10 Top Things to Do in San Francisco for Christmas

Delight in the City Lights at Their Holiday Best

The San Francisco Embarcadero Center's four buildings are outlined in 17,000 lights every holiday season, giving the city skyline a distinctive look.

In Embarcadero Plaza across from the historic Ferry Building is a free family winter carnival before the seasonal illumination ceremony. That happens the Friday before Thanksgiving, but the Holiday Ice Rink opens in early November and stays open through the holiday season.

The best place to see the lights is to get away from them a bit. One of the best viewing spots is Treasure Island. To get there, exit Interstate Highway 80 in the middle of the Bay Bridge. If you can't get to Treasure Island, walk to the end of Pier 7 near the Ferry Building.

Enjoy Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremonies

Christmas tree lighting ceremonies draw some large crowds. The biggest, splashiest-looking trees go up at:

• Union Square: The traditional Macy's tree is lit for the first time on Thanksgiving weekend. Placed in the middle of Union Square downtown, the tree is more than 80 feet tall (nearly seven stories) and covered in 30,000 twinkling lights and hundreds of decorations. The best place to watch the ceremonies is in the square, but you can also make a reservation at Burger Bar in Macy's Union Square, where you can see it all from the windows.
• Pier 39: At tourist attraction Pier 39, which borders the Fisherman's Wharf district, the nightly lighting of a 60-foot-tree filled with ornaments dazzles crowds from late November through early January. The event includes holiday music.
• Ghirardelli Square: In the Marina area public square, Ghirardelli decorates its 50-foot-tall Christmas tree with not only lights but oversized chocolate bars, of course. The tree is first lit in November. Musical performances, puppet shows, and stilt walkers perform leading up to the first lighting.

See the Lights in Local Neighborhoods

If you like to check out beautifully lighted homes and neighborhoods, California Christmas Lights lists hundreds of houses that sparkle for the holidays, mostly in northern and central California. They also have some handy lists of walking neighborhoods and must-see houses.

Another option is to view the fishing boats moored at Fisherman's Wharf, which are lit through the holiday season. You can see them along Jefferson Street between Jones Street and Taylor Street.

Watch a Holiday Lights Boat Parade

San Francisco's oldest and biggest Christmas parade on the water, the Lighted Boat Parade, happens on a Friday night a couple of weeks before Christmas. You can watch it anywhere from the route, which begins just off of Pier 39 and goes past Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason, and the St. Francis Yacht Club before turning around near Crissy Field to return to Pier 39 along the waterfront.

Other great places to watch the parade are Aquatic Park, Pier 39, the Marina Green, and Crissy Field.

Go Back in Time at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a party based on the Victorian London era with hundreds of colorfully costumed players. The event runs for five weekends in November and December with entertainment, food and drink, and shopping. This slice of the Old Country tradition began in 1970 and takes place at the Cow Palace exhibition halls in Daly City, about a 30-minute drive south of San Francisco.

Visit Union Square for Ice Skating and Shopping

Union Square is San Francisco's shopping epicenter and the location of the big Macy's tree. You'll also find an ice skating rink open for the holiday season from early November through late January, with twinkling lights all around.

Shops and department stores surrounding the square decorate their facades with lights and fill their windows with unique seasonal displays. Pop into the area hotel lobbies to check out their holiday trappings, and don't miss the elaborate gingerbread castle at the Westin St. Francis.

See San Francisco's Iconic Nutcracker Ballet

The Nutcracker is the iconic holiday tradition, and no one performs it better than the San Francisco Ballet, where the holiday classic made its U.S. debut in 1944. The local version is set during the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, a world's fair that took place in San Francisco.

Performances usually start in mid-December and continue through the end of the month.

Take a Holiday Train Ride

It's worth driving 1.5 hours from San Francisco to Santa Cruz for a bit of old-fashioned holiday fun. That's where the Roaring Camp Railroad runs a Holiday Lights Train in which old railroad cars, decorated with tons of colorful lights, pass local homes. It's an especially festive affair with live music on board and a visit from Santa Claus.

Celebrate Christmas with Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio offers holiday screenings in December of the film "Christmas With Walt," which includes scenes from television specials and even some of Walt's home movies, along with "Mickey's Christmas Carol," a Disney version of Charles Dickens’ classic "A Christmas Carol" book.

Other films with a holiday theme are also screened, and all are free with museum admission.

Enjoy Holiday Musical Traditions

Chanticleer is a San Francisco-based group that performs a capella (without instrumental accompaniment). A Chanticleer Christmas, a concert of Gregorian chants and favorite holiday tunes, happens in some of the area's prettiest venues for a few weeks in December.

About 40 minutes away in Oakland, the California Revels celebrate the winter solstice in several December performances with music, dance, and costumes held at the Sanctuary of First Congregational Church of Oakland.

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus performs its annual holiday concert in early December. The theme is inspired by a 1994 event when hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus took to the streets of San Francisco.