San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in America, and it’s up there with the most well known bridges in the world. After walking, cycling and driving across the massive structure, as well as exploring dozens of viewpoints around both sides of the massive international orange colored bridge, we’ve found some pretty awesome photo spots.
In this guide we show you 10 unmissable Golden Gate Bridge viewpoints, based on our experiences.
Our Experience
During our first visit to San Francisco in 2019 we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to see it from the Marin Headlands, then we parked at H. Dana Bowers, walked across the bridge to Battery Lancaster, walked back across the bridge and drove to Battery Godfrey. We spent so much time taking photos we lost track of time, and before we knew it the sun was setting with lovely soft yellow light bursting in from the southwest side.
When we returned to San Francisco in 2022 we hired bikes in Fisherman’s Wharf and cycled through Marina District, Crissy Field, across the bridge to H. Dana Bowers, back across the bridge and on to Battery Godfrey. This time our photos were taken in the hours around midday, so we had to deal with bright and blown out sunlight. Unfortunately, we’re yet to experience thick fog rolling through SF Bay because both our trips were in November. Read more about us.
Okay, let’s get into our favorite Golden Gate Bridge viewpoints!
1. Battery Spencer
We think Battery Spencer is the best viewpoint on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge because it has the most uninterrupted views of the structure and it’s easy to reach by car, bike or foot. You can see in our photo above that the bridge viewing angle is acute, but it’s a wide open view point and most of the bridge is visible, along with the city and bay on both sides. If the bridge was shrouded in fog, we’d go directly to Battery Spencer because of its elevated position.
You can also continue driving further west on Conzelman Road to reach many more viewpoints in Marin Headlands, but they all have partially blocked views by the headland on which Battery Spencer sits. One awesome thing you could do is walk or cycle Kirby Cove Road to Battery Kirby and Kirby Beach which has a clear southeast facing view of the bridge and city behind. We think Kirby Beach would be a fantastic Golden Gate Bridge sunrise photo spot on a clear day.
- Battery Spencer: Maps location
2. H. Dana Bowers Memorial Vista Point
We really like the unique Golden Gate Bridge view from H. Dana Bowers Memorial vista point because it’s the easiest and best place to look directly through the center of the bridge and see traffic flowing. It’s also very easy to reach by car, bike or foot. We drove here first time and parking was fine. The second time we cycled across the bridge and saw lots of annoyed local cyclists navigating around tourists, so be aware of your surroundings.
There’s two cool photos you can get here: the first is a wide angle photo of the bridge and the second is a zoomed in photo of traffic on the bridge. For us, H. Dana Bowers Memorial is the best place to park if you want to experience walking across the bridge or you want to walk up the Coastal Trail to reach Battery Spencer.
- H. Dana Bowers Memorial Vista Point: Maps location
3. On The Bridge
It might sound obvious, but some of the best views we’ve seen of the Golden Gate Bridge came when we were walking and cycling on the bridge itself. Our advice is to take your time and don’t forget to look up, down and all around as you cross. You can frame and capture some really unique photos from various points along the bridge.
One thing to be mindful of is that the barrier running the entire length of the bridge next to the joint pedestrian and cycling path only goes up to elbow height on adults and shoulder height on kids. We have to admit we were shocked by how open and unprotected it was after peering over the edge and getting intense butterflies. If you have a fear of heights, either don’t look down or don’t walk across at all!
- Golden Gate Bridge: Maps location
4. Battery Lancaster
Our two favorite viewpoints on the south side are Battery Godfrey to the west (coming up next) and Battery Lancaster to the east. We very highly recommend you check out Batter Lancaster near the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center because it has a wonderful view of the bridge with Fort Point National Historic Site in the foreground.
You can easily drive or cycle to this viewpoint from downtown San Francisco, plus you can buy souvenirs, use restrooms and grab a quick coffee. Walking around the entire area to the north of Battery Lancaster so you can use bushes and trees in the immediate foreground of your photos.
- Battery Lancaster: Maps location
5. Battery Godfrey
On the southwest side of the bridge you’ll find a long line of old concrete coastal-hugging batteries. Our favorite is Battery Godfrey because it has a more expansive view, it’s closer to the hiking trail leading down to Marshall’s Beach (coming up next) and the battery itself is easy to climb on.
