3 Best Sights in San Francisco, California

Here's a classic way to join in a beloved Castro tradition: grab some popcorn and catch a flick at this 1,500-seat art-deco theater built in 1922, the grandest of San Francisco's few remaining movie palaces. The neon marquee, which stands at the top of the Castro strip, is the neighborhood's great landmark. The Castro was the fitting host of 2008's red-carpet preview of Gus Van Sant's film Milk, starring Sean Penn as openly gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. The theater's elaborate Spanish baroque interior is fairly well preserved. Before many shows, the theater's pipe organ rises from the orchestra pit and an organist plays pop and movie tunes, usually ending with the Jeanette MacDonald standard "San Francisco" (go ahead, sing along). The crowd can be enthusiastic and vocal, talking back to the screen as loudly as it talks to them.  The theater's management is making renovation plans that may change the nature of the theater's offerings. Check online for updates before planning your trip. 

Fascinating and futuristic, this 2,739-seat hall is the home of the San Francisco Symphony. The glass wraparound lobby and pop-out balcony are visible from outside, as is the Henry Moore bronze sculpture on the sidewalk. The hall's 59 adjustable Plexiglas acoustical disks cascade from the ceiling like hanging windshields. Concerts range from typical symphonic fare to more unusual performances, such as singer Al Green and film screenings with a live orchestra performing the score.

After San Francisco's original opera houses were destroyed in the 1906 quake, architect Arthur Brown Jr. was commissioned to design this stunning Renaissance-style building. Named in tribute to the city's soldiers lost in World War I, it was inaugurated in 1932 with a performance of Tosca. It has since played host to two major historic events: the drafting of the United Nations charter in 1945 and the ceremony six years later in which the United States restored sovereignty to Japan. Modeled after its European counterparts, the building has a vaulted and coffered ceiling, marble foyer, two balconies, and a huge silver art-deco chandelier that resembles a sunburst. The San Francisco Opera performs here from September into December and in summer; the opera house hosts the San Francisco Ballet from December through May.