The Top 3 Museums Near The Inn Above Tide
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Golden Gate Park's science museum is the kind of place that somehow works for a four-year-old and a hungover adult equally well. The Renzo Piano building has a living roof, a rainforest, an aquarium, and a planetarium under one ceiling. Thursday NightLife nights are adults-only, with DJs and full museum access, which sounds gimmicky until you're genuinely transfixed by the fish.
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A genuinely world-class art museum sitting in a gorgeous old Beaux-Arts building that used to be the city's main library, which feels appropriate given how much there is to absorb. The collection spans pretty much all of Asia, from Chinese bronzes to a fully reconstructed Japanese tearoom. It's the kind of place where you wander in for an hour and surface two hours later, vaguely changed. Go on the first Sunday of the month for free general admission.
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SFMOMA is one of those museums where you actually want to linger, partly because the building itself is genuinely worth staring at, with a massive living wall of native plants running half a block along the exterior. The collection punches hard in modern and contemporary work, and the museum store is dangerously good if you have a credit card and no impulse control. Budget a full day and you'll still feel rushed.