My incomplete list of highly recommended places in Bay Area for visitors:
SF:
- Golden Gate Bridge + Muir Woods
- Bay Area Discovery Museum
- Exploritarium
- California Academy of Sciences
- Lands End
- Lombard Street
- Pier 39
- Treasure Island for a view of SF skyline
- SF Zoo
Coast:
- Highway…
My incomplete list of highly recommended places in Bay Area for visitors:
SF:
- Golden Gate Bridge + Muir Woods
- Bay Area Discovery Museum
- Exploritarium
- California Academy of Sciences
- Lands End
- Lombard Street
- Pier 39
- Treasure Island for a view of SF skyline
- SF Zoo
Coast:
- Highway 1 drive from SF to Half Moon Bay
- Moss Beach
- Pacifica Pier
- Half Moon Bay
Rest of valley (sorted North to South):
- YouTube Office (obviously)
- BayFront Park for SFO Plane Spotting
- Coyote Point Recreation Area
- San Mateo Park, Japanese Garden
- Stanford University
- Walk on University Avenue in Palo Alto
- Drive on Sand Hill road if you know its significance
- Hike in the Stanford Dish area
- Facebook HQ
- Shoreline Park, Shoreline Lake boating, biking
- Googleplex
- Computer History Museum
- California's Great America, Santa Clara
- Apple Visitor Center, Cupertino
- Rose Garden
- Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose
- Children's Discovery Museum