In a city packed with famed destinations, Fisherman’s Wharf is definitely one of San Francisco’s most popular. With a historic waterfront, streets filled with shopping, and the scent of seafood wafting on every corner, the options here are never-ending. There’s the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39, the National Maritime Museum , the U.S.S. Pampanito Submarine Museum , and chocolates at Ghirardelli Square .

Pop in for a famed Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe . Lou’s on Pier 47 is a gathering spot for tops blues musicians; elsewhere there’s comedy and jazz (Bimbo’s 365 Club on Columbus). There’s also the relocated Musée Mécanique at Pier 45 (at the foot of Taylor Street), a charming look at how our country has amused itself from the 1800s on.

Last but not least is the blubbery, cacophonous conglomeration of barking sea lions that have made certain docks their prisoner (the best viewing is from the Pier 39 perimeter road). With Alcatraz , Coit Tower, and the cable cars all within minutes of here, consider this your San Francisco base of operations.

Inside Tip: The California Welcome Center  can help you make plans.

For the first time in 30 years, the artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun return to the de young museum. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs present over 130 important objects inducing 50 from the tomb of king Tut. The exhibition places Tutankhamun in a larger context though an additional 80 objects from the tombs of his ancestors, which provide insight into the daily life and royal burial practices of the 18th dynasty, Egypt’s Golden Age.