San Francisco isn’t just another pretty face. Yes, the City by the Bay is arguably one of the most beautiful on earth, and yes, there are few more spectacular gifts you can give your family than taking them for a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, a trip through the ruined cells of Alcatraz, or a journey through the cathedral-like redwood forest of Muir Woods. But if you’re short on time, or if the city’s shining towers are shrouded by fog, you’ll find that San Francisco provides dozens of opportunities for family activities within a short distance from your hotel, especially if you’re staying in the business district.

“I think you’d be hard pressed to find other U.S. cities that have so many resources in such close proximity, all downtown and easily accessible from major hotels,” said Xuanlana Nguyen, marketing and communications manager at the Zeum, one of at least seven museums within two blocks of the city’s 1.2 million-square-foot Moscone Convention Center.

Although San Francisco is a terrific place for visitors, it isn’t a city for spectators. In New York, families visit an art museum in order to look at art. In San Francisco, children can see art at the museum, but they also can help create it, bringing home paper cranes from the Asian Art Museum, a comic strip from the Cartoon Art Museum, or a multimedia presentation on DVD from the Zeum. This is the city, after all, where people from all over the world come to reinvent themselves and create something together. Participation here isn’t just encouraged. It’s expected.

LODGING

HOTEL UNION SQUARE

Both parents and children enjoy their own space at this boutique hotel (and former speakeasy). Upon arrival, kids receive their own cable car tin filled with chocolates, cable car passes and a list of kid-friendly attractions in San Francisco picked by the hotel owner’s children. The special suite includes a cherry wood trundle bed, a computer filled with history-related games, writing desk and grease board for kids’ compositions – as well as two queen beds for parents. $$$
HOTEL UNION SQUARE
114 Powell St.
tel 415 397 3000
http://www.hotelunionsquare.com

HANDLERY UNION SQUARE HOTEL

The hotel’s 284 guestrooms and 93 suites include family suites with two rooms connected by a central bathroom. The Handlery’s location, half a block from Union Square, makes it convenient for both visitors and business travelers. Its ongoing “Family Getaway Package” includes a deluxe room for two adults and two children, along with complimentary valet parking, cable car passes, discount coupons to Macy’s, a backpack filled with games and puzzles and two free ice cream sundaes. $$$
HANDLERY UNION SQUARE HOTEL
351 Geary St.
tel 415 781 7800, fax 415 362 157
http://www.handlery.com

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO

The name alone creates certain expectations, and the Four Seasons San Francisco doesn’t disappoint. Its 277 guestrooms include down pillows, refrigerated bars and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking either Yerba Buena Gardens or San Francisco Bay. For families, the Four Seasons takes things to another level, providing “child-proofed” rooms and substituting inexpensive, healthy snacks for the minibar’s candy and booze. On-demand video and PlayStation games come standard with rooms; non-smoking rooms and floors are available by request. $$$$
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO
757 Market St.
tel 415 633 3000, fax 415 633 3009
http://www.fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco

DINING

BOUDIN BAKERY & CAFE

One of Fisherman’s Wharf’s newest attractions is the Boudin Bakery & Cafe, a waterfront restaurant that’s also a museum. Visitors can learn how San Francisco’s signature sourdough bread survived the 1906 earthquake, while dining on sourdough-crust pizza or a bread bowl of chowder and watc hing baskets filled with loaves in the shape of animals passing by on tracks above their heads. The smell of warm, fresh bread alone is worth the trip. $$
BOUDIN BAKERY & CAFE
160 Jefferson St.
tel 415 928 1849
http://www.boudinbakery.com

GHIRARDELLI ICE CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SHOP

Unless your family doesn’t like chocolate, it’s almost cruel not to bring them to the Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in (where else?) Ghirardelli Square. You won’t see chocolate being made (consider a trip to Berkeley’s Scharffen-Berger Chocolate Factory for that) but you will find ice cream sundaes, hot or iced chocolates and chocolate treats of every shape and variety. It’s the perfect pit stop during a tour of the city. $$
GHIRARDELLI ICE CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SHOP
900 North Point St.
tel 415 775 5500, fax 415 775 0912
http://www.ghirardellisq.com

METREON

To call the Metreon a “mall” doesn’t quite do it justice. Located next door to the Zeum in Yerba Buena Gardens, the Metreon includes the Video Game Hall of Fame, a 15-screen AMC Theater and regular exhibitions, and it’s just across Howard Street from the 1912-era Charles Looff Carousel, an ice rink and bowling alley. Its food court includes such favorites as Buckhorn Grill, Long Life Noodle and Jillian’s, as well as trendier fare like LJ’s Martini Club & Grille. $$
METREON
101 4th St.
tel 415 369 6000
http://westfield.com/metreon

DAY TRIPS

It’s a museum, Charlie Brown! Families taking a trip to the vineyards of Sonoma County can keep their young ones happy with a visit to the Charles M. Schultz Museum and Research Center (tel 707 579-4452, http://www.schultzmuseum.org) in Santa Rosa. In addition to displays of Peanuts comics, Schultz’s studio and a cartoon theater, the center includes the skating rink Schultz owned and its Snoopy-themed “Warm Puppy” cafe.

