Coit Tower in San Francisco: Visit for epic views and historic murals
Living in the San Francisco suburbs for 20+ years, I got a chance to visit the Coit Tower in the summer of 2024. I wish I had visited this landmark earlier as it was nice to know about the tower’s history, see the beautiful murals, and enjoy the epic views from the observation deck on the top.
I made a day trip to the city with my family to explore the North Beach neighborhood and started our day with a visit to the Coit Tower first. It turned out into a workout as well, as the historic elevator in the tower was out of order the day we visited, so we decided to climb the 13 flight of stairs to the top!
The views from the top were worth the leg soreness the next day, although I wouldn’t climb the stairs again. Read on to find out about how to get to the Coit Tower, plus tips for your visit.
About Coit Tower
Named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit, Coit Tower was built in 1933 from the substantial donation she gave for the beautification of the city. It is a white cylindrical concrete structure, in Pioneer Park at the top of Telegraph Hill.
Coit Tower is a famous San Francisco landmark that can be seen from all over the city. I have admired it many times while entering the city from the Bay Bridge and also while taking a San Francisco Bay cruise. You can also see it from Pier 39.
Coit Tower is popular for its historic murals in the main circular lobby and the first floor. It is also popular for the 360-degree views of San Francisco city and bay from the observation deck at the top of the tower.
Plan to spend around 1-2 hours at Coit Tower, more if you are planning to take the Filbert stairs to reach the Coit Tower.
How to get to Coit Tower
While the Coit Tower is a simple landmark to visit, getting to Coit Tower is a whole other story! There is a very small parking lot at Coit Tower (for around 25 cars).
There are 4 ways to reach Coit Tower:
- Drive – Drive to the top and try your luck to find parking in the small lot.
- Walk – Climb the Filbert stairs from Washinton Square to reach Coit Tower.
- Bus – Take public transit bus #39, which goes to the Coit Tower parking lot. It starts from Fisherman’s Wharf.
- Take a Tour – This Private City Tour of San Francisco will stop at Coit Tower along with other San Francisco attractions. Great for first-time visitors to SF.
My husband and I debated whether we should drive to the top and try for parking, climb the Filbert steps, or take the bus. We decided to take bus #39, which goes to the Coit Tower parking lot.
In hindsight, it was a good decision to take the bus as when we reached Coit Tower, the elevator was broken, and we had to climb 13 flights of stairs to reach the top.
We visited Coit Tower as part of our visit to North Beach. We drove to North Beach and parked at the North Beach Garage.
Then we walked to the bus stop at the intersection of Union and Stockton St. The bus stop for Coit Tower is right across from the famous Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and right outside the Original Joe’s restaurant. The bus comes around every 20 minutes. Once we boarded the bus, we reached Coit Tower in around 10 minutes.
Once you are done with your visit, you can take the bus back or climb down the stairs. We chose to explore the Filbert stairs and walked back to the Washington Square area of North Beach. The stairs are all downhill on the way down, so it’s an easy descent. Took us around 10 minutes.
There is another set of stairs to go down on Greenwich St. These stairs are right behind the Coit Tower cafe. Both stairs will take you down to the Washington Square Park in North Beach.
Historic Murals
Once you enter the tower building, you will be immediately surrounded by walls painted with colorful murals. The murals were painted in 1934 by artists from the Public Works of Art Project.
There are murals all around the main circular lobby, and they are free to explore. These murals depict California’s industrial and agricultural scenes from the 1930s.
There are also murals on the first and second floors of the tower, and you need a ticket to explore those.
Check the official Coit Tower website for more information on the history and murals.
Getting to the Observation Deck
The admission tickets when we visited were around $10 for adults and $7 for kids. There is discount for SF residents. The ticket gets you access to the elevator that takes you to the observation deck at the top.
The day we visited, the elevator was out of service. However, we still had to pay the same admission fee of $10 per adult to use the stairs to the top. I understand that the entrance fee is for the upkeep of the tower, but I thought it should be discounted if the elevator was not working.
Anyway, we were already there, so we decided to purchase the entrance ticket and climb the 234 stairs that make up the 13 floors.
The first and second-floor spiral staircase walls are covered with murals as well. There are docents there to instruct you to carry your backpacks forward so that the murals are not damaged. The rest of the stair walls do not have murals.
As the elevator was out of service, it wasn’t crowded at all at the top, as understandably, many visitors chose not to climb the stairs (and pay for it!).
My teen kids climbed easily while I took several breaks to catch my breath and reached the observation deck on the 13th floor!
Keep in mind that even when the elevator is working, it only goes up to the 11th floor, and everyone has to climb the last two flights of stairs to the top.
The observation deck had an open top and two levels of windows. The upper windows were open, and the windows at eye level had glass panels. It was cold and windy at the deck, so the glass panels, though not ideal for pictures, were great to keep some of the wind out.
We could see 360-degree views of San Francisco City and Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Treasure Island, and Russian Hill.
It was foggy just where Golden Gate Bridge was, so we missed seeing that from the top! But other views were clear. Golden Gate Bridge likes to keep its celebrity status and is not visible so easily!
After admiring the views, we made our way down. There is a gift shop before you exit where you can buy souvenirs.
Facilities at Coit Tower
- Parking – Small parking lot for around 25 cars, handicapped parking available.
- Transit – Bus #39 goes to the Coit Tower, and we took this to get here.
- Cafe – There is a small cafe in the parking lot.
- Restrooms – There are restrooms in the parking lot and also inside the tower lobby.
What else is nearby
After exploring the Coit Tower, we spent the day exploring the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco. I highly recommend having pizza at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana; we tried their award-winning Margherita pizza, and it was delicious!
Final Takeaways: Visiting Coit Tower in San Francisco
Coit Tower is hard to miss in the San Francisco skyline and is a great historic landmark. If you have 3 or more days in San Francisco, I recommend spending half a day exploring Coit Tower and the North Beach area of San Francisco.
➡️Up next, check my list for more things to do and see in San Francisco.
More about San Francisco
- Find out how many days in San Francisco do you need?
- Check out my San Francisco itineraries:
- Things to do in Haight Ashbury – San Francisco’s hippie neighborhood
- How to spend one day at North Beach / Little Italy neighborhood
- 25 weekend trip ideas from San Francisco
⭐ Got questions about your trip?
Join my private Facebook group – California Travel Advice & Tips! It’s the perfect spot to connect with me and other California locals, as well as past visitors. It’s a great growing community and the quickest way to get answers for your visit!
