Golden Gate Park - the ultimate haven away from urban chaos - was deeded to the people in 1870 out of the prescient notion that San Franciscans would one day feel overcrowded.

Museums & Gardens
California Academy of Sciences: The academy expanded so much in its 150 years that it outgrew its site in the park, and so it is rebuilding, replacing it with a dazzling structure designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. The redesign will include a new Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium and modern exhibition spaces.

Conservatory of Flowers: Since 1879, locals and visitors have marveled at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest glass-and-wood Victorian greenhouse in the Western Hemisphere and home to more than 10,000 plants from around the globe. It was badly damaged by a 1995 storm and closed to the public for eight years, and is finally open again after a $25 million restoration.

Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers: Designed in 1928 by the California Spring Blossom and Wildflower Association to honor the plants and flowers mentioned in the Bard's poems and plays. Obsessed fans can play "name the work" as they pass each of the 150-odd specimens.

Japanese Tea Garden: Many people's favorite part of the park, this was originally built as part of the sprawling Midwinter Fair. Begun by an Australian in 1894, this intricate and private (depending on the season) complex of paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also hidden throughout its five acres are beautiful sculptures and bridges. Makato Hagiwara, a Japanese gardener whose family took over the garden from 1895 to 1942, also invented the fortune cookie.

M.H. de Young Museum: Sixteen years after the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked the old museum and made it a seismic hazard zone, the new de Young reopened on October 15, 2005. In addition to the newly installed permanent collection of American, African, Oceanic, American Indian, New Guinea, Maori and Filipino art on the first and second floors, visitors can see treasures from Egypt's Golden Age in special exhibition galleries.

San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum: Begun in 1937 with WPA funds and charitable donations, this 70-acre horticultural extravaganza entices the senses with more than 6,000 plant species. The garden of fragrance - with signs in Braille - brings flowers alive with scent alone.

Courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle