Spring into Summer: New and Noteworthy Atractions in San Francisco

Panorama Patk

San Francisco Travel's latest roundup features updates on attractions and entertainment.

New Perspectives

The 150-foot-high SkyStar Wheel offers never-before-seen perspectives of San Francisco from its new location in Fisherman's Wharf. Moved from Golden Gate Park to the Wharf, the SkyStar Wheel's views span from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, taking in the San Francisco Bay, Presidio of San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, North Beach, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, and the downtown skyline.

Visitors can climb “halfway to the stars” on a cable car recently dedicated to Tony Bennett. The newly refurbished cable car 53 carries special plaques and unique markings to commemorate Bennett, who passed away in 2023. The legendary singer premiered “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1961 in the Fairmont Hotel's Venetian Room, and the hotel's lobby recently became the permanent home of a hand-painted heart sculpture by Bennett. Visit the sculpture and more on a self-guided tour of Tony Bennett's San Francisco via Local Getaways' free guide.

A new Behind-the-Scenes Tour explores restricted, non-public areas of the 175-year-old Grace Cathedral. Led by trained docents, the Behind-the-Scenes Tour includes the opportunity to climb nearly 100 stairs to the South Tower's observation level and scale across a catwalk for a vertical view and an insider's perspective. The French-inspired neo-Gothic church features 90-foot-high vaulted ceilings and sixty-eight intricate stained-glass windows covering over 7,200 square feet. Visitors on the tour will enjoy interior vistas of the massive cathedral and its arches from the Gallery overlooking the labyrinth; step through secret doors and glimpse hidden passageways of the Ambulatory and historic rooms, which store some of the cathedral's oldest treasures; and gain access to the restricted Chapel of Grace that houses historic furnishings, circa 1400s and 1500s.

New Parks

The revitalization of San Francisco's southern waterfront continues with the April opening of the five-acre China Basin Park, part of San Francisco's newest neighborhood, Mission Rock. The park is located just across from Oracle Park (home of the San Francisco Giants) and McCovey Cove and features extensive recreational areas, including a one-acre Great Lawn, a Gathering Grove, and the Shoreline Sands – a stretch of sand along the shoreline designed to bring visitors closer to the water. China Basin Park also extends the 350-mile Bay Trail, now connecting downtown and SoMa to the revived southeastern waterfront.

China Basin Park

An array of new parks and public spaces is taking shaping in the middle of San Francisco Bay on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. These include new picnic spots in the protected seal colony area of Clipper Cove, which boasts spectacular views of San Francisco, Alcatraz, and the East Bay, and “the world's most beautiful dog park.” Opening in May is Panorama Park, which features dramatic 360-degree views radiating from the 69-foot-tall Point of Infinity sculpture by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. Point of Infinity is the renowned artist's first large-scale permanent installation in the U.S. The islands are now reachable by a new, 10-minute ferry ride from downtown San Francisco.

In the city's Financial District, an expanded Transamerica Redwood Park will partially reopen in May before its grand opening in September as part of a revitalization of the iconic Transamerica Pyramid.

Play Time

Skateboarders can experience the city's new 13,000-square-foot urban skate plaza—the first of its kind in the U.S. Located in U.N. Plaza within sight of City Hall, the skate plaza was designed by local professional skateboarders and skate park advocates. It features street curbs, concrete benches, and brick walkways for urban skateboarding.

Golden Gate Park's Skatin' Place

America's first destination municipal short course, the nine-hole, par-3 Golden Gate Park Golf Course, completed a redesign and renovated its clubhouse earlier this year. Also in Golden Gate Park, visitors can now rent in-line or roller skates on weekends and join roller-skaters at Golden Gate Park's Skatin' Place, which is located on the park's car-free JFK Promenade near 6th Avenue.

With the rise of pickleball, San Francisco's Recreation and Parks department increased the number of places to play pickleball to over 90 courts. Among the new locations are pickleball courts at the historic Palace of Fine Arts. Last year, San Francisco also debuted the first padel courts in Northern California in the Embarcadero and on Treasure Island. The game combines tennis and squash into a sport played by 10 million people around the world.

* Website: https://www.sanfrancisco.travel/