How to Spend 6 Hours in San Francisco: Lands End and the Legion of Honor
Updated October 3, 2026
Six hours is time to head west for a famous croissant, Rodin's Thinker at the Legion of Honor, a cliff path with Golden Gate views and the ruins of a Victorian bathhouse by the ocean.
The western edge of the city feels wild and far from downtown, yet the 38 Geary bus runs all the way out there. Start with pastry in the Inner Richmond, where a tiny bakery's croissants draw lines most mornings. Then visit the hilltop art museum in Lincoln Park, follow a cypress lined trail above the ocean and end at the concrete ruins of a vast seaside bathhouse. From the bakery, walk to Geary and ride the 38 west to 33rd Avenue, then climb through Lincoln Park on foot or transfer to the 18, which stops at the museum door. Wear layers, because fog and wind are normal here. Skip Mondays, when the Legion is closed.
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The 6 hour plan, stop by stop
Stops and travel: 3 hr 28 min to 5 hr 33 min of 6 hours
In 2016 Bon Appétit named this small Inner Richmond shop the best new bakery in the country, and its croissants explain why: dark, shattering shells around buttery, honeycombed layers. The plain and chocolate versions are the benchmarks, with savory and seasonal pastries alongside. It opens every day from morning into mid afternoon, but the most popular pastries often sell out well before closing, so this stop belongs at the start of the day.
Tip: Buy an extra croissant for the trail; it stays crisp in its paper bag.
- Time here
- 15 to 30 min
- Website
- arsicault-bakery.com
NaviTime to head out from Arsicault Bakery, Arguello Boulevard for Legion of Honor. It's a 26 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels gave the city this museum, modeled on the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur in Paris and dedicated in 1924 to Californians killed in the First World War. A bronze cast of Rodin's The Thinker sits in the columned courtyard, and the galleries hold European paintings, decorative arts and a large group of Rodin sculptures. As of October 2026, adult admission is $25, and the museum is closed on Mondays.
Tip: Find George Segal's Holocaust memorial on the slope just below the museum.
- Time here
- 1 hr 15 min to 2 hr
- Website
- famsf.org
NaviTime to head out from Legion of Honor for Lands End Trail. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Hugging the cliffs where the city meets the Pacific, this trail runs through cypress and eucalyptus with views across the Golden Gate to the Marin Headlands. Side paths drop to Mile Rock Beach and to a point where artist Eduardo Aguilera laid out a stone labyrinth; NPS notes it is not a park project and the paths down are unmaintained. The coastal route is about 2.9 miles out and back, though this plan walks only the stretch to the baths.
Tip: Near the western end, by Fort Miley, detour to the USS San Francisco memorial, which honors a cruiser that took 45 hits at Guadalcanal in 1942.
- Time here
- 45 min to 1 hr 30 min
- Website
- nps.gov
NaviTime to head out from Lands End Trail for Sutro Baths. It's a 20 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Adolph Sutro, a Comstock mining millionaire who became mayor in 1895, opened a glass roofed palace of seven swimming pools here in 1896, filled by the tides and able to hold thousands of bathers. Attendance faded, the baths closed, and a fire in 1966 left only the concrete basins and walls you can wander among today. The Lands End Lookout visitor center on the bluff above opens daily; its cafe is closed for now, but snacks and drinks are still sold.
Tip: Walk through the short rock tunnel at the north end, where waves boom inside.
- Time here
- 20 to 40 min
- Website
- nps.gov
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