San Francisco 7-Day Itinerary: Marin, Napa and the Bay

How should you spend 7 days in San Francisco?

Ease in on the Embarcadero on day 1, see Alcatraz and North Beach on day 2, then walk the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and ferry back on day 3. Give day 4 to Muir Woods or Point Reyes, day 5 to Napa, day 6 to Golden Gate Park and day 7 to SFMOMA and the Mission.

A week changes what San Francisco can be. The San Francisco 3-day itinerary packs Alcatraz, the bridge, Golden Gate Park, SFMOMA and the Mission into three full days; this plan keeps those highlights but spaces them out, and adds three days across the water: Sausalito by ferry, the Marin redwoods or coast, and the Napa Valley.

It is a desk-researched suggested route, not one we have travelled end to end. Ferry times come from Golden Gate Ferry and the Angel Island operator, park rules from the National Park Service, transit details from BART and SFMTA, and museum days from each venue, checked on 16 and 17 October 2026. Where a venue’s site blocked our checks, we have left its details out.

Base yourself near the Embarcadero, Union Square or North Beach so the Ferry Building is a short walk; where to stay in San Francisco compares the options. Season matters more than you might expect: best time to visit San Francisco explains why September and October are clearer than foggy midsummer.

What does the 7-day San Francisco plan look like at a glance?

Days 1, 2, 6 and 7 stay in the city; days 3, 4 and 5 cross the bay to Sausalito, Marin and Napa. Each day has one anchor and, where needed, one booking. SFMOMA closes on Wednesdays, so day 7 should not fall on one, and Alcatraz must be booked well before you fly.

The table sets out the anchor, what to book and the closures for each day. Days 3 and 4 depend on clear weather and daylight, so keep them movable; day 6 in Golden Gate Park works in fog, and day 7 works in rain.

Two booking deadlines shape the week. Alcatraz tours frequently sell out a week or more in advance (Alcatraz City Cruises), and Muir Woods requires a reservation for every personal vehicle and shuttle rider (NPS). Book both before anything else.

Days 1 and 2: how do you start with the waterfront and Alcatraz?

Ride BART from SFO, then spend a light first afternoon at the Ferry Building and on the F streetcar to Fisherman’s Wharf, finishing with a cable car over the hills. On day 2, take a morning Alcatraz sailing from Pier 33, then walk into North Beach and Chinatown for a long, late lunch.

BART reaches downtown from SFO in about 30 minutes, and the fare to Powell St was $11.80 on Clipper in October 2026; every rider aged 5 or over needs their own card or device (BART, BART fares). The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 2pm and Saturdays from 8am to 2pm (Foodwise), and the F Market & Wharves streetcar follows the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf from 7am to midnight.

Cable car rides cost $9; from 8am to 8pm you must prepay before boarding at the Powell and Market, Bay and Taylor, and Hyde and Beach terminals (SFMTA, SFMTA fares). Riding one on day 1 gets the classic ride done before the busier days. Our cable car guide compares the lines.

On day 2, Alcatraz City Cruises asks you to arrive at Pier 33 half an hour before sailing with government-issued photo ID and the card you paid with; the crossing takes 12–15 minutes and the visit 2.5 to 3 hours. Access is only by the NPS-contracted ferry (NPS). Afterwards, walk into North Beach, then ride the T Third line from Chinatown-Rose Pak to Union Square (SFMTA).

Day 3: how do you walk the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito?

Take the 28 bus to the bridge toll plaza, walk the east sidewalk across to Marin and continue down into Sausalito for lunch. Return on a Golden Gate Ferry, about 30 minutes to the Ferry Building, for $8.50 with Clipper or contactless. On weekends there are only five sailings each way, so check the last one.

The 28 bus runs from Fisherman’s Wharf through the Marina to the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza stop between 5am and midnight. Pedestrians use the east sidewalk, open from 5am to 9pm during Pacific Daylight Time and 5am to 6:30pm from early November to early March, with some weeknight closures an hour early during safety barrier works (Golden Gate Bridge). Cross in the morning, before the afternoon fog tends to arrive in summer (San Francisco Travel).

