San Francisco's museums refuse to agree on what a museum is, and that is the best thing about them. The list below runs from a modern art museum and a natural history museum to a non-profit LGBT historical society and a wax museum, with stops for cartoon art, cable cars and antique vibrators along the way. Some of these are full-day institutions with a switchboard and a programme to study in advance, while others are a single address and a website that reward the visitor who reads before walking in. We have ranked them by how much of your limited time we think they deserve, not by size. This list is for the traveller who would rather see 2 places properly than 6 in a blur, and for the local who has been meaning to go for years. One rule applies to all 12: check the museum's own site before you leave, pick one thing to see, and give it your full attention. The big names will still be there tomorrow. The small ones are the visits you will end up talking about.
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1 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third StreetModern art, the museum's stated remit
Let an afternoon drift at 151 Third Street, where the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art keeps its front door: a modern art museum, and the one on this list most people will plan a day around. Skip the urge to see everything in a single visit; pick one show from the listings at sfmoma.org and give it your full attention. If you want to confirm what is hanging before you travel, the museum answers on +1 415-357-4000. Modern art rewards a slow pace, and a tired visitor sees nothing. Go early, leave before you are full, and come back another day.
Dates from 1935
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2 California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118Natural history
At 55 Music Concourse Drive in the 94118, the California Academy of Sciences does a job its name undersells: this is a natural history museum, so come for the natural world, not a lecture hall. Read calacademy.org before leaving the house, because a natural history museum is a different visit depending on who you bring and how long their patience lasts. Our advice is to choose two things you care about and treat the rest as a bonus. Natural history is at its best when you stop in front of one display and stay there; the worst way to see it is at a jog with a checklist.
Dates from 1853
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3 Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
200 Larkin StreetA museum given over to Asian art, as its name states
Call +1 (415) 581-3500 before you set out for the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, because two minutes on the phone beats arriving on the wrong day. The address to give your driver is 200 Larkin Street, and the current programme is posted at asianart.org. Resist the temptation to sprint through a whole continent in an hour: this is a museum whose subject is too wide for that, and the honest approach is to pick one tradition and look hard. We'd rather know six objects well than walk past six hundred. Take a notebook, or at least a slow companion.
Dates from 1966
Hours: Th 13:00-20:00; Fr-Mo 10:00-17:00
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4 Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street, 94103A museum with a present-tense brief, per its own name
The address is 736 Mission Street, 94103, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum behind that door carries a word in its name that matters more than visitors expect: contemporary. This is a museum that announces a present-tense interest, so check thecjm.org for what is showing now rather than assuming a fixed display you can see any year. Skip the habit of treating every museum as a permanent collection with a gift shop bolted on; a place that calls itself contemporary earns its visit one exhibition at a time. If the current show does not speak to you, wait for the next one. If it does, give it an unhurried hour.
Dates from 1984
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5 GLBT Historical Society
989 Market St., Lower LevelLGBT history kept by a non-profit historical society
Head downstairs at 989 Market St., where the GLBT Historical Society gives its address as the Lower Level. The organisation behind that door is a non-profit LGBT historical society, and the point of coming is the history and the record, not spectacle, which puts it well ahead of the souvenir stops that sell the same story back to you on a fridge magnet. Check glbthistory.org before you go to confirm what the public can see and when, and do that before you start looking for the entrance at 989. Come with questions, and expect to leave with more of them.
Dates from 1985
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6 Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94105A museum whose named subject is the African diaspora
If you have one free hour, write down 685 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94105: that is the address of the Museum of the African Diaspora. The name sets a subject that crosses oceans, a bigger brief than most museums give themselves, and it is why we would put this ahead of another lap of the usual canon. Forget the idea that you need a full day and a plan; an hour with one exhibition here will change the conversation at dinner. The programme is listed at moadsf.org, and the museum picks up on +1-415-358-7200. Ask what has just opened, then go and see that.
Dates from 2005
Hours: We-Sa 11:00-18:00; Su 12:00-17:00
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7 Cartoon Art Museum
781 Beach Street, San Francisco, CaliforniaCartoon art given a museum of its own
Bring the person in your group who still reads the comics page to 781 Beach Street, home of the Cartoon Art Museum. The premise is in the name, and it is a serious one: this is a museum that treats cartoon art as something worth a wall and a proper look. Locals reach for a museum like this on days when the big galleries feel like homework. What is showing changes the visit entirely, so read cartoonart.org first, then head for 781 with someone who will argue with you about line and timing. Drawing that makes you laugh is harder than it looks.
Dates from 1984
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8 San Francisco Cable Car Museum
1201 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94108A museum devoted to the cable car, as its name states
Three numbers get you to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum: 1201 Mason Street, the 94108 postal code and, if you want to check before you commit, +1-415-474-1887. This is a museum about a single piece of the city's transport, and that is why we rank it above broader history displays: one subject, taken seriously, teaches more than twenty subjects skimmed. Skip the assumption that a ride is all the cable cars have to teach you. The practical details live at cablecarmuseum.org, and they are worth two minutes of reading. Go with the engineer in your family, or go alone and become one for an hour.
Dates from 1853
Hours: Tu-Th 10:00-16:00; Fr-Su 10:00-17:00; Mo 00:00-24:00
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9 International Art Museum of America
1025 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103An art museum with an international brief, per its name
Start with iamasf.org, because the International Art Museum of America at 1025 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 has the least self-explanatory name on this list. It is a museum, the title promises art with an international reach, and beyond that the sensible move is to let the place describe itself before you walk in. Not worth the guesswork of turning up cold. We include it because a museum you know nothing about is a rarer pleasure than one you have already seen in a thousand photographs, and because curiosity deserves a slot on any honest list. Read first, then decide how long to give it.
Dates from 2011
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10 Antique Vibrator Museum
1620 Polk Street, 94109Antique vibrators, the subject the museum names itself for
Curiosity, not a guidebook, is what should bring you to 1620 Polk Street, 94109, where the Antique Vibrator Museum does what its name says. The subject is antique machines, which makes this a history-of-technology stop as much as a punchline, and we think it is best visited with a straight face. Avoid the smirking five-minute visit; the interesting questions are who made these objects, who bought them and what the makers claimed for them. The museum keeps its own site at antiquevibratormuseum.com, and that is where to confirm access before you go. Of everything here, this is the stop you will be asked about most when you get home.
Dates from 2012
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11 Randall Museum
199 Museum Way, San Francisco, CAA museum with an address on Museum Way
Museum Way is a street name that gives the game away, and the Randall Museum sits at number 199. We like an address that tells you where you are going. Beyond that, the name alone explains little about this museum, which is the reason to read randallmuseum.org before you set out for 199 Museum Way. The locals prefer a small museum with a clear purpose to a famous one with a queue, and we are with them. Small places forgive a short visit, welcome a restless child and rarely leave you feeling you missed the important room. Go without a schedule and let the place set the pace.
Dates from 1951
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12 Madame Tussauds San Francisco
145 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, 94133Wax figures
Wax, not canvas, is the medium at 145 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, 94133, and Madame Tussauds San Francisco sits last on this list for a reason. It is a wax museum, and we won't pretend otherwise: you come to stand beside a likeness and take the photograph. What earns this address a paragraph is the second half of its name. The location has its own San Francisco pages at madametussauds.com, and that is where to check which figures belong to this city before you pay, because the visit is worth your hour only if the line-up means something here. Skip the ticket bought on impulse at the door, look first, and go only if the roster on the site makes you grin.
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