Presidio of San Francisco

It was the Spanish who first made this spot their base back in 1776. It briefly came into the hands of the Mexicans, but soon after it was taken by the Americans. They made it the longest serving U.S. military base until it was decommissioned in 1994. Since then the Presidio Military Reservation has been a designated National Historical Landmark District.

Spanning almost 1500 acres, among the highlights you'll find on this site are a golf course, a cemetery, hiking trails, and even the Letterman Digital Arts Center, a campus of filmmaker George Lucas's company. Here you can walk for miles on end, with over 40 kilometres of hiking trails to follow along the Californian coast.

Explore Crissy Field, a sandy stretch of restored marshland in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, always popular with cyclists, joggers and rollerbladers. It is a great place for a picnic, too.

If you have children with you or you simply want to explore, you can also pay a visit to the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, the Walt Disney Family Museum, the Battery Chamberlain, and the Crissy Fields Center.

Enjoy a glimpse into the military heritage of the Presidio by visiting the parade grounds at Moraga as well as the San Francisco National Cemetery, where tens of thousands of American veterans are buried. There is simply so much on offer here, whether you want to take a hike through the beautiful forests, swim in the Pacific Ocean, or see the Yoda Fountain at the Letterman Digital Arts Center.

The Presidio is located on the very north of the San Francisco Peninsula and is just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can reach the area by taking the Muni bus, Golden Gate Transit service, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), or the PresidiGo shuttle service, which will also take you around the area's key highlights. A great way to get around the park is by bike. Or if you're driving, paid parking is available here too.