Golden Gate Ferry’s timetable from April 2026 shows about 30 minutes between Sausalito and San Francisco, seven departures each way on weekdays and five each way at weekends and on holidays, so note the last sailing from Sausalito before you set off (Golden Gate Ferry). Adults pay $8.50 with Clipper or a contactless card, $14 on paper (Golden Gate Ferry), and fares from Sausalito are collected when you arrive in San Francisco (Golden Gate Ferry).

Alternatively, give the day to Angel Island. The ferry from Tiburon takes about 15 minutes and costs $18 return for adults, but in late October 2026 it ran Wednesday to Sunday only, and in November and December at weekends plus 11 and 27 November (Angel Island Ferry, fares). State park entry is $3 for adults, and the Immigration Museum is free (California State Parks).

Day 4: Muir Woods or Point Reyes for a Marin nature day?

Choose Muir Woods for old-growth redwoods close to the city: it opens daily from 8am, entry is $15, and you must reserve parking or a shuttle seat in advance. Choose Point Reyes, about 30 miles beyond the bridge, if you have a car and want a wild coast, a clifftop lighthouse and, in winter, elephant seals.

Muir Woods opens from 8am until approximately sunset every day (NPS) and charges $15 per person aged 16 and over (NPS fees). Reservations are required for all personal vehicles and shuttle riders (NPS); the booking site lists $10 for a standard parking space and $4 for an adult shuttle return, and warns there is no mobile signal or wi-fi, so download your booking first (GoMuirWoods).

Point Reyes National Seashore is about 30 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge via Highway 101 and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (NPS). The NPS asks you to allow 45 minutes for the 20 or so miles from Bear Valley to the lighthouse, where the stairs close promptly at 4pm, or when winds exceed 40mph, and the car park has only 38 spaces (NPS).

Wildlife sets the season. Whales are most often seen from January to April (NPS FAQ), and elephant seals are present all year but most numerous from December to March, with weekend docents at the overlook; Chimney Rock has closures from 15 December to 31 March (NPS). If you hire a car, follow SFPD’s advice and leave nothing visible inside (SFPD).

Day 5: how do you visit Napa Valley from San Francisco?

Drive about 50 miles, which Visit Napa Valley says typically takes an hour but can take two at weekends, or take the ferry to Vallejo and a local VINE bus. Book tastings or a guided tour so nobody has to drive back after wine, and keep the day midweek if you can.

Visit Napa Valley describes the car-free route: San Francisco Bay Ferry to Vallejo, where the ferry terminal is a block from the Vallejo Transit Center, then a VINE bus into the valley. It gives no total journey time, so check the ferry and bus timetables for your day; we could not open the ferry operator’s timetable pages.

The Napa Valley Wine Train, based at 1275 McKinstry Street in Napa, runs journeys of about 2.5 to 6 hours and is one way to see the valley without a designated driver. Guided day tours from the city are the other, and they solve the drink-driving problem neatly.

Prefer a different day out? Yosemite is about four hours and 195 miles from San Francisco via Highway 120, and the park is not using a timed reservation system in 2026 (NPS, NPS driving), so treat it as an overnight trip, not a day trip. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, a longer drive south, charges adults $65 (Monterey Bay Aquarium).

Day 6: how do you spend a slow day in Golden Gate Park?

Start at the California Academy of Sciences, then pick one garden and the free de Young observation level. If the sky is clear, head north-west to Lands End by bus or taxi and walk to the Sutro Baths ruins in the late-afternoon light. In fog, finish on Twin Peaks instead of the beach.

San Francisco Travel says Golden Gate Park covers more than 1,000 acres, opens daily from 5am to midnight, and runs a free shuttle on weekdays from noon to 6pm and at weekends from 9am to 6pm; the de Young’s Hamon Tower observation level is free (San Francisco Travel). The California Academy of Sciences opens 9:30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sundays, and recommends booking for weekends.

