1. Contemporary Jewish Museum 

The Contemporary Jewish Museum  (CJM) is a must-visit for anyone interested in Jewish culture and history. The museum was founded in 1984 and has been housed in its current location (a renovated 1907 power station) since 2008.

The converted structure, which was created by architect Daniel Libeskind, is a work of art. It is covered with more than 3,000 color-changing blue steel panels and is fashioned to resemble the Hebrew letters chet and yud, which combined form the Hebrew word for life. 

The museum’s exhibitions focus on modern and contemporary Jewish life and culture. Past exhibitions have explored topics such as the Holocaust, Jewish American literature, and Jewish punk rock. The museum also has a rotating selection of temporary exhibitions. The three-story, 63,000 square foot museum features a diverse selection of group exhibits and recurring exhibitions, as well as the creations of modern artist Cary Leibowitz, iconic director Stanley Kubrick, and Israeli musician and composer Kutiman.

In addition to its exhibitions, the CJM offers public programs such as concerts, films, lectures, and workshops for all ages. The museum’s cafe, Wise Sons Deli, is also worth a visit. The deli serves Jewish comfort food like matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwiches, and challah bread.

2. Cartoon Art Museum 

The Cartoon Art Museum is the only museum in the Western United States that is dedicated to the art of comics and cartoons. Founded in 1984, it has been showcasing the work of cartoonists from around the world ever since.

The museum’s collection includes more than 300 original animation cels, 75,000 comic books, and 12,000 original comic strips. The museum also has a research library with more than 45,000 books and magazines.

This modest but well-equipped museum, which opened its doors in 1984, features a wide variety of comic art, including political cartoons, graphic novels, zines, comic strips, and underground comix. Almost 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, together with a screening room, a library, and a collections facility, are all available at the museum’s new waterfront home, which it moved there in the fall of 2017. 

Visitors may look at everything from vintage Disney and Warner Bros. stills to obscure international graphic art. In the museum’s permanent collection, which numbers over 7,000 items, are illustrations by artists such Roz Chast, Robert Crumb, Wally Wood, Edward Gorey, and Chuck Jones. For both adults and children to make their own comic art, tables placed throughout the area are loaded with sketching tools.

3. Musee Mecanique 

Zelinsky, who was born in San Francisco in 1886 and died in 1977, was a fascinating man with an interesting life story. He is best known as the owner of Musee Mecanique, which he founded in 1932. The museum’s collection includes more than 200 vintage coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and arcade games, many of which are more than 100 years old. 

Zelinsky was born in San Francisco to a family of Swiss immigrants. His father, who was a carpenter, died when Zelinsky was just six years old. His mother remarried and had four more children. Zelinsky left school at the age of 14 and went to work in a laundry. A few years later, he began working as a mechanic in a bicycle shop.

Photo credit: Musee Mecanique Official website

In 1907, Zelinsky opened his own bicycle shop. He also began collecting coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and arcade games. In 1932, he opened Musee Mecanique at the Cliff House, a popular tourist destination in San Francisco. The museum was an instant success and remained open until 2018 when it relocated to the Embarcadero.

Zelinsky was a true pioneer in the world of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and arcade games. His collection is now one of the largest and most important in the world. The museum that he founded is a testament to his vision and passion for this unique art form.

A steam-powered motorbike, many vintage arcade games, coin-operated pianos, old slot machines, hand-cranked music boxes, rescued pieces of local history, and more than 300 other things make up the collection. All of the arcades are functional and playable; the most cost $.25 or $.50 each.

4. Children’s Creativity Museum 

This wonderful museum was designed exclusively with kids in mind. Here, imagination and creativity are kings; the high-tech museum was purposefully created to promote manufacturing and invention, as opposed to being a boisterous play area. This culture permeates a broad range of laboratories, workshops, and studios.

Children mold clay into figures and produce their own stop-motion films at the Animation Lab. Future Google employees learn how to write code in the Tech Lab by creating puzzles and music-solving robots. Additionally, youngsters may star in their own music videos at the Music Studio, replete with props and green screen technology. 

Take a spin on the elaborate LeRoy King Carousel outside, a legendary artifact that was first built in 1906. Since 1998, the rollercoaster has been spinning at this Yerba Buena site.

5. Randall Museum 

Just for the expansive city views from Corona Heights Park’s summit, a visit to the Randall Museum—which is usually free—would be worthwhile. But the science and nature museum has been rejuvenated following a $9 million restoration in 2018.  The hands-on museum is beloved by kids, who can milk a (fake) cow, feed the animals in the living roof aviary, or learn about earthquakes. The museum also has an art studio, a blacksmithing shop, and a pottery studio where visitors can make their own creations.

A cutting-edge STEM lab, science and ceramics workshops, and completely renovated display areas are all part of the new and better facility. View the elegant steel, aluminum, and wood mobile by local artist Ben Trautman, a new kinetic sculpture that resembles a bird in flight, in the foyer. 

The museum is stuffed full of kid-friendly exhibits and play areas, such as the toddler treehouse, the enormous electric model railroad (containing replicas of actual Bay Area trains), and a live animal display with coyotes, foxes, snakes, and aquatic animals.

The Randall Museum is named after Josephine Dows Randall, a San Francisco native who bequeathed her Corona Heights property to the city for the purpose of building a museum and education center. The 16,000 square foot facility opened in 1952.

6. San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design 

The San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design is the only museum in the Western United States devoted to contemporary craft and design. The museum offers a variety of rotating exhibitions that showcase the work of local, national, and international artists and designers.

The museum’s permanent collection includes more than 500 objects, ranging from furniture and glass to ceramics and metalwork. The museum also has a hands-on studio where visitors can participate in workshops and demonstrations led by professional artists and craftspeople.

Visit the Museum of Craft and Design, a tiny, modern museum with a regularly changing schedule of exhibits, to peruse the creations of painters, textile artists, technologists, and sculptors. The San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design is pleasantly narrowly focused and personal in a city of enormous, century-spanning museums. 

The museum usually works with regional artists, designers, and colleges, but it also commonly includes international craft and design in its exhibitions. The displays are thought-provoking and unanticipated; they may include modern furniture, light fixtures, sound installations, bespoke bikes, fashion, and even survival architecture from one month to the next.

7. Walt Disney Family Museum 

Walt Disney, the creator of the famous mouse, is the subject of this museum in the Presidio. It was established by the Walt Disney Family Foundation in 2009, and Diane Disney Miller, Disney’s daughter, is in charge of it. 

Rotating displays spotlighting the major animators and stylists behind the studio’s well-known films alternate with historical images and media from Disney’s life, which are distributed throughout ten permanent galleries. That comprises all of the animated films produced by the Disney Studios, starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and continuing to the present. 

The multimedia film, listening stations, early sketches, and a 12-foot-diameter model of Disneyland are all included in the interactive galleries.

8. Museum of Ice Cream San Francisco 

Photo credit: Museum of Ice Cream Facebook page

If you love ice cream, then the Museum of Ice Cream is a must-visit. The Museum of Ice Cream is a pop-up museum that was founded in 2016. The museum has 11 installations, including a room filled with rainbow sprinkles and an ice cream sundae sculpture. The museum also has a store where visitors can buy ice cream-themed merchandise.

This museum is one of the most popular museums in San Francisco. The museum has 11 installations, including a room filled with rainbow sprinkles and an ice cream sundae sculpture. The museum also has a store where visitors can buy ice cream-themed merchandise.

The Museum of Ice Cream is a great place to take kids of all ages. The colorful installations and the opportunity to eat ice cream make it a fun place to visit.

Featured Image: Cartoon Art Museum Official website