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Comment by pmoriarty | Hacker News Reader

* Alcatraz (very touristy, but very cool. get tickets well in advance! make sure to take the audio tour, consider taking the night tour)

* Exploratorium (I recommend Thursday evenings when they serve drinks and there aren't any kids running around)

* Muir Woods (a forest full of gigantic redwoods, 20 min drive North of SF)

* Bike or walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

* Day trip South on Route 1 to Monterey to see the aquarium (the views on the way are stunning)

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I second the Alcatraz night tour- not only is it a much cooler way to experience Alcatraz, you also get stunning views of both SF and the bridge. I really love your list, even though I don't know what the Exploratorium is.

It's a science museum... the most amazing one I've ever seen by far. It's super geeky and full of interesting exhibits and gizmos, most (all?) of them made by hand on-site. It's an absolute must for anyone interested in science or technology. Go see it!!!

Interesting fact about it that I only recently found out:

The Exploratorium was founded by Robert Oppenheimer[1] ("the father of the atomic bomb") after his forced resignation.[2] If you keep an eye out, there are some plaques talking about this history at the museum, and there's also at least one uncaptioned atomic-bomb-related photo (of the first milliseconds of an atomic bomb explosion) on the walls.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer

[2] - https://www.exploratorium.edu/about/history/frank

The Exploratorium is a huge hands-on science museum. Everything sciencey that you could ever want to touch (or never imagined touching) is there. It's slightly geared toward the younger crowd, but my wife and I went last year and loved it. Stayed almost the whole day. Everyone should visit at least once.

>>* Day trip South on Route 1 to Monterey to see the aquarium (the views on the way are stunning)

This is for sure a must-do. I would recommend going even further south than Monterey, at least to Point Lobos. This is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

For Alcatraz, call ahead and politely ask if someone might be willing to take you to the citadel. Very rarely seen part of the prison.

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