Tourists new to wandering San Francisco, and new residents who need places to wander, should know that there is more to this fine city than Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman's Wharf. Sure you have your Ferry Building and Golden Gate Park stops, perhaps, maybe a museum or two, or someone told you to check out the murals in Clarion Alley. Fans of The Amazing Race or Anthony Bourdain might make their way to the Tonga Room or the Yoda statue in the Presidio. But there are so many cool corners and arguable landmarks to add to that list, and for the most part you won't be tripping over other tourists or newcomers when you get there. Here are our favorites. — Jay Barmann

Balmy Alley
Yes, we are aware of the more-frequently visited Clarion Alley and its Mural Project, just as we are aware that Balmy Alley is actually named Balmy Street. But Balmy Alley has the distinction of having the highest concentration of murals of any location in San Francisco (even moreso than Clarion Alley), has guided tours available courtesy of Precita Eyes, and its lower level of foot traffic makes it a better shoot for photographers. Further, it’s kind of the birthplace of the Mission mural movement, and its very first 1984 mural “The Culture Contains the Seed Resistance” — whose name remains rather timely — is still in place and was recently restored.
— Joe Kukura
Balmy Street between 24th Street and 25th Street

City Lights Booksellers
I'll admit that as a young student of literature and lover of the Beat Generation, I made a pilgrimage to City Lights on my first trip to San Francisco, at the age of 21, as many Ferlinghetti and Kerouac and Ginsberg fans have over the decades. It is both a landmark of the Beat era in North Beach and a fantastic modern bookstore, sitting across Jack Kerouac alley from Vesuvio, where Lawrence and Jack and Allen and Neal all used to get drunk together. At age 98, Ferlinghetti is the last one alive and he's still writing, painting, and running the publishing arm of City Lights, and just two years back we heard from him on how he sees contemporary San Francisco, compared to the city he arrived in in 1951. If you like reading at all, you need to set foot in this place — and poetry fans will be very impressed with the selection upstairs. — Jay Barmann
261 Columbus Avenue

Devil's Lair
You won't find a house marked "6114" on California Street, not anymore. But until 2001, that address was the site of The Black House, aka Church of Satan HQ from the church's founding in 1966 until church founder Anton LaVey's death in 1997. After a legal battle and a series of squatters, the structure (here's a couple old photos of it) was razed in the early 00s for — you guessed it — a condo development, which means even the Devil can be gentrified on out of SF. Even now, however, the occasional thrill-seeker visits the duplex, which in some circles continues to be known by the nickname "Devil's Lair." It's unclear what brave souls live there now, but if you visit the location please give them their privacy. — Eve Batey
The 6100 block of California Street (between 23rd and 34th Avenues), even side of the street

Fort Mason Community Garden
Self-described as, "San Francisco's best kept secret," Fort Mason Community Garden really is the most charming place you've never been. The garden is located right by the Fort Mason lawns where so many popped-collars play corn-hole but once there, this magical spot feels wonderfully isolated and quiet, not to mention fragrance filled with thousands of blooming botanicals. Those wishing to become a member of the garden and take over a perfect little plot of land better be patient: the wait time for membership is 7 years. - Beth Spotswood
Upper Fort Mason, Bay and Franklin

The Japantown Mall / Peace Plaza
Though rightfully renowned for its springtime cherry blossom display and festival that hosts cultural delights and Sanrio greatness, the Japantown Peace Plaza is also a great place to visit during the J-Pop Summit, or any day of the year. Less attention is paid to its three malls Kinokuniya Mall, Kintetsu Mall, and Miyako Mall, and their collections of insanely fabulous Japanese toys, creepy AF dolls, bonsai, sushi places, and karaoke joints. And the Nijiya Market grocery store offers an ever-mindblowing assortment of genuine Japanese ramen, bento, and inexplicable candy products. — Joe Kukura
1610 Geary Street between Laguna Street and Webster Street

Glide Memorial Church
I am not a person of faith, but even heathens like I cannot fail to be moved by Glide Memorial Church. It's a diverse place of love and acceptance, the likes of which are never more necessary then in these troubled times. Yes, it's located in a challenging area of the Tenderloin, but you'll make it. Just listen for voices, raised in song. — Eve Batey
330 Ellis Street

Lands End Labyrinth
Destroyed by vandals in 2015, lovers of the (only slightly) remote landmark banded together and repaired it a few months later. Thank goodness, because it's been one of SF's best-hidden treasures since 2004, "a symbol of collective meditation and peace" for all who visit. To visit it, park at the Lands End parking lot (behind the Cliff House at Point Lobos Avenue and 48th Avenue), walk east on the Coastal Trail, and take the trail toward Mile Rock Beach. When you get to the steps head down, take a hard left, and you're there. — Eve Batey

Redwood Park
Nestled in the shadow of the un-missable Transamerica pyramid is a charming grove of redwood trees that is used as a lunchtime retreat for FiDi workers and remains generally ignored by everyone else. Actual redwood trees from the Santa Cruz mountains were transplanted in the park decades ago, a fountain designed by Anthony Guzzardo pays homage to Mark Twain, and a Glenna Goodacre sculpture of children sits alongside a plaque honoring Emperor Norton's dogs. It's seriously a lovely little slice (!) of redwood serenity in the heart of the big city. - Beth Spotswood
600 Montgomery Street, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Spreckels Lake
This manmade lagoon on the north side of Golden Gate Park near Fulton and 36th Avenue is known for one thing, mainly: model yachts. It's in fact the home of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, and you'll frequently see people showing off their remote-controlled boats here amid the ducks and turtles. With or without the model boat hobbyists, though, this place is a pleasant, off-the-beaten-path spot for a sunset stroll. — Jay Barmann

Twin Peaks Tavern
There are a lot of sites of serious LGBT historical significance around San Francisco, including Harvey Milk's former camera store on Castro Street, and the former location of Compton's Cafeteria at Turk and Taylor, where one of the first riots for LGBT rights took place in 1966. But unlike those, Twin Peaks Tavern still exists in relatively similar form to what it was when it first became a gay bar in the early 1970s. Noted as one of the first gay bars in the country to have broad plate-glass windows facing the street — up until then gay bars tended to have solid walls to the street for privacy's sake, and so closeted people felt more comfortable — it was given landmark status by the city of San Francisco in 2013 for this reason. As local landmarks go, you could do worse than this one, where the front tables offer great people watching on Castro Street, and the bartenders make a mean Manhattan. — Jay Barmann
Castro and 17th/Market

Photo: Wikimedia