Rainy Day Things to Do in San Francisco: 7 Indoor Picks

Every pick below can be done on your own, and the ones with timed tickets can also be booked with San Francisco tours from GetYourGuide. The picks run from a full day to an hour and a half, so you can build one wet day or two. A booked ticket costs about the same as the box office, and it adds free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, so it pays off when the forecast may change. The Chinatown walk is the one pick where a guide adds something, because you taste dishes you would not find alone.

San Francisco gets about 22.89 inches of rain a year on average, and the National Weather Service says over 80 percent of it falls from November to March. Pick the museum for the morning first, then fill the afternoon.

1. California Academy of Sciences: the full indoor day

The California Academy of Sciences is the best full-day choice for rain, because the aquarium, the planetarium and the rainforest all sit under one roof. You find it in Golden Gate Park. The Academy's hours page lists an adult ticket at $49, or $55 on peak days, and opening hours of 9:30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday. The last entry is at 4pm.

Thursday nights are different. NightLife runs from 6pm to 10pm and is for guests 21 and over. If you would rather skip the box office, the Academy of Sciences entry ticket is from €43.62 per person, rated 4.5 from 747 reviews on GetYourGuide, and the listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. The Academy runs the ticket itself, and it is a skip-the-line ticket for the aquarium, the planetarium and the rainforest. Food and drinks are not included. The box office price is $49 and the listing price is in euros, so compare both on the day you go.

2. Exploratorium: hands-on science, plus an adults-only Thursday

The Exploratorium suits a wet day with kids or with friends, because most of its 700 or so exhibits are built to be touched. The Exploratorium sits at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero. Its visit page lists an adult ticket at $39.95 and a ticket for ages 4 to 17 at $29.95, and it is open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. A typical visit takes 2 to 4 hours, according to the Exploratorium's visit page.

On Thursday evenings, After Dark runs from 6pm to 10pm for guests 18 and over. The Exploratorium After Dark ticket is from €20.43 per person and is rated 4.6 from 69 reviews. It does not cover daytime admission or the Tactile Dome, and the listing says guests must be at least 18. Free cancellation is offered up to 24 hours ahead. For more evening ideas, read San Francisco at night.

3. SFMOMA: modern art on a half day

SFMOMA is the best art choice for rain, and its public spaces are free to walk into. An adult ticket is $30, a ticket for ages 65 and over is $25, students pay $23 and guests 18 and under are free, according to the SFMOMA visit page. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm on Monday and Tuesday, noon to 8pm on Thursday and 10am to 5pm from Friday to Sunday. The museum is closed on Wednesdays.

SFMOMA lists a Free Family Day on October 25, 2026, for two adults with a child. Our SFMOMA page covers the museum in more detail. To buy ahead, take the SFMOMA entry ticket, from €26.71 per person and rated 4.5 from 162 reviews. SFMOMA runs the ticket itself, and it does not include surcharged shows.

4. Ferry Building Marketplace: lunch and a wander under a roof

The Ferry Building Marketplace is the best place to eat on a wet day, because the stalls and restaurants are indoors and the building is open every day from 6am to 10pm. The building closes only on Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the Ferry Building Marketplace visit page.

The Farmers Market runs year-round on Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 2pm and on Saturday from 8am to 2pm. Part of the market is outdoors, so bring an umbrella on those days. The building is on the Embarcadero, a short walk along the water from the Exploratorium at Pier 15.

5. Chinatown: a tasting walk with indoor stops

A Chinatown food walk is the best choice when you want to eat your way through the afternoon and do not mind a short walk between stops. The Dragon Gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street is the entrance to the neighborhood, and the Chinatown and North Beach guide explains the streets around it.

The Chinatown Culinary Walking Tour takes 3 hours and is from €74.78 per person. The walk is rated 4.8 from 305 reviews and run by Local Tastes of the City Tours. Groups hold up to 14 people, the meeting point is 400 Grant Ave, and all tastings are included. Tips are not. The listing offers no hotel pickup, so you walk to the meeting point, and it offers a private option. It offers free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. The streets between stops are outdoors, so wear a rain jacket.

6. Smaller indoor stops: Cable Car Museum, de Young and more

The cheapest rainy-day plans are the small museums, and several cost nothing. The Cable Car Museum at 1201 Mason St is free, and its info page lists hours of 10am to 5pm from October to March. The museum's own pages disagree about whether it closes on Mondays, so check its site before you go. The de Young in Golden Gate Park charges $25 for adults, lets guests 17 and under in free and is closed on Mondays.

San Francisco Travel also lists the Tenderloin Museum, the Rincon Annex Post Office murals and Grace Cathedral as low-cost indoor stops. The Tenderloin Museum costs $10 and is free for ages 12 and under. The murals at 180 Steuart St are free. In short, the Cable Car Museum and the murals cost nothing, the Tenderloin Museum costs $10 and the de Young costs $25 for adults. For more no-cost ideas, see our guide to free things to do in San Francisco.

7. Oracle Park tour: a ballpark visit that runs in the rain

An Oracle Park tour is a rain-proof choice if you want something that is not a museum, because the tours run rain or shine. The tour takes 1.5 hours and costs $46 for an adult, according to the Giants' tour page. Tours leave at 10:30am and 12:30pm, and there are none on day-game days. They start at the Juan Marichal statue by the O'Doul Gate on 3rd Street.

Parts of a ballpark are open to the sky, so expect to be outside for some of the visit. Learn more on our Oracle Park tour page.

How to choose rainy day things to do in San Francisco

Choose by the day of the week first, then by who is with you. The table shows the adult price and the days each place is closed, and the notes under it cover the rest.

Key Takeaway SFMOMA is closed on Wednesdays, while the Exploratorium and the de Young are closed on Mondays, so a Wednesday points you to the Exploratorium or the Academy of Sciences and a Monday points you to the Academy or SFMOMA.

A wet day in San Francisco goes best with one big museum and one good meal, not a list of five stops.

Things to Do in San Francisco's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 9 indoor entry tickets in San Francisco.

Pro Tip Thursday is the evening day, because SFMOMA stays open until 8pm, the Exploratorium runs After Dark from 6pm to 10pm and the Academy runs NightLife from 6pm to 10pm. Go to the Academy in the morning and save SFMOMA for the evening.

Moving between stops costs little. A 1-day Muni Visitor Passport is $15 and covers buses, Metro, streetcars and cable cars. For routes and fares, read our guide to getting around San Francisco.

Two ideas do not work on a wet day. Alcatraz is closed from 26 October to 18 November 2026, so check the NPS notice and see our Alcatraz tours page before you plan a boat trip. The Museum of Ice Cream's official site lists no San Francisco location, so skip searches that point you to one. The site publishes no hours or prices for San Francisco, and the 2017 Union Square pop-up at 1 Grant Ave was temporary, so no one can book it now.

The rainiest and foggiest months in San Francisco

December is the rainiest month in San Francisco, with 4.76 inches of rain on average, and July is the driest, with 0.01 inches. The numbers come from NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for the Downtown station.

A day with rain here means at least 0.01 inches. The foggiest month is not ranked by any official source, so the answer is about the season. The National Weather Service says summer is dominated by cool marine air, coastal clouds and fog, with overcast mornings. Fog fades in September and October, the warmest months, and NOAA puts the average September high at 70.2°F. For what else to do from November to March, read San Francisco in winter.