Palace of Fine Arts

A domed temple across a lagoon, left over from the 1915 fair

Hours: Outdoor grounds free to enter (Wikivoyage lists 6am–9pm daily; check on site)
Tickets: Free
Address: At the west end of the Marina, near Lyon and Bay Streets

A Roman-style rotunda and a curving colonnade, built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, sit beside a lagoon. It was meant to be torn down after the fair, but locals fought to keep it, and it was rebuilt in concrete in the 1960s. From across the water the dome doubles in the reflection; walk the colonnade and the stone women on the column tops look down at you. Swans and ducks drift about, and you'll often bump into a wedding shoot.