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The California Academy of Sciences is an unfortunately stuffy name for an institution that is anything but staid. The country’s largest natural-history museum includes an aquarium, a planetarium, an enormous rain-forest exhibit under a 27-meter-tall (90-foot-tall) dome, and a living roof that looks like a science-fiction fantasy. A visit here can feel like a trip to an amusement park, with a series of attractions to check out, but all of them are educational. The building itself is part of the appeal of the Academy. (Like the nearby de Young, the old home of the California Academy of Sciences was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and starchitect Renzo Piano designed its very environmentally friendly replacement.) It would be easy to spend an entire day or more seeing all of the Academy’s exhibits, so be prepared to pick and choose among them.

Outerlands is an Outer Sunset institution. The small restaurant near Ocean Beach serves local, organic cuisine in a rustic-chic setting. Covered floor-to-ceiling in warm, rough-hewn wood, the interior invites lingering over an artisan cocktail or a ginger-lemon apple cider. Lunch and dinner feature such refined but hearty options as cast-iron grilled cheese brushed with garlic oil and slow-cooked lamb shank with nasturtium leaf pesto. The weekend brunch draws a crowd and is worth the often lengthy wait. Standouts include the Dutch pancakes and the house-roasted turkey. You can always make the most of waiting for a table and head to the beach for a quick jaunt before you indulge.

Stop by Loló’s new and improved location on Valencia street for a colorful atmosphere, delicious mezcal cocktails, and a creative Jaliscan-Californian cuisine. Owned by a husband and wife restaurateur duo from Jalisco, the western Pacific district of Mexico, Loló is open for dinner and brunch, highlighting traditional Mexican flavors with fresh Californian ingredients. Order several of the smaller plates—try the panko avocado tacos or the huitlacoche and requeson, stuffed wonton ravioli—and share. Reservations available. Loló is open Mondays through Thursdays from 6 pm to midnight and Fridays through Sundays from 11:30 am to 5 pm and 6 pm to 1 am. Sunday brunch is available from 11 am to 4 pm.

Yep, you read that right: There is a Pirate Supply Store in the heart of the Mission! In their words: “We are a ragtag group of miscreants who sell pirate supplies in order to benefit the free programming that happens at our writing-tutoring center at 826 Valencia, and in classrooms all over San Francisco.” Cofounded by author David Eggers, the non-profit organization 826 Valencia (which is their address, not coincidentally) teaches writing to teachers and students all over the Bay Area. Chapters of 826 have also been founded in seven other cities around the country. The Pirate Supply Store—if you’re still baffled by this, they do indeed sell pirate supplies like hooks and eyepatches—is just one part of the 826 network, with other chapters having similarly quirky stores, such as Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Co., Los Angeles’ Time Travel Mart, or Washington, D.C.’s Museum of Unnatural History. The Pirate Supply Store is open every day from noon to 6 p.m.

If one is going to throw around the word “iconic,” let’s make sure it’s used appropriately. As with Zuni. The awkwardly shaped restaurant—it’s in a narrow storefront with wider spaces on the mezzanine—was opened in 1979 by Billy West. West’s best move was hiring chef Judy Rodgers in 1987. She put in a brick oven—and thus the Zuni roast chicken was born. This dish, more than any other (except perhaps the Caesar salad), defines Zuni. The chicken is roasted in the brick oven and served over a bread salad: greens with chewy bread croutons. Simple, perfectly cooked, and seasonal. Rodgers died in 2013, but the restaurant soldiers on without her. The menu changes with the season and with what the local farms are growing, and will doubtless explain the provenance of your meat. Rodgers, along with her peer across the bay, Alice Waters, pioneered California cooking, and the cooks who have passed through here have gone on to define today’s vibrant restaurant scene.

When you think of a chocolate factory, a hip and airy space in the heart of one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods may not spring to mind. But therein lies the surprise that is Dandelion Chocolate: part factory, part café, part boutique, and located in the heart of the Mission. Like beans for coffee and grapes for wine, Dandelion brings the idea of single-origin sourcing to each bar it creates. Rather than add strange ingredients to alter the flavor of the chocolate, Dandelion uses just two ingredients—cocoa beans and sugar—which allows each bean’s unique flavor and terroir to shine. Drop in for hot chocolate (with handmade marshmallows) or a chocolate dessert created by Dandelion’s pastry chef, shop for gifts, and take a twirl through the factory, where beans are roasted, cracked, sorted, winnowed, ground, and tempered before being molded. Each bar is wrapped by hand in gorgeous paper and ribbon and affixed with a label that tells a story about the cocoa bean’s origin. For a deeper dive into chocolate, Dandelion has a schedule of classes for adults and kids, and even leads trips to cocoa farms.

From roast pork, empanadillas, and plantains to street snacks, seafood, and freshly-made ice cream, Puerto Ricans enjoy many hearty local flavors. To really experience local culture and customs, you must take time to try each region’s culinary specialty. These foodie delights could be a unique twist on non-Puerto Rican food, or a delicious concoction of fruit and juices, to sandwiches stuffed with three kinds of meats. Locals love the flavors, and you will too!