The nearby city of Monterey is nationally known for its Monterey Bay Aquarium (tel 831 648 4888, http://www.montereybayaquarium.org), boasting a living kelp forest, the world’s largest jellyfish galleries and a great white shark. But the former fishing village has a lot more to offer, including the Pebble Beach golf resort, the historic Cannery Row shopping area and the bay itself, home to playful sea otters and sea lions. A museum celebrates the life of author John Steinbeck, while a nearby playground was built in 1956 by “Dennis the Menace” cartoonist Hank Ketchum.

DIVERSIONS

Located beneath the venerable old dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium (tel 415 554 7337, http://www.exploratorium.edu) is a laboratory where visitors of all ages can test the limits of their senses. Its most recent exhibition, “Listen: Making Sense of Sound,” allows aural explorers to learn to listen to three conversations at once, discover the science of hearing loss and become musicians, among other topics.More than 400 additional exhibits invite visitors to participate in building movie cameras, understanding accents and watching as a “nanovillage” is constructed out of 100,000 atoms.

Why watch cartoons when you can make them? That’s the attitude that drives Zeum (tel 415 820 3320, http://www.zeum.org), an interactive museum of art and technology within the downtown Yerba Buena Gardens. At Zeum, kids can learn clay animation techniques from professional animators, direct their own music videos and view youth art from around the world (a recent exhibit focuses on the children of Jerusalem).

San Francisco may be family-friendly, but it isn’t always kind on the pocketbook. A notable exception is Golden Gate Park (tel 415 750 5442 for walking tours, http://www.parks.sfgov.org), a 1,000-acre getaway in the heart of the city that includes free or nearly free activities for all weather conditions. A complimentary shuttle carries visitors from the Botanical Gardens (great for picnics) to the Japanese tea garden to the buffalo paddock, home to a small herd of American bison. Stow Lake is great for paddleboat rides, and the just-reopened M.H. de Young Museum (tel 415 863 3330, http://www.thinker.org/deyoung) offers a wide-ranging collection of fine and modern art.

Notably absent from Golden Gate Park is the California Academy of Sciences (tel 415 321 8000, http://www.calacademy.org), w hich will relocate there in 2008. For the time being, the popular science museum, which includes the Steinhart Aquarium and the under-construction Morrison Planetarium, has relocated to a new building on Howard Street, just steps away from the Moscone Center. Visitors can watch penguin feedings, touch fossils in the Naturalist Center and learn about the possibility of life on other planets in a new exhibit.

Don’t leave the Bay Area without seeing the bay. Ferry Building Line (tel 415 901 5247, http://www.ferrybuildingline.com) cruises take visitors for an up-close-and-personal look at many of the city’s landmarks — including Alcatraz Island, the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Giants ballpark — while offering one of three audio tours: architecture, Native American or natural history.

If you’d rather stay on shore, Mr. Toad’s Tours (tel 650 401 7708, http://www.mrtoadstours.com) invites you to climb aboard a propane-powered 1929 Model A Woody, brass-era 1912 Rambler or some other vintage vehicle for a look at the city’s historic neighborhoods and movie sites inaccessible to larger tours. And anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a firefighter will have the time of their life aboard San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures (tel 415 33 7077, http://www.fireenginetours.com) which carries visitors through the city and over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito in a restored red-and-brass fire truck.

As one of San Francisco’s best known and most visited tourist attractions, Fisherman’s Wharf (http://www.fishermanswharf.org) has a mix of the good, the bad and the just plain weird (such as the man who hides behind a make-believe bush to leap out at visitors, for no apparent reason). The best reason to go to Fisherman’s Wharf, however, may just be to gawk at the other visitors — including up to 900 sea lions that have occupied the K-dock floats at Pier 39 (http://www.pier39.com) since 1990.

INFO TO GO

Two major airports provide service to the Bay Area. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) provides annual service to more than 39 million passengers traveling to 150 destinations. Its recent $2.4 billion expansion included the creation of the nation’s largest international terminal, rental car center and Air Train rail system. It also hosts the San Francisco Aviation Museum, the world’s only accredited art museum in an airport.

Oakland International Airport (OAK) is served by 14 airlines, including many low-cost carriers. Both airports are connected to downtown San Francisco through the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. BART tickets cost about $5; expect a trip to San Francisco to take 30 minutes from SFO and about an hour from Oakland, with another 15-20 minutes for the AirBART shuttle ($2) from station to airport.

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (tel 415 923 6164, http://www.sfmuni.com) operates the city’s subway, bus, trolley and cable car systems. Fares start at $1.25; you’ll need your ticket at the beginning and end of a ride. Free service on all MUNI transportation for seven days is available with a San Francisco CityPass (tel 707 256 0490, http://www.citypass.com).