What Is Included in the San Francisco City Pass? Full Attraction List (2026)

San Francisco City Passes at a Glance: 2026 Comparison Table

Last checked June 2026. All prices are adult rates verified from operator websites. The Sightseeing Pass is excluded — it is no longer available. Alcatraz is excluded from all products because no pass covers it.

Go City San Francisco: Full Inclusions (All-Inclusive and Explorer)

The Go City All-Inclusive Pass and Explorer Pass draw from the same menu of 23 attractions. The All-Inclusive gives you unlimited entries across 1–3 consecutive calendar days ($109–$164 adult). The Explorer lets you choose 2–5 individual entries from the same list with a 30-day window ($89–$134 adult). Here is the complete menu with verified 2026 à-la-carte prices.

Full Go City San Francisco Attraction List (2026)

The remaining Go City inclusions tend to be activity-type add-ons: Segway tours, escape rooms, kayak rentals, food tours, and similar experiences. The full list of 23 is on the Go City San Francisco attractions page. The museum and cruise options above account for the bulk of the à-la-carte dollar value.

What is NOT on Go City San Francisco

• Alcatraz — not on any pass. Book separately.
• Golden Gate Bridge — free to walk/cycle.
• Fisherman's Wharf — free to visit; individual vendors and restaurants are separate costs.
• SFMOMA — on CityPASS but not on Go City's SF menu.
• Muir Woods shuttle — not included; reservation and shuttle fee are separate.
• Wine Country tours — separate ticket.

Go City Essentials Pass San Francisco: What's Included

The Essentials Pass ($74 adult) is Go City's entry-level product for San Francisco — a curated shortlist of 9 options, choose any 3, valid 30 days. It targets visitors who want a small handful of experiences rather than a museum marathon. The 9 options are a subset of the main Explorer/All-Inclusive menu, focusing on experiences and mid-tier attractions rather than the biggest-ticket museums.

The Essentials attractions typically include the Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise, Aquarium of the Bay, Walt Disney Family Museum, USS Pampanito, Blazing Saddles bike rental, GoCar tour, and similar activity-led experiences. The California Academy of Sciences and Exploratorium — the two highest-value inclusions on the full Go City menu — are generally not on the Essentials shortlist. That matters for the break-even math.

Essentials break-even math — $74 adult

Best 3-choice combination: Aquarium of the Bay ($31.75) + Bay Cruise ($39) + Walt Disney Family Museum ($30) = $100.75 à la carte vs $74 pass — saving of $26.75. Swap the Walt Disney museum for an All-Day Bike Rental (~$42) and the total hits $112.75, a saving of $38.75. The Essentials pass genuinely pays off if you pick mid-price experiences and do all three. Pick a $20 de Young ticket as one of your choices and the math tightens fast — at that point, two higher-price picks plus the de Young gets you to ~$90, a saving of only $16 before you factor in the $2 processing fee.

The honest verdict: the Essentials pass is the right call if you want a Bay Cruise, the Aquarium, and one more activity-type experience, and you do not need museum depth. If you want Cal Academy or the Exploratorium, you need the Explorer or All-Inclusive instead.

San Francisco CityPASS: What's Included (2026)

The San Francisco CityPASS costs $89.95 per adult (child ages 4–11: $69.95, plus a $2 processing fee). You choose 4 attractions from a menu of 8, with 9 consecutive days to use them from first visit. Unlike the New York CityPASS, which has mandatory inclusions, the San Francisco version is entirely choose-your-own from the first pick — genuine flexibility across all four choices.

The 8 CityPASS options and their à-la-carte prices

CityPASS break-even math — $89.95 adult

Best-value 4-pick combination (peak Cal Academy): California Academy of Sciences ($55) + Exploratorium ($39.95) + Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise ($39) + Aquarium of the Bay ($31.75) = $165.70 à la carte vs $89.95 pass — saving of $75.75. That is the maximum achievable saving on the adult CityPASS and it requires picking the four priciest options.

Typical 4-pick combination: California Academy of Sciences ($55) + Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise ($39) + Zoo ($31) + Walt Disney Family Museum ($30) = $155 à la carte vs $89.95 — saving of $65.05. Still a strong return.

Where CityPASS loses money: If you do not include the California Academy of Sciences and anchor on lower-value picks instead — de Young + Legion of Honor ($20) + SFMOMA ($30) + Zoo ($29) + Aquarium ($31.75) = $110.75 vs $89.95 — that is a $20.80 saving, which is real but modest. Pick the de Young as one of your four and you are essentially paying $89.95 for $20 of de Young value plus three others. The de Young + Legion of Honor is the weakest inclusion if you care about raw savings; SFMOMA is fine but free for under-18s, so families should count that differently.

The honest verdict on the San Francisco CityPASS: it is worth it if California Academy of Sciences is in your four picks. It is marginal but still positive if you pick the Exploratorium and the Bay Cruise. It does not save much if you fill your choices with the $20–$30 options only.

San Francisco C3 by CityPASS: What's Included (2026)

The San Francisco C3 costs $81.95 adult ($64.95 child 4–11, plus $2 processing fee). You choose 3 attractions from a menu of 9 — the same 8 as the full CityPASS plus a ninth option, Bay City Bike Rentals ($40 à la carte). It runs for 9 consecutive days once you start using it. It works identically to the full CityPASS but with one fewer attraction and a lower price point.

C3 break-even math — $81.95 adult

Best 3-pick combination: California Academy of Sciences ($55) + Exploratorium ($39.95) + Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise ($39) = $133.95 à la carte vs $81.95 — saving of $52. Excellent return for three attractions.

Solid alternative: California Academy of Sciences ($55) + Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise ($39) + Zoo ($31) = $125 à la carte vs $81.95 — saving of $43.05.