Lands End is a windy clifftop corner of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area with bridge views and the Sutro Baths ruins. On the 3-day plan it is squeezed between the bridge and the park; here you can walk it slowly. For summer sunsets, San Francisco Travel suggests inland viewpoints such as Twin Peaks over the ocean beaches (San Francisco Travel).

Weather explains the order. Downtown averages a high of only 19.1°C in July but 21.2°C in September, the warmest month (NOAA NCEI), and the ocean-side Richmond and Sunset districts collect the most fog (San Francisco Travel).

Day 7: how do you finish with SFMOMA and the Mission before flying home?

Spend the morning at SFMOMA, which opens at 10am most days but closes on Wednesdays, then take BART to 24th St Mission for the Balmy Alley murals, Dolores Park and a final dinner on Valencia Street. The same BART line runs back to SFO, so you can leave straight from the Mission.

SFMOMA opens 10am to 5pm on Monday, Tuesday and Friday to Sunday and noon to 8pm on Thursday, and closes on Wednesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; adult admission is $30 and visitors aged 18 and under go free. If day 7 lands on a Wednesday, swap it with day 6. The Asian Art Museum at Civic Center is a good rainy-day alternative on other days: it opens Thursday from 1pm to 8pm and Friday to Monday from 10am to 5pm, closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and charges adults $20.

From Montgomery St or Powell St, BART reaches 16th St Mission and 24th St Mission in a few minutes (BART). San Francisco Travel points to Balmy Alley, between 24th and 25th Streets, and Clarion Alley, with more than 700 murals since 1992 (San Francisco Travel). At night, stay on busy, well-lit streets: SFPD told supervisors in October 2026 that enforcement elsewhere has pushed drug dealing into the Mission (Mission Local).

For the airport, BART runs to SFO until about midnight, but the first Sunday train from SFO leaves at 8:08am, and BART suggests other plans for early Sunday flights (BART). Compare options in SFO to San Francisco by BART or transfer.

Which tickets cover a week in San Francisco and the bay?

Buy a 7-day Muni Visitor Passport for $47 if you will ride cable cars and buses most days; it covers Muni, streetcars and cable cars but not BART or ferries. Pay for BART and the Golden Gate Ferry with Clipper on your phone, and hire a car only for the Marin or Napa day.

SFMTA lists Visitor Passports at $15 for one day, $35 for three and $47 for seven, against $2.85 for a single Muni ride and $9 for a cable car (SFMTA fares). Five cable car rides alone come to $45, so the seven-day passport pays off quickly if you use the hills’ public transport rather than walking.

BART and the ferries sit outside the passport. Golden Gate Ferry charges less with Clipper or contactless than on paper (Golden Gate Ferry), and BART needs a separate card or device per rider (BART). For Berkeley as a rainy-day alternative, BART’s Downtown Berkeley station is at 2160 Shattuck Avenue (BART); the UC Botanical Garden closes on Tuesdays (UC Botanical Garden) and the Lawrence Hall of Science opens Wednesday to Sunday (Lawrence Hall of Science).

If you hire a car, collect it on the morning of the Marin or Napa day rather than parking it downtown overnight; SFPD warns that thieves need only seconds and asks drivers to leave nothing in the car (SFPD).

Which tours fit a week in San Francisco, and who should change the plan?

Alcatraz is the essential booking. A guided Napa or Sonoma tour solves the driving question on day 5, and a bridge bike hire suits day 3. Families can drop Napa for a second park day; hikers can pair Muir Woods with Point Reyes; rain-season visitors should swap days 3 and 4 freely.

Marketplaces sell Alcatraz packages, wine-country day trips, Muir Woods tours and bike hire. Read titles literally: Alcatraz City Cruises sells a Bay Discovery Cruise that does not land on the island (Alcatraz City Cruises), and a Muir Woods tour should include the park reservation. The NPS warns that Alcatraz weather can change from fog to sun and back quickly (NPS). Our GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook guide compares refunds.

If a week still feels long, the 3-day itinerary shows the compact version, and things to do in San Francisco helps you choose extras. Read is Alcatraz worth it before you commit half a day to the island.