Stay out of downtown. I went to SF twice, and both times saw awful hit-and-runs right in front of me. I figure the third time will be the charm and I'll never go back there.

Sometime in March is the Celtic Music festival at Fort Mason. Head over the GG Bridge and hike in Muir Woods. Wander the streets and alleys in North Beach and be hawked at by the random Italian waiters. Sip coffee/steamed milk at Cafe Trieste. Eat at the Ethiopian restaurants in the Lower and Upper Haight. Take the weekend and/or evening tours, can't remember which ones, of Alcatraz (bring a jacket, scarf, and gloves!) as they are the only tours where the money goes directly back to the island. Explore the Japanese tea gardens in GG park. Head to the SF MOMA.

(Darn it. Now I'm missing my City.)

Go to West Portal and eat at Fresca, where the Peruvian food will knock your socks off. It is not far from the Zoo. It is a lovely little neighborhood and it is more of why people live there than all those other places. There is also a wonderful Indian restaurant across the street called Roti and it is modern, light and wonderful food. Both of these feel adventurous without being dangerous.
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Exploratorium Marina
Experience exciting and interactive exhibits that make learning fun, regardless of your age or familiarity with science. Tu-Su 10am-5pm year-round. Closed M except holidays. Admission $14 adults; $11 students, seniors, disabled and youth (13-17);$9 children (4-12) and under 4 free. Tactile Dome $17, includes complimentary museum admission and requires reservations. First W of every month is free.

Address: Palace of Fine Arts,
Address2: 3601 Lyon Street
City: San Francisco 94123
Phone: 415-561-0360
Fax: 415-561-0307
Email: visit@exploratorium.edu
Website: http://www.exploratorium.edu
de Young Museum Golden Gate Park

The de Young, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in Golden Gate Park, showcases American art from the 17th through the 21st centuries, international textile arts and costumes, and art from the Americas, the Pacific and Africa. Open Tu-Su 9:30am-5pm, F until 8:45pm, closed M. $10 adults, $7 seniors, $6 youth 3-17 and college students with ID. Children ages 12 and under are free. First Tu of each month is free. Surchage applies for special exhibitions. For more information visit Web site.

Address: Golden Gate Park
Address2: 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
City: San Francisco 94118-4502
Phone: 415-750-3600
Fax: 415-750-3550
Email: guestbook@famsf.org
Website: http://www.deyoungmuseum.org

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Conservatory of Flowers Golden Gate Park

Historic San Francisco landmark in Golden Gate Park since 1879 boasting rare tropical flowers and plants from around the world. Architectural gem with five distinct galleries. Tu-Su 9am-4:30pm, open holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Free children 4 and under, $5 for adults, $3 for youths, seniors and students with ID, $1.50 for children 5-11.

Address: 100 John F. Kennedy Drive
Address2: Golden Gate Park
City: San Francisco 94118
Phone: 415-831-2090
Fax: 415-666-7257
Email: info@sfcof.org
Website: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org

And perhaps, http://www.fireenginetours.com/ which is a whole lot of fun.

probably mentioned already by that huge park with all the greenhouses in it. is that golden gate? so much to see there.
i'm all about food. so a cannoli and some pasta in the italian neighborhood -- north something -- then some dim sum in chinatown. of coures, there is alice waters in berkeley but that's not for a kid. fine arts has been mentioned. will think on this. went to grad school in s.f.

Conservatory of flowers and the De Young Museum are both in Golden Gate Park and are good bets. If the weather's nice, the Japanese Tea Garden. Very pretty there if the cherry trees are in bloom, and pleasant almost any time. I just went to a great exhibit at the Legion of Honor last week. It's called Artistic Luxury, and features Faberge Eggs among other lovely and costly things. If your friend is at all into that of course. It might not be her cup of tea.

Union Square is nice, and very close to Chinatown.

I completely agree with Stellaa. One thing I haven't done that I want to is tea or a cocktail in one of the fancy old hotels. Always a good way to see a beautiful place on the cheap.

Completely touristy things to do: Ghiradelli chocolate tour, clam chowder in a bread bowl outside at Boudin Bread @ Fisherman's Wharf.

Cable car at night is lots of fun and pretty too.

See the bridge around 4-5 pm - you might catch the fog rolling in - it's fast and dramatic and gives great pictures.

Stellaa's tour is good

I like going to Coit Tower to see the mural and the views
De Young museum + the Cal Acad of Sci (across from the de Young in the GG Park)
The GG Park, the beach, the bridge (go over the bridge)
the conservatory of flowers isn't worth the price
the exploratorium is cool if that's your thing (I love it)
The Presidio, the pier, alcatraz

If there are any events going on, try it out, you may have fun

Lonnie's magical city!
Dress warm and have good walking shoes. Chinatown for shopping!! Dollars for the homeless--they have seen a 10 fold increase.
Cat is right about the traffic--the taxi's are insane esp now when fares are few and far between. Hit and runs... We got a limo to go the airport--only a few bucks more and we arrived alive.
have fun and start planning subsequent trips!

Go to the Boom Boom Room and party. Definitely take the cable car once, it is fun! Go to Union Street and shop. Take a trip to China Town, go see the Drake, Stay downtown, there is nothing more fun! I love San Francisco. Definitely see Lombard street.

all good tips here. and yeah, now i'm jealous and want to book a trip. if she winds up going to alcatraz and/or the muir woods, what we always did was pack a picnic lunch from molinari's on columbus avenue. sandwiches and salads.
also, louis restaurant in sutro park (?) near the bath ruins. good views there.
and the ferry market if no one's mentioned it. love me some ferry market.

damn. now i must go.

