Unique Things to Do in San Francisco
SF's most unique experiences include the Wave Organ (a jetty that plays music from ocean waves), Seward Street Slides (concrete slides built into a hillside), Musee Mecanique's penny arcade machines from the 1900s, the Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye, and 16th Avenue Tiled Steps mosaic.
5 places · 5 free · Updated Oct 2026
Acoustic sculpture at the tip of a jetty. 25 PVC organ pipes make music from bay waves. Views of Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, and the skyline. Go at high tide for the best sounds; at low tide the pipes are basically silent. Full moon tides are loudest. 1.8-mile trail connects to Crissy Field.
300+ coin-operated mechanical machines from the 1800s to 1990s. Free admission, machines cost a quarter or fifty cents each. Bring $5-10 in coins. The oldest machines in the back (fortune tellers, execution dioramas) are the best part. Open 365 days.
163 tiled steps with a sea-to-sky mosaic, completed in 2005. Best photos before 10am or after 4pm. Take the N-Judah to 15th & Judah and walk up, or get dropped at the top. Tiles can be slippery. Grandview Park nearby for city views. Residential area, keep it quiet.
Two steep concrete slides built into a hillside, designed by a 14-year-old in the 1960s and opened in 1973. Choose the red slide or the yellow slide (steeper and faster). Bring cardboard to sit on — without it, the concrete friction slows you down and ruins your clothes. Locals grab flattened boxes from nearby stores. The slides are steeper than they look and the yellow one is legitimately thrilling. Hidden in a residential area and easy to walk right past.
Free museum about the science of sight, run by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. 38,000+ artifacts including antique surgical instruments, optical illusions, and exhibits on how vision works. More interesting than it sounds. Most people walk right past it on the way to Ghirardelli Square.