Where C3 loses money: Picking three low-value options. de Young + Legion of Honor ($20) + SFMOMA ($30) + Walt Disney Family Museum ($30) = $80 à la carte vs $81.95 — a net loss of $1.95 plus the $2 processing fee. Art-focused visitors should either add the Exploratorium to get to $109.95 in value, or skip the pass entirely and buy SFMOMA + Walt Disney Museum directly at $60 total.

C3 vs full CityPASS: for solo adult travelers, C3 saves $8 and gives one fewer attraction. The fourth attraction on CityPASS adds a minimum of $20 value (de Young) against an $8 incremental cost — the CityPASS is nearly always the better financial choice for adults if you want four attractions. C3 makes more sense for visitors who genuinely want only three specific sights and do not want to stretch to a fourth.

What Is NOT Included on Any San Francisco City Pass

This is the list that saves you the most headaches. Every attraction below requires a separate purchase regardless of which pass you hold.

There is a separate article entirely dedicated to visiting Alcatraz without a city pass — including how to book last-minute, what the night tours include, and why you should book Alcatraz before you book your flight to San Francisco. Do not leave this one until the week before you travel.

À-La-Carte Total vs Pass Price: The Complete Math

Here is the full comparison across all five active passes using verified June 2026 prices. These scenarios use the highest-value selections available on each product.

The honest skip-it threshold on every product: if you plan two or fewer paid attractions, no San Francisco pass saves money. Cal Academy alone is $55 à la carte. Cal Academy + Bay Cruise = $94 à la carte vs $81.95 for C3 — a saving of $12.05, barely covering the $2 processing fee. Two attractions do not justify any pass. Three is the minimum where this starts to pay.

For families, the math shifts. SFMOMA and the de Young are free for under-18s à la carte — so on the CityPASS and C3, those slots have $0 value for a child ticket. Families should count only the attractions where children are actually charged. A family of two adults + one child (age 10) picking Cal Academy + Exploratorium + Bay Cruise on the C3: à-la-carte child total = $45 + $29.95 + $28 = $102.95; C3 child pass = $64.95. Saving of $38 per child — the family math generally favors CityPASS products over Go City for younger travelers.

Which San Francisco Pass Is Right for Your Trip?

First-timer with 2–3 days and an art/museum focus

San Francisco CityPASS at $89.95 adult. Choose Cal Academy + Exploratorium + Bay Cruise + one more. You get four major attractions, 9-day validity, and up to $75 in savings — the best dollar-for-dollar return on any SF pass. The only catch is that Alcatraz is separate (budget $47–$51 extra) and advance reservations are required. Read the full San Francisco city pass comparison to see how it stacks up against Go City in more detail.

Selective visitor with a short list of two or three specific sights

Go City Explorer Pass or C3 by CityPASS. If your list includes Cal Academy + the Bay Cruise + one more: both the 3-choice Explorer ($99) and the C3 ($81.95) pay off. C3 is $17 cheaper and has the same menu depth, so it wins here. If your list includes SFMOMA — which is on CityPASS/C3 but not on Go City — go straight to C3. If you want the Hop-On Hop-Off bus or the GoCar (both on Go City, not on CityPASS), go Explorer.

Visitor wanting to see a lot in one packed day

Go City All-Inclusive 1-day at $109. You need to squeeze in at least three high-value attractions to break even: Cal Academy ($55) + Exploratorium ($39.95) + Bay Cruise ($39) gets you there. Add a fourth and the math gets convincingly favorable. The 1-day pass is an aggressive pace for San Francisco — Cal Academy alone is a 3–4 hour visit — so plan your order carefully. Start with Cal Academy first thing, cruise at midday, Exploratorium in the afternoon.

Family with young children

San Francisco CityPASS wins for families. Four attractions at $89.95 adult / $69.95 child gives you a strong per-person saving across the family. Cal Academy, Aquarium, and Bay Cruise are all exceptional with young children. SFMOMA and de Young are free for under-18s à la carte — so do not burn a CityPASS slot on them for kids. Pick the four paid-admission attractions and save the museums for free-entry slots on your own. See our guide to the San Francisco city pass for families for the full family math.

Budget traveler or repeat visitor

Skip every pass. De Young + Legion of Honor is free on Saturdays for Bay Area residents, SFMOMA is $30, and the entire Embarcadero, the Ferry Building, Chinatown, the Mission murals, the Castro, the Presidio, and both Golden Gate viewpoints cost nothing. A well-planned SF trip at zero admission cost is genuinely achievable. If you want one paid attraction, Cal Academy at $49–$55 is the one — buy it individually. No pass saves money on a single attraction.

Where and How to Buy a San Francisco City Pass

Always buy online before your trip. Both operators charge the same price online as through resellers, but buying direct through the app means faster activation and a single support contact. Hotel concierge desks and airport kiosks sell passes at list price or slightly above — never worth it.

Go City (All-Inclusive, Explorer, Essentials): Buy at gocity.com/en/san-francisco. The pass is fully digital — download the Go City app, receive your pass, activate on first use. There is no timed-entry requirement on most Go City SF attractions; just show up and scan. Exception: a few popular venues may require advance slot booking through the app at peak times. Go City occasionally runs promotional codes (check their site at time of purchase) — we verified a "SUMMER" code offering up to $15 off during our June 2026 pricing check.

CityPASS and C3: Buy at citypass.com/san-francisco or citypass.com/san-francisco-c3. Fully digital via the My CityPASS app. Advance reservations are required at several attractions — California Academy of Sciences, Exploratorium, and the Bay Cruise all benefit from pre-booking slots through the app. Buy at least 48 hours before your first attraction visit to allow time to secure preferred slots, especially in summer when Cal Academy weekend time slots book out days in advance.