Good Vibrations

Top choice in San Francisco

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'Wait, I'm supposed to put that where?' The understanding salespeople in this worker-owned cooperative are used to giving rather explicit instructions, so don't hesitate to ask. Margaret Cho is on the board here, so you know they're not shy. Check out the display of antique vibrators, including one that looks like a floor waxer – thank goodness for modern technology.

Good Vibrations made history as the first women-owned sex toy store in 1977, and now has nine locations nationwide. This branch is special for its vast selection of the latest greatest and technology, and its on-site Antique Vibrator Museum (free), showcasing antique 'blood circulators' dating from Victorian times. Pioneering local sexologist Dr Carol Queen leads free tours on the third Sunday of each month at 3pm that are wildly popular – book online at least three days in advance.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • An aerial view of Golden Gate Park from the Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate Park is the third most visited city park in the US.

    Golden Gate Park

    3.65 MILES

    When Frederick Law Olmsted, architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…

  • APRIL 24, 2018: Victorian-style homes in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco.

    Haight Street

    2.11 MILES

    Was it the fall of 1966 or the winter of ’67? As the Haight saying goes, if you can remember the Summer of Love, you probably weren’t here. The fog was…

  • SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. 15th August, 2017: historic san francisco chinatown neighborhood

    Chinatown Alleyways

    0.77 MILES

    If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture…

  • SAN FRANCISCO - SEPT 2, 2017: The Beat Generation lives on at City Lights bookstore in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.

    City Lights Books

    0.87 MILES

    No one could have predicted the cultural force City Lights would become when it first opened in 1953. Sure, it had a proletarian ethos suggested by its…

  • SAN FRANCISCO, USA - December 8, 2019, visitors are similar in color to the artifacts in question at the California Museum of Modern Art, a girl walks past the picture.; Shutterstock ID 1622086819; your: Meghan O'Dea; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI page

    San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

    1.16 MILES

    When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expanded in 2016, it was a mind-boggling feat that nearly tripled the institution's size to accommodate a…

  • Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill Boulevard, San Francisco, USA

    Coit Tower

    1.11 MILES

    If you want to really see San Francisco, head to Coit Tower, a 1933 art deco beaut designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard that sits high up on…

  • Golden Gate Bridge at the golden hour from Baker Beach.

    Golden Gate Bridge

    3.42 MILES

    Few cities boast a structure so iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, commemorated in everything from films like The Maltese Falcon to not one but two emojis…

  • Dolores Park - San Francisco, California

    Dolores Park

    2.23 MILES

    Welcome to San Francisco's sunny side, the land of street ball and Mayan-pyramid playgrounds, semiprofessional tanning and taco picnics. Although the…

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