How To Enjoy San Francisco's City Hall

San Francisco’s City Hall is a building locals pass by all the time, and yet most residents have no idea what’s going on within its walls. Read on to get to know this historic building, learn what you can expect inside, and discover how you can get the most out of it.
City Hall is the building in which San Francisco’s governing forces run their operations. It is located at the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue in the Civic Center of San Francisco, a neighborhood thus named due to the many governmental and cultural buildings it houses. The building has seen countless struggles and achievements, hosting the planning of San Francisco’s development and progress for the past 100 years. It has been host to everything under the sun, including funerals for war heroes such as Generals Frederick Funston, marriages for the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, protests in the fight for free speech, and the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

The building stands out for its architecture, designed in the Beaux-Arts style and stretching over two full city blocks. The structure features a dome, heavily influenced by the Church of Val-de-Grâce dome in Paris, reaching 307.5 feet high (42 feet higher than the United States Capitol building’s). The current building was not the original City Hall structure, however. The original building, finished in 1899 and located two block away, was much bigger, featuring an additional wing hosting the San Francisco Hall of Records. After the 1906 earthquake, the building was destroyed, and the reconstruction fell to architect Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed the likes of Coit Tower and the War Memorial Opera House.

Stepping inside City Hall’s front doors will transport you into the building’s magnificent rotunda. Facing a grand staircase, you can look up to see the entrance to the mayor’s office, surrounded by bronze busts of former political leaders such as George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein, and Harvey Milk. Various other sculptures commemorate past mayors, and near the entrance of the rotunda you can also find plaques commemorating the farewell address by President George Washington and the Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln. The outside of the rotunda has been inlaid with colored LED lights, enabling the building to radiate colors specific to current events – for instance, the building shines with blue and yellow stripes during important Warriors games, and it famously lights up in rainbow colors for the annual San Francisco Pride Parade.

The building is open to the public every Monday through Friday from 8am to 8pm, offering 45-minute public tours daily at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm. The space is fully ADA accessible, outfitted with modern signage for the visually impaired, and tour reservations are not required. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to enjoy City Hall from the comfort of your couch, you can explore the space with a virtual tour. There are spaces within the building that can be rented out for events such as conferences, receptions, or weddings.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.