Children’s Creativity Museum
A hands-on children’s museum at Yerba Buena Gardens with two floors of art, design, and innovation exhibits. $20 admission, open Thursday through Sunday.
Activity Type: Museum
Antique Vibrator Museum
A free museum inside Good Vibrations on Polk Street displaying antique vibrators from the Victorian era onward. Free guided tours on the third Sunday of each month.
American Bookbinders Museum
The only bookbinding museum in North America, with historic tools and machinery from the 16th century to modern industrial equipment. Self-guided audio tours, hands-on exhibits, and docent-led visits in SoMa.
Walt Disney Family Museum
A museum in the Presidio dedicated to Walt Disney’s life and work, from his early animation experiments through the planning of Disneyland. Founded by his daughter Diane Disney Miller and housed in a converted Army barracks.
Musée Mécanique
More than 300 antique coin-operated arcade machines at Pier 45, including Laffing Sal. Free entry; bring quarters.
Cable Car Museum
The working powerhouse for San Francisco’s cable car system. Free admission. The 14-foot sheaves and cables that pull every cable car in the city run continuously under a public mezzanine.
GLBT Historical Society Museum
The first stand-alone LGBTQ history museum in the United States, opened in 2011 in a storefront on 18th Street in the Castro. Rotating exhibitions drawn from the GLBT Historical Society’s archive.
Beat Museum
Two floors of Beat Generation manuscripts, letters, and ephemera at 540 Broadway in North Beach. Half a block from City Lights. $8 adult admission. Daily 10 AM to 7 PM.
Audium
A sound art theater at 1616 Bush Street with 176 speakers and 75-minute compositions presented in total darkness. Founded by Stan Shaff in 1962; current room opened in 1975.
Internet Archive Headquarters
Internet Archive headquarters at 300 Funston Avenue, in a former Christian Science church the nonprofit bought in 2009. Servers where the pews used to be. Free public reading room and Friday tours.
