Just recently took a little getaway to San Francisco and was really amazed at all the free things you can do there.  Yes, San Francisco can be an expensive city to visit, but, it really has a great number of things you can do for free.  Here are just a few things you might want to do in San Francisco if you want to explore the city for no money (not counting, of course, the  bus fare to all the spots).

Golden Gate Park

You can easily spend an entire day at Golden Gate Park – and you should.  It's great to just go there and walk, or sit and enjoy the day. 

Free Walking Tours

check out the free walking tours offered by San Francisco City Guides, a non-profit organization of more than 200 trained volunteers who lead free walking tours in San Francisco.  Their website at sfcityguides.org lists all the many different walking tours of such sites as Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, and even ghost walks of supposedly haunted locations.  The walks are free, but it wouldn't hurt to tip the guides.

Coit Tower

San Francisco City Guides does offer tours of Coit Tower, but, you always go there yourself, although the City Guides tour does include viewing some murals not generally open to the public.  And, of course, it's free. Why do you want to visit Coit Towers? Because inside you'll find the walls some incredible murals painted during the Depression years by such artists as Maxine Albro, Victor Arnautoff, Ray Bertrand, Otis Oldfield and Suzanne Scheuer. The murals were commissioned in 1933 as part of the Public Works of Art Project, a program during the New Deal to employ artists. The murals are beautiful and thought-provoking.  You'll definitely want to take your time viewing them.

Walking from Crissy Field to the Golden Gate Bridge

As you can tell, "free"  in San Francisco often involves walking. Yes, even with the strenuous hills, San Francisco is a walker's city. And, many will say that the walk from Crissy Field to Fort Point under the Golden Gate bridge is one of the most beautiful you will take in the city.

View the City's Neon

Okay, may neon doesn't fascinate you. But, it does me, so I'm including it. San Francisco is filled with neon signs that light up the night. some of the better spots for neon include North Beach, though I didn't make it there for the night viewing, so don't have any shots for you.  I did make it along Market Street one night and was able to capture this wonderful neon sign.

Thanks to my friend, Donna, who allowed us to stay with her a few days in the house she was renting for a month.  FYI, you can find great rentals in all the top vacation spots at vrbo.com.