With that said, we do also recommend you walk north on the coastal path to Battery Boutelle, Battery Marcus Miller and Battery Cranston because they all get you closer to the bridge with different foregrounds. This whole area to the west of San Francisco’s Presidio is well worth visiting.
- Battery Godfrey: Maps location
6. Marshall’s Beach
There are a handful of beaches on the west side of the Presidio offering some of the very best and quietest Golden Gate Bridge views. For us, the most unmissable is Marshall’s Beach because it’s the closest, and it has both sand and rocks to use for framing your photos. We highly recommend walking along this beach close to sunset when soft yellow light will illuminate the rocks and bridge.
To reach Marshall’s Beach you can either walk down a trail from Battery Godfrey or walk a trail from Baker Beach via the Sand Ladder. Both are steep trails with uneven steps, rocks and sand so only hike to Marshall’s Beach if you feel comfortable. The nearby Baker Beach is easier to reach by car or bicycle and it still has good views of the bridge, but you might need a telephoto lens.
- Marshall’s Beach: Maps location
7. Crissy Field
Crissy Field covers a large coastal area on north side of the Presidio, which includes a large marsh, several beaches and lots of grassland. If you cycle to the Golden Gate Bridge from downtown San Francisco like we did, you’ll have excellent bridge views for the entire length of Crissy Field.
We stopped at Little Marina Green, East Beach, Crissy Field Marsh (we saw pelicans here) and several points along the large open grassy expanse before continuing up a hill to reach Battery Lancaster. You can also make a quick stop at the Palace of Fine Arts or the Walt Disney Family Museum near Crissy Field.
- Crissy Field: Maps location
8. San Francisco Bay Cruise
One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to benefit from a diverse range of Golden Gate Bridge views is to take a San Francisco Bay Cruise. The cruise begins in Fisherman’s Wharf and passes by Alcatraz Island. It also goes directly underneath the bridge, so you’d get a totally unique photo spot that you can only get from a boat.
We took a sunset cruise with Blue and Gold Fleet and thought it was well worth the money. After standing on the bridge looking down, it was fun to be on a boat looking up at the bridge with a cold beer in one hand and a camera in the other. You don’t have to do a sunset cruise, but we think it’s the best time of day to photograph the bridge.
- Bay Cruise: Maps location
9. Alcatraz Island
One of our best hidden gem Golden Gate Bridge photo spots is from Alcatraz Island. Chances are high you’ll be visiting Alcatraz, but most people don’t even consider what the bridge will look like from the Island because they’re so focused on the prison tour (read our Alcatraz day and night tour review), which is totally understandable. And the tour is awesome, but so are the bridge views.
After you’ve finished the prison tour, head outside to the West Side Gardens and Prisoner Gardens for clear views of the bridge. You’ll be looking directly west, which means the sun will be immediately ahead of you at sunset. We used seagulls and bushes to create fun silhouette photos during our night tour of Alcatraz, so look around to see what you can use in your foreground.
- Alcatraz Island: Maps location
10. Coit Tower
If you want to see the Golden Gate Bridge but you don’t want to leave downtown San Francisco, you can simply walk to Coit Tower and take an elevator up to its observation deck. The elevator wasn’t working when we visited Coit Tower so we had to climb a lot of steps, but it just about was worth the exertion and $10 to see the city from an elevated vantage point.
With that said, we didn’t think the bridge views specifically were great from Coit Tower. It’s a long way away and all the windows are covered by perspex glass so our photos had glare. Still, we had to include Coit Tower in this guide because it’ll likely be the easiest place to see the bridge near your hotel in town. Twin Peaks is another popular SF viewpoint, but Golden Gate Bridge views aren’t great from there either.
- Coit Tower: Maps location
Golden Gate Bridge Viewpoints Map
Click or touch the map below to activate. Zoom in and out, move around the map and you’ll see the locations of each photo spot mentioned in this guide. You can also click on the “view larger map” icon in the top right to expand the map, which offers a much better user experience.