In 1967, Tassajara (already a storied hot springs resort) became the first Zen monastery outside Japan. Run by the San Francisco Zen Center, the monastery is open to the public from May through September and closed the rest of the year for monastic study. The only vehicle access to Tassajara is via the 14-mile dirt road that starts in Carmel Valley. Those without four-wheel drive should arrange for shuttle pick-up.

Nick’s is a Southern California institution, with coastal locations in Long Beach, San Clemente, Manhattan Beach, and Pasadena. The Laguna outpost has the others beat, however, thanks to its perch just across the street from Main Beach. Diners can head here after a long day in the sun for delicious takes on classic American dishes, from buttermilk fried chicken and San Francisco cioppino to rib eye melts and cheeseburgers with Thousand Island dressing. Whatever you choose, pair it with a house cocktail (you can’t go wrong with the jalapeño-watermelon margarita) as you watch the sun set over the Pacific.

Get a small-town experience just a short ferry ride or an easy drive from San Francisco in Sausalito. The town is known for its seaside charm, but there are a few not-to-miss things to do while you’re there.

1. Grab lunch at one of the many restaurants and cafés with views of the San Francisco skyline.

2. Walk along Bridgeway, Sausalito’s main drag, and browse the numerous souvenir shops, boutiques, and art galleries.

3. Sausalito’s houseboat community showcases anything from renovated architectural gems to repurposed barges to vessels that need some serious TLC. These are private homes, so be respectful when wandering around. Liberty Dock and Issaquah Dock are good places to start.

4. The Bay Model Visitor Center, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is an acre-and-a-half scale reconstruction of the Bay Area’s waterways. From an observation platform, watch tides ebb and flow every 15 minutes, and marvel at just how big the bay really is.

5. Kayak or stand-up paddleboard. Near the Bay Model, Sea Trek offers several types of classes for both, catering to all skill levels.

6. Stock up on dinnerwear made in Sausalito at Heath Ceramics. Among the houseboats and artist studios is the original 1959 factory, where the clay is made, and the plates, bowls and cups are shaped and glazed. There is also tour each Friday, and weekend tours Saturday and Sunday. The factory is slightly north of downtown.

A family-owned ceramics studio, Cerámica Suro opened in the 1950s to manufacture wares for luxury hotels. When José Noé Suro, the son of the original owner, took over the factory, he invited some of his artist friends to collaborate on projects and began producing dinnerware for some of Mexico’s top restaurants. Today, visits to the factory are by appointment only; contact Journey Mexico to schedule a tour.

The studio recently moved to the art gallery, House of Gaga (October 2023 update).

A city tour of Lima isn’t complete without visiting the catacombs of the Monastery of San Francisco. The basement of the working monastery reveals the bones of wealthy Limeños who believed they would be the last to rest in their expensive plots. The tour reveals what actually happened to their remains. Since the catacombs couldn’t expand and affluent Catholics, unfortunately, kept dying, bodies were stacked to decompose down to the bones, and now the larger bones (femurs, forearms, and skulls) are arranged artistically in a circular pattern to make them more aesthetically pleasing to visitors. The site is interesting from both a historical and modern sociological, ethical, and religious standpoint.

We become so small when entering a place of worship, this local woman especially as she made her way to the entrance of the Cathedral of San Gervasio in Valladolid. It wasn’t Sunday. I’m sure of it because Sundays in Mexican city centers are usually much busier with families wandering around the city and going to mass. On this particular day there were just a few folks going about their usual routine.

Siem Reap is home to Cambodia’s finest restaurants, including the outstanding Cuisine Wat Damnak, named Cambodia’s Best Restaurant when it crept onto the San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list at #50 in March 2015. The town’s Khmer restaurants should be your priority, including Sugar Palm and Chanrey Tree for outstanding traditional food, served in beautiful spaces. However, Siem Reap also boasts an abundance of restaurants offering international cuisines, from Italian to Indian.

Ask anyone you know who grew up in the Bay Area about the Exploratorium, and they’ll likely be able to share stories of class trips and seeing their hair stand on end at an installation about electricity or fun-house mirrors that taught about optics and visual perception. This is not, however, a museum simply for kids—though curious kids will definitely be entertained while learning. Instead, its exhibits aim to raise the scientific literacy of visitors of all ages, by providing engaging, amusing, and hands-on experiences. Long housed at the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium opened in its current, and much larger, space on Piers 15 and 17 in 2013. One advantage of the new waterfront location is the North Gallery and its outdoor spaces, focused on environmental phenomena like the wind, rain, and tides. The completely dark Tactile Dome and the disorienting Monochromatic Room may prove not just the highlights of your visit to the Exploratorium but the most memorable, or at least strangest, moments of your time in San Francisco.