How to Explore San Francisco without Breaking the Bank, San Francisco, California

Like any major US city, you could easily spend a small fortune exploring San Francisco for a few days. And with good reason given the exceptional museums, restaurants, shopping and other attractions on offer.

But if you’re on a limited budget you shouldn’t let that put you off. In fact, there are so many free things to do around the city that you don’t actually have to spend a penny more than you absolutely need to.

OK, aside from $5.25 on a chocolate-dipped waffle cone filled-to-bursting with chocolate ice cream from Ghirardelli On-The-Go at Ghirardelli Square. I mean, that goes without saying.

But, apart from that, as long as you’re prepared to do plenty of walking and invest $33 in a three-day MUNI Pass, which gives you unlimited rides on San Francisco’s iconic buses, trains, streetcars and cable cars, you’re in for a treat.

San Francisco is very much a walking city. But once you’ve dragged yourself up a few of its notorious hills and lookout points you might feel you’re entitled to give those weary legs a rest. The good news is that you can buy a one, three or seven-day transport pass that allows you to jump on and off the various municipal (MUNI) modes of transport across the whole city. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).