If you have half a day, I always recommend going to Alcatraz, which is literally unique in all the world. You get a great short boat trip on the Bay, and both on the boat and on Alcatraz you will have amazing views of the city, the GG bridge, Marin and the East Bay. Then you tour an amazing and memorable place, with the best audio tour I've ever heard (be sure to pick it up as you enter the cellblock - it's free and has actual taped recollections by both guards and prisoners, assembled into a dramatic storyline). If the weather is nice, it's absolutely glorious both on the boat and the island, which you can stroll around for as long as you like. If it's spring, there is an abundance of both foliage and wild birds (it's now also a bird sanctuary). I mean, truly, it's stunning. And unique, did I mention unique?

NB: You need tix and you should get them ahead of time to be sure you don't miss out. You can order them online and there will be many many departure times (your return time is open - you just get on a boat when you feel like leaving). You need to be there ahead of departure time. While it will look like there are many tix, don't wait till the day of or even close to it to get them as they sell out suddenly, including cruise ships that dock in SF buy up huge amounts for their passengers.

You can combine your Alcatraz excursion with exploring the Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square area - it's right by there. If you want a classic SF seafood dining experience down there, go to Scoma's and try to get a window table if you can.

I also love the Ferry building (foodie heaven, as well as great views - you can get something cheap and sit outside and enjoy them), the Japanese Tea Garden, Botanical Garden, and all the museums (good if it's rainy; otherwise you'll want to walk and be outdoors, probably).

Another unique thing to do is walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. You don't have to walk all the way (it would take a while to do that and come back) -- it's fun to just walk part way, take in the views, take some pix to stun your friends back home, and walk back. If you want to do the Exploratorium, it's nearby and you could combine those.

Hit Chinatown EARLY, it's fascinating. Plan on doing a lot of walking. I like the park, Stellaa mentioned the tea room, definitely find it if the weather is nice. Otherwise find the remarkable aquarium and take a look at it (if it's still there... the older aquarium inside the park). If you have time go to John Muir Park and see some of the redwoods, which are awesome. You cannot throw a pencil and avoid hitting a great restaurant in San Francisco. Dress WARMLY. Does Greens still serve lunch? It's been a long time for me.

Academy of Science, Exploratium, walk the GG Bridge, take a round trip on the ferry to Sausalito, side trip to Berkeley to walk the UC campus and Telegraph Ave

I'm a huge plant geek so I spent most of my time in GG park. Strybing Arboretum, Japanese Garden...Conservatory was still being repaired from hurricane damage when I was there. Wish I could have seen it. Spent a fair amount of time wandering around the Haight. Lots of homeless in the city so tell them to be prepared. Someone had stolen the Haight sign on the corner of Haight/Ashbury when I was there so didn't get a good photo. I'm sure it wasn't the first, or even the 20th time that happened. They probably won't want to hit the vibrator museum at Good Vibrations but if the daughter is old enough and they have an open enough relationship, that could be fun(ny).

Go to Fisherman's Wharf and watch the sea lions. There a A LOT of them and they are noisy as hell, but fun to watch. I saw them a couple of years ago in December. All the adults were resting in the sun, but a few juveniles were pushing each other off the floating platforms.

OK, after I posted the bit about the vibrator museum and headed off to accomplish daily chores, it dawned on me that you had mentioned the general age of the daughter. So, lest everyone think I'd go taking an 11-year-old to see that kind of thing, I have to say that I had a temporary lapse of memory. I'm inappropriate sometimes but not quite that bad.

Wow--this is great! I am going to the English teacher conference in March, in part because I've never been to SF.

Thank you to everyone. You picked some of my favorite places ;0) and I have no idea where to eat etc. I will print a copy of this and deliver it to my friend's daughter. Thanks to your kindness and assistance she should have an excellent guide to work from.

OK....I say this will all seriousness. If you have ever wondered about Medical Marijuana, SF is the place to find out all the info. You can visit Oaksterdam run by Richard Lee or visit with one of the many medical marijuana advocacy groups like NORML or Americans for Safe Access. For anyone who has never seen Prop 215 in effect, it is a real learning expereince:)

Here's what I wrote an acquaintance a couple years ago:

If I were alone in SF for a day, what I'd do is go to the SF Museum of Modern Art on 3rd St., see the art, then walk north on Third and cross Market; Third St. basically turns into Kearny. You walk north on that for 10 blocks, it's just kind of a nice urban street with lots of coffee shops and restaurants. You go through the edge of Chinatown, and then you come to a big diagonal street called Columbus. Turn left and in a block you'll see City Lights Bookstore on the left side; that's a big landmark. Then you're in North Beach, which is the traditional (1950s) bohemian beatnik neighborhood and still really fun to walk around and look at all the cool houses. The hill on the right side of Columbus St. is Telegraph Hill, and if you walk up that, there's Coit Tower at the top and a great view of the bay and the city. So that's a pretty good touristy walk for one day.

In the evening, if you feel like it, it's always fun to walk up and down Castro St., the gay neighborhood, and/or ride a streetcar up and down Market St. (Castro St. is the terminus, so it's a good combination). The streetcars (not to be confused with the cable cars) are historical and a lot of fun for $1.50.

The DeYoung is opening a compelling exhibit of the work of Andy Warhol in March.

I hear good things about it...

If she needs a local contact for those emergency, "I'm lost in the tenderloin and someone is defecating in front of us, what do I do?" moments; you have local resources ;-)

Thanks Randy. I was going to call you about this but Tyler is generally underfoot by the time you get home from work and she doesn't much like my being on the phone. It just agitates her for me to pay attention to anyone but her. I will call later and I would have LOVED to have seen the Warhol exhibit. I will be working that whole week.