SoMa: the museums to the ballpark

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   SFMOMA

   Start at the museum on Third Street — Mario Botta's striped brick drum with Snøhetta's white wave grafted on behind it. The ground-floor galleries and the living wall are free to walk through without a ticket. Go up if you have the afternoon; the Calder room alone earns it.

   01

   SFMOMA

   Start at the museum on Third Street — Mario Botta's striped brick drum with Snøhetta's white wave grafted on behind it. The ground-floor galleries and the living wall are free to walk through without a ticket. Go up if you have the afternoon; the Calder room alone earns it.

   ◉Street View
2. 02

   2

   Yerba Buena Gardens

   Across Third, the rooftop lawn over the convention centre, with the Martin Luther King Jr memorial waterfall thundering behind a wall of glass. Sit on the grass with the towers around you. This is downtown's quietest acre.

   02

   Yerba Buena Gardens

   Across Third, the rooftop lawn over the convention centre, with the Martin Luther King Jr memorial waterfall thundering behind a wall of glass. Sit on the grass with the towers around you. This is downtown's quietest acre.

   ◉Street View
3. 03

   3

   The Yerba Buena museum cluster

   The blocks here hold the Contemporary Jewish Museum in Libeskind's tilted blue cube, the Museum of the African Diaspora, and the children's creativity museum. Pick one or none; the point is how much culture got stacked onto a few reclaimed blocks.

   03

   The Yerba Buena museum cluster

   The blocks here hold the Contemporary Jewish Museum in Libeskind's tilted blue cube, the Museum of the African Diaspora, and the children's creativity museum. Pick one or none; the point is how much culture got stacked onto a few reclaimed blocks.

   ◉Street View
4. 04

   4

   South Park

   Walk southeast to the small oval green laid out in the 1850s on an English model — once the address of the city's gentry, later the cradle of the first dot-com boom. Lap the oval; the cafés around the rim are the neighbourhood's reward for finding it.

   04

   South Park

   Walk southeast to the small oval green laid out in the 1850s on an English model — once the address of the city's gentry, later the cradle of the first dot-com boom. Lap the oval; the cafés around the rim are the neighbourhood's reward for finding it.

   ◉Street View
5. 05

   5

   Oracle Park

   Down to the bay and the Giants' ballpark, its right-field wall standing straight on the water. On a non-game day you can walk the public promenade behind it for free; the splash-landing home runs go into McCovey Cove just beyond.

   05

   Oracle Park

   Down to the bay and the Giants' ballpark, its right-field wall standing straight on the water. On a non-game day you can walk the public promenade behind it for free; the splash-landing home runs go into McCovey Cove just beyond.

   ◉Street View
6. 06

   6

   South Beach waterfront

   Finish along the bayfront promenade north of the park — the marina masts, the Bay Bridge lights, the ferry wake. The T-Third Muni Metro runs right past the ballpark to take you back. Time the end for dusk when the bridge lights come up.

   06

   South Beach waterfront

   Finish along the bayfront promenade north of the park — the marina masts, the Bay Bridge lights, the ferry wake. The T-Third Muni Metro runs right past the ballpark to take you back. Time the end for dusk when the bridge lights come up.

   ◉Street View