Map key:
- Viewpoints – Red icons
Getting To The Photo Spots
You can reach most viewpoints by car or bike, but we personally wouldn’t walk from downtown SF to the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s too far. Another option you have is to take a ride share or taxi from your hotel to the north side of the bridge, walk across the bridge, visit one or two more spots and then take another ride share or taxi back to your hotel.
Here’s exactly how we’d plan our stops with a car or on bikes:
Car – Drive to Battery Lancaster and the welcome center first, then cross the bridge and stop at H. Dana Bowers Memorial. Next, head up to Battery Spencer and drive along with Marin Headlands coastal road. Drive back across the bridge and stop at Battery Godfrey. Consider hiking down to Marshall’s Beach or continue driving down to Baker Beach instead.
Bikes – Hire bikes at Bay City Bike Rentals in Fisherman’s Wharf and cycle through Fort Mason Park to Little Marina Green. Continue riding west through Crissy Field, stopping at Battery Lancaster before cycling across the bridge to H. Dana Bowers Memorial. Next, cycle up to Battery Spencer and consider continuing down to Kirby Beach. Cycle back across the bridge and visit the Battery Godfrey area.
Best Time For Photography
If you really want to take home the best possible photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, you should plan to visit the viewpoints around dawn or dusk when the light is soft and there’s a better chance of a colorful sky. On a clear day you might struggle with blown out skies and deep shadows if you visit the viewpoints between 10:00-3:00pm.
You should visit San Francisco from June to August and arrive at elevated Golden Gate Bridge viewpoints like Battery Spencer around sunrise or sunset if you want to photograph the bridge bursting out from thick fog rolling through the bay. Alternatively, another unique time to take photos of the bridge is at night when it lights up.
The Morgan Conclusion
What we like: First and foremost, we like how accessible the Golden Gate Bridge is by bicycle or car from the touristy areas in San Francisco. We also like how different the views are from each of the vista points, whether it’s a close up, a side profile or from a beach. Finally, waking across the bridge was a totally unique experience for us.
What we don’t like: We know tourists must drive locals mad but we didn’t like how rude some of the cyclists were when we rode across the bridge. Also, if you have a fear of heights you might not want to look over the edge of the bridge because it’s a long way down and there’s not much protection!
Is the Golden Gate Bridge worth visiting? Yes! San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most iconic landmarks in America so it’s definitely worth visiting. There are many places you can visit on both sides of the bridge for fantastic views and vantage points, so get creative and see if you can find unique perspectives.
More From California
- Top things to do in San Francisco
- 3 days in San Francisco itinerary
- Our review of the Alcatraz tour
- San Francisco to San Diego road trip
- 10 places you can’t miss in San Diego
- 3 days in San Diego itinerary
- Things you can’t miss in Los Angeles
- Warner Bros Studio tour review
Want more California content? Head to our California Travel Guides to explore national parks, popular road trips and things to do in major cities of the Golden state.
We hope our Golden Gate Bridge viewpoints guide helps with planning your trip to San Francisco!
Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
Enjoy this guide? Pin it for your visit!
Note: This article contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
All Rights Reserved © Where Are Those Morgans, LLC. Republishing this article and/or any of its contents (text, photography, maps, graphics, etc.) in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
Mark and Kristen Morgan are travel, hiking and photography experts. Over the last 6 years traveling full time, they have explored more than 40 countries and 30 US states.
Where Are Those Morgans has been featured in USA Today, Gestalten, Get Your Guide, CityPASS and Condé Nast Traveler along with various other publications. Read more about us.
The photos of the Golden Gate Bridge looks amazing. San Francisco is one of the cities I’ve always wanted to visit and this post has really done it justice.
Thank you Sharon! San Francisco is a fantastic city and the Golden Gate Bridge has to be top of its highlights. Hope you get to visit one day!
Wow the Golden gate bridge is such an iconic land mark and you’ve really done it justice with your photography. Yet another place I would love to visit high lighted by your web site.
Thank you Graham! If you ever get the chance to visit, don’t do what we did and see it during the middle of the day – go in the early morning or at sunset and to see it lit up at night. We’ll definitely go back to each of the view points with better equipment in the future!