Click MAP to locate destinations preceded by yellow numbers.

Golden Gate Park, landscape architect John McLaren' s 1870 master work, features 1,017 acres of grassy dells, gardens, lakes, wooded trails, botanical gardens and museums.

31 The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum (Music Concourse; 415-863-3330) is closed for extensive renovations until 2005. 32 The Asian Art Museum (415-379-8800), which occupies a wing of the de Young and is the largest museum in the United States devoted exclusively to Asian art, will remain open until Oct. 2001. Its collection spans 6,000 years and includes all of the great Asian artistic traditions. It will reopen in its new Civic Center home in fall 2002.

33 The California Academy of Sciences (415-750-7145) houses the Natural History Museum, Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planetarium – dinosaurs, earthquakes, alligators and black holes all under one roof. Sharks are fed at 2 p.m., the penguins at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you’re visiting the Academy Jan.-June, watch for Young Audiences of the Bay Area’s Family Festival (415-255-3351), free 45-minute performances of local multicultural music and dance groups.

34 The Japanese Tea Garden (415-752-1171), opened in 1894, is the oldest public Japanese garden in America. Serene and lush, with rock gardens alongside pools, streams spanned by arched bridges, and an imposing Buddha surveying the scene, the garden turns spectacular in early spring when the cherry trees are in bloom. Stop for green or jasmine tea and cookies at the Tea House, served by hostesses in kimonos. On summer Sundays at 1p.m., relax under the trees in the Music Concourse and listen to the Golden Gate Park Band, one of the nation’s oldest municipal bands. It has performed in the park since 1882.

35 Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (9th Ave. and Lincoln Way; 415-661-1316) comprises 70 acres of succulents and California native plants, a redwood trail and the Garden of Fragrance, designed for the blind with labels in Braille.

The limestone 36 California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park at the northwest end of the city (415-863-3330) overlooks the ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. It houses an extensive collection of French painting and sculpture, period rooms and the Achenbach Foundation prints. Also at the edge of the city is 37 Lands End. A main trail at 48th Ave. meanders through lush greenery and along cliffs, offering spectacular ocean views. Don't go beyond where the trail narrows unless you're a strong walker with sturdy shoes. Stop for a drink or full meal at the nearby 38 Cliff House, with views of the pounding surf below and Seal Rock 400 feet offshore.

End the day downtown in Union Square, where dinner possibilities include the Redwood Room in 39 the Clift Hotel (495 Geary; 415-775-4700), 40 Scala's Bistro (432 Powell; 415-395-8555), 41 the Grand Cafe (501 Geary; 415-292-0101), and 42 La Quiche (550 Taylor; 415-441-2711). Among the area's theaters are the 43 American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary; 415-749-2228), 44 Curran Theater (445 Geary; 415-551-2000) and 458 Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (620 Sutter; 415-288-0336).

California Palace of the Legion of Honor at Lincoln Park

Japanese Tea Garden

California wildflowers at Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens,
Golden Gate Park