San Francisco has more to offer than its photogenic Golden Gate Bridge or iconic cable cars; the City by the Bay is divided into more than 40 neighbourhoods with Chinese, Italian and Spanish influences. While many tourists flock to the popular Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown, they may want to consider visiting a greenspace larger than New York's Central Park, a prison that introduced escape-proof measures, and a museum honoring one of the world's most famous cartoonists.
Located next to Pier 39, Aquarium of the Bay is home to 20,000 marine animals including Sevengill Sharks, Giant Pacific Octopuses, sea stars, jellyfish, skates and anchovies. Visitors will descend along 300 feet of crystal clear tunnels among 700,000 gallons of Bay water to watch divers feed bat rays, sharks and sea stars. Guests can touch California Kingsnakes or Leopard Sharks or take part in hands-on experiments, such as learning about solar power.
A 1,000 square acre green space fronting the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Park provides biking and hiking trails and a buffalo paddock as a welcome respite for nature enthusiasts. Art lovers will enjoy the de Young Museum's art collections from the 17th to 20th centuries while botanists can visit the Conservatory of Flowers, which showcases highland and lowland tropics, Central American and New Zealand rain forests at the Strybing Arboretum, and the Zen garden at the Japanese Tea Garden.
Take a boat cruise from Pier 33 to visit Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was one of the most famous maximum-security prisons in the U.S., incarcerating well-known prisoners such as Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert Straud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Visitors will learn about the prison's adoption of electromagnetic metal detectors and the installation of tear gas in the dining room on an audio tape by formers guards and inmates while they tour the cell block, mess hall and isolation cells.
Located in The Presidio district, the museum is a testament to the creative genius of Walt Disney. This multi-media centre documents Disney's humble beginnings as a cartoonist and ambulance driver to the creation of the beloved Mickey Mouse in the 1920s, and his first feature length cartoon, Snow White, which made his company millions. The museum pays homage to Disney's exceptional instincts to produce a variety of films during World War II that kept his company afloat and the later, posthumous materialization of his dream, Walt Disney World.
