Best Day Trips and Outdoor Activities Around the Bay Area for World Cup Visitors

Levi’s Stadium sits in Santa Clara, about 45 minutes south of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Valley. For World Cup visitors, that geography is actually ideal: you can stay in the city, use BART and the VTA Light Rail to reach the stadium on match days, and spend the rest of your time doing things that San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area do better than almost anywhere in the country.

The Bay Area is ringed by open land, coastline, and wine country, all within an hour or two of the city. Here’s how to use the time between matches.

1. Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge

It sounds obvious, but the walk from the south toll plaza to the Marin Headlands side (or just to the midpoint and back) is genuinely one of the best things you can do in the city. The bridge is 2.7km long; allow an hour each way at a relaxed pace. On clear days — and July in the Bay Area is usually clear — you can see the Marin Headlands dropping into the Pacific to the west, Alcatraz and the city skyline to the east, and the bay traffic below. Rental bikes are available near Pier 39 or Fisherman’s Wharf; cycling the bridge and down into Sausalito, then taking the ferry back to the Ferry Building, is one of the classic Bay Area half-days.

2. Muir Woods and the Marin Headlands

Twenty minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge (car or shuttle from Sausalito), Muir Woods is a national monument protecting a stand of old-growth coast redwoods — some over 1,000 years old, most between 50 and 80 metres tall. The main boardwalk loop through Cathedral Grove takes about an hour. Longer trails climb out of the canyon into the surrounding Marin Headlands, which have some of the best coastal hiking in Northern California. A timed entry permit for Muir Woods costs $15 per person and should be booked online in advance, particularly in summer. The shuttle from Sausalito Ferry Terminal is a good option; parking at the monument fills by 9am on weekends.

3. Ferry Building and the San Francisco Waterfront

The Ferry Building Marketplace on the Embarcadero has been San Francisco’s best food market since its renovation in 2003. The permanent vendors include Acme Bread, Blue Bottle Coffee (this was their original location), Cowgirl Creamery, and Hog Island Oyster Co., with an indoor bar and raw bar serving Tomales Bay oysters and local Dungeness crab. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the Farmers’ Market spills out onto the Embarcadero plaza outside. The Ferry Building is also the departure point for ferries to Sausalito, Tiburon, and Larkspur in Marin — a 30-minute crossing with views of the bay and the city skyline receding behind you.

4. Napa Valley Wine Country

An hour north of San Francisco (or 45 minutes from the northern end of the Bay Bridge), Napa Valley is one of the world’s great wine regions and extremely easy to visit independently with a rental car. The main Highway 29 runs through the valley from Napa town to Calistoga and is lined with wineries that accept walk-in visitors or same-day reservations. For a more relaxed experience, Sonoma County — 30 minutes west of Napa — has fewer crowds and equally good wines. The Napa Valley Wine Train runs from Napa Station to St. Helena and back with lunch or dinner on board; it’s a two-hour round trip and a good option if you don’t want to drive.

5. Alcatraz

The federal penitentiary on the island in the middle of San Francisco Bay operated from 1934 to 1963 and held Al Capone and Robert Stroud (the Birdman) among its most famous inmates. The ferry departs from Pier 33 on the Embarcadero; the crossing takes 15 minutes. The audio tour of the main cellblock — narrated by former inmates and guards — is one of the best museum experiences in California. Book tickets online at least a week in advance in summer; the evening tours are smaller and the light on the bay on the return journey is excellent.

6. Mission Dolores Park and the Mission District

Dolores Park on the hill above the Mission District is where San Francisco spends its sunny afternoons — blankets on the grass, food trucks along the park edge, views north to the downtown skyline. The Mission District below is the city’s Latino cultural hub: excellent taquerías on 24th Street (La Taqueria on Mission Street won America’s Best Burrito title in 2014 and the counter is still worth queuing for), murals on every second wall, and a strip of bars along Valencia Street that stay lively until late. The Bi-Rite Creamery on 18th Street has an ice cream queue that tells you everything you need to know.

7. Sausalito

Take the ferry from the Ferry Building (30 minutes) or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge (about an hour), and you arrive in Sausalito — a small Marin County harbour town with wooden houseboats, waterfront restaurants, and a completely different pace to San Francisco. The views back across the bay to the city and the bridge are outstanding. The Bay Model Visitor Center on Marinship Way has a working hydraulic model of the entire San Francisco Bay and Delta system and is free to visit. For lunch, Joinery Hospitality Group’s Fish (officially titled just that) on Harbor Drive does excellent fish tacos and clam chowder with views of the harbour.

8. Point Reyes National Seashore

An hour and a half north of San Francisco on the Marin coast, Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the most remarkable stretches of coastal land in California — a peninsula defined by the San Andreas Fault, with dramatic cliffs, sheltered bays, oyster farms, elk herds, and a lighthouse perched at the Pacific’s edge. The Tomales Bay Oyster Company at Marshall sells oysters direct from the farm; picnic tables with grills are available on the shore, and you can eat oysters you shuck yourself next to the water. Reservations required. The full drive out to Point Reyes Lighthouse takes about 2.5 hours from San Francisco and rewards a full day if you can give it one.

9. Stanford University Campus and Palo Alto

If you’re already heading to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, it’s easy to add a 20-minute drive to Palo Alto and walk the Stanford campus, which is one of the most beautiful university settings in the country. The Quad — a cluster of Romanesque sandstone buildings with a Spanish tile roof — is open to the public, and Rodin’s collection of sculptures in the courtyard includes three bronze figures from the Gates of Hell. The Cantor Arts Center on campus is free and holds a good collection of prints and drawings. University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto has a strong restaurant and café scene if you need a meal before or after the stadium.

10. Coastal Hiking in the Marin Headlands

The Marin Headlands, the rugged hills immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge, have a trail network covering former military installations, coastal bluffs, and Battery positions that haven’t changed since the Cold War. The Tennessee Valley Trail leads 4km to a sheltered beach on the Pacific; the Rodeo Lagoon loop passes through a valley used by a herd of coyotes. The hawk and raptor migration over the Headlands in autumn is exceptional; in June and July, the wildflowers on the exposed ridgelines are excellent. All trails start within 10 minutes of the bridge; no permits required.

Getting to Levi’s Stadium from San Francisco is straightforward: Caltrain from San Francisco Station south to Mountain View, then the VTA Stadium Express bus to the stadium. On match days, dedicated transit packages are usually available. If you’re arriving at SFO or OAK and want to drop your bags before heading into the city, Stasher has luggage storage across San Francisco near the Ferry Building, Union Square, and beyond.

Luggage storage in San Francisco

Between day trips, check-out times, and the general logistics of moving around a city as spread-out as the Bay Area, having somewhere to leave your bags makes everything easier. Stasher has luggage storage locations in San Francisco near the city’s main hubs, so you can check out in the morning, drop your bags, and spend the day in Muir Woods or along the Embarcadero before heading to the stadium.