San Francisco on a budget may seem unattainable. You may think sacrifices are involved. That you won’t have as much fun. Or that it won’t be a worthwhile trip.
San Francisco is regularly known for being one of the most expensive cities in the United States. But that doesn’t mean it’s out of reach for the budget savvy traveler. There are many free or cheap things to do and see and plenty of deals available for the taking.
All it takes is a little bit of planning and knowing where to look and what you want to satisfy your wanderlust.
Although we didn’t take advantage of all of the tips below in our summer 2023 trip to San Francisco, they are all ones we considered and will consider again the next time we visit.
For information on the budget rules we follow when creating a travel budget in the first place, start here: How To Budget: The Ultimate Guide to Save for Travel. You’ll find more budget travel tips in our series: Budget Travel Tips: The Complete Simple Guide.
Travel During the Low or Shoulder Seasons
The summer months are generally considered to be the most expensive time to visit San Francisco. This encompasses June to August, but can extend to October. Weather can be a big determinant of the high versus low seasons. Fortunately, the temperature in the city stays relatively mild all year round, so you should get decent weather no matter what time of the year you visit.
Regardless of what time of the year you visit, you can still save depending on what particular day of the week you go. Hotels, flights, events and attractions can be significantly cheaper during the weekdays than on the weekend.
This is the first example of “do what we say, not as we did” as we visited in August 2023. Even if you visit during the high or peak season, there are still ample opportunities to save money, as I will demonstrate below.
Book Your Accommodation Wisely
There is a plethora of places to stay anywhere you travel including hostels, motels, hotels, Airbnb, Vrbo and more.
If you’re a single traveler, you may find better value in booking a bed in a hostel dorm room than booking a private room in a hotel. Hostels provide you with added benefits such as a community of like-minded travelers, many have a kitchen or kitchenette, they may offer in-house walking tours or weekly events, and more.
Hostels have changed significantly since we lived out of them during our 5 year backpacking stint from 2013 to 2018, most notably the price, but there is still great value to be found and there is a hostel to suit any person’s needs, wants and style.
We tend to shop around when it comes to accommodation comparing hostels, hotels and Airbnb. More recently we’ve found better value for the two of us staying at boutique or smaller hotels, or renting an Airbnb. For this trip we opted for a hotel in a convenient but affordable location within walking distance of several attractions and public transit.
The location has a big impact on price with inflated prices being in the more touristic areas or in more convenient locations, such as close to shopping, restaurants and public transportation. When choosing a location you’ll want to take a conscious approach and weigh up the amenities, convenience, safety and cost before securing your booking.
Use Public Transportation
San Francisco has a pretty good transit system, the best known of which is called BART – Bay Area Rapid Transit. We found it to be affordable and user-friendly, especially since you can use your phone to tap pay for trips.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) or Muni Metro, is another option that operates light rail lines, buses and the famous cable cars.
Caltrain is a company that operates commuter trains from Santa Clara (Silicon Valley) to downtown San Francisco. We used this from San Mateo to the city and despite it being a bumpy ride, found it to be affordable and effective as it got us to where we needed to be.
There are also ferries that operate numerous services out of Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Terminal to destinations across San Francisco Bay.
Walk
Some people may disagree with me but we found San Francisco to be a very walkable city, if you’re able to. Yes, it is big. Yes, there are hills, oh so many hills. But all in all, it was much more manageable than we anticipated and we got a decent calf muscle workout at the same time.
Walking is one of the best ways to explore a city and it’s free! Slowing down and walking everywhere enables you to take more time to immerse yourself in the city and all its sights, sounds and smells. You will see more than you would by taking public transportation or driving. And you’ll have an added bonus of increased mood and heart health from all that exercise you’re doing. Go you!
Take Advantage of Free Attractions and Events
There are so many amazing free or cheap things to see and do when visiting San Francisco on a budget. You can easily build an entire trip around them.
Free Walking Tours
Free walking tours are one of our favorite things to do while traveling. It combines our love of walking with our love of all things free! Learning about a place is pretty cool too. These walking tours are typically run by students or locals who love their city and want to share it with as many people as possible. While they are free to book and attend, many of the guides earn their income from tips so if you liked the tour ensure to tip whatever you feel it’s worth. It’s still much more affordable than a paid tour.
Free Museums
A lot of museums in San Francisco offer free admission days once a month. During these days, you gain access to each museum’s permanent exhibits, usually excluding the special exhibits or events. Most of the monthly free admission days are on the first Sunday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of the month.
Street Art
You could spend days, weeks, even years exploring the street art in San Francisco and still discover new art. There are over 1,000 murals scattered throughout the city, with the Mission District among the most well-known areas to explore. The best thing about street art is it is available and accessible to everyone.
We love exploring street art so in every city we visit, but particularly San Francisco. Check out our take on the Mission District Murals San Francisco’s Colorful Streets: A Guide to Mission District Murals.
Spend Your Time in Nature
There is ample park space in the bustling city of San Francisco, so much so that you may forget you’re in a major metropolitan area. Some of our favorites when we visited were the Golden Gate Park, Presidio and Mission Dolores Park. Strolling free park space and getting a healthy dose of nature time is the perfect way to experience San Francisco on a budget.
Just Wander
One of the best ways to explore a city is simply to wander around and see the sights. Just because there is a cost to enter an attraction, does not mean you have to pay it. Many monuments and popular tourist sights are still amazing to look at from the outside.
The Golden Gate Bridge, the most iconic sight in San Francisco, is completely free to walk across or admire at a distance. Lombard Street is another example of a popular tourist attraction that costs you absolutely nothing to visit.
Affordable Attractions
There are many attractions that are cheaper to visit than others and well worth the nominal admission fee. All it takes is a bit of research to see if the price is right for you. There are a number of discount admission or deal sites available to experience San Francisco on a budget.
Eat for Cheap
Even in a big city like San Francisco you will be able to find cheap eats. There are amazing local food trucks, diverse local markets, and tiny hole-in-the-wall places that seem unremarkable on the outside but offer delicious food at a great price on the inside. Look for where the locals go to find the best options.
Depending on what kind of accommodation you booked, you may be able to save money by cooking your own meals and/or bringing snacks and grab and go meals with you from the local grocery stores. It’s not quite as exciting as eating out but will be effective in stretching your budget.
Consider A Pass
Many major cities will offer attraction passes where you get access to a number of attractions included in the rate of the pass or at a discounted rate.
Examples in San Francisco include the San Francisco CityPASS, the Go City pass and the Sightseeing pass.
We have yet to purchase attraction passes in any of the places we’ve visited, opting more to go our own way and curate our trip ourselves, but if you’re short on time or interested in the major attractions they offer it’s a great way to save money.
What other tips and tricks do you have for visiting San Francisco on a budget (or any city)? Let us know in the comments below!
