – as soon as you book the rest of your trip – because they sell out fast!Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com
  2. Musee Mechanique – my boys would go back to San Francisco JUST to go to Musee Mechanique! It’s a privately owned collection of coin operated musical instruments and arcade machines and it’s amazing. We were having way too much fun and I forgot to take a ton of pictures here but we’ll definitely be back.Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com
  3. Grab some bread at Boudin Bakery (an animal shaped one of course) and walk around Pier 39. There’s lots to see and do and you may find yourself spending lots of time watching the sea lions! You can choose from an aquarium, laser maze challenge, mirror maze, street performers and more that your teens will love.Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com
  4. Muir Woods – just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge is an entirely different world. We actually didn’t get to explore this area much but we had enough people with older kids (and younger kids) that we know it would definitely make our list!

    Photo: Darvin Atkeson via Flickr
    Photo: Darvin Atkeson via Flickr
  5. Walt Disney Family Museum – a huge museum all about the life and legacy of Walt Disney. There is SO much to see even if you aren’t the hugest Walt Disney fan. Many people commented that they spent way more time here than they thought they were going to!

    Image: nps.gov
    Image: nps.gov

Have you been to San Francisco? What were your top picks for teens or other ages?

Top 5 things to do in San Francisco with teens from allfortheboys.com

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Allison Waken is a wife, mom of boys and Phoenix, AZ native. She has been creating inspiring content for All for the Boys since 2011. Allison loves travel, movies and spending as much time as possible with her family while she can!

9 Comments

  1. Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is a definite must with teenagers. It’s a thrilling surreal adventure they will love. Now your mama heart might not enjoy it so much 🙂 But it’s totally worth it!

    • We didn’t have time to do that on this trip but we’ll definitely have to do it next time around! I love that stuff! We did get to drive across it but we’ll have to plan to explore it more.

  2. Oh Allison I’m so pleased that you shared this! We have finally booked our trip to the US and are beyond excited. We have a whole month and will be spending it on the East Coast, in California, San Francisco, Portland and in between. Our boys will be 11 and 12 (almost 13) so a great age. Looking forward to rereading lots of your disney posts too.

  3. Hi Allison! Great idea for a trip to San Francisco, I like your suggestions. I’ve never been there, but I guess I have to take my boys for a little trip 🙂
    by the way, great photos!

  4. so i’m looking for ideas for our trip to san francisco to do with my boys. and i find this. all on my list except for walt disney! 🙂

  5. Hi Allison,

    I was looking for trip ideas with children and I found your post ! Your experience sharing is really great. My children aren’t teenagers but I keep this in mind for the future 🙂 I add this destination to my list!

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