So why haven’t you guys hit the clubs yet? The bars?” asks our taxi driver in downtown San Francisco. I explain. “You see that girl in the back there? She’s my daughter. She’s 14.”

The city may still be one of the most free and easy in the US, 39 years after the summer of love, but there are also endless attractions for families to take in in the Golden City.

The one thing everyone tells tourists to do – other than visit Alcatraz, which they need to book up at least three months in advance if they don’t want to get stung when they are there – is take a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Pedal power

So it is that Bay City Bike Rentals is our first port of call, after breakfast on day one of our August trip, for a pre-timed departure. We are given a little rudimentary tutorial around the bike and the route, and set off on our way just five minutes later, with a group of 12.

After a spell on the roads at the beginning we hit the sidewalk running alongside the bay, with the water on our right. It was safe, if a little daunting at first, even for my teenagers.

Stopping at the spectacular Palace of Fine Art, and for photos at the famous Warming Hut just before the steeper climb, the tour continues before reaching the bridge. The cross winds are fierce but we make it to the other side before descending immediately towards Sausalito, and taking the ferry back over the water with our bikes. The round trip takes around four hours in total.

The best advice is to layer up as it is windy over the bridge – our stay in San Francisco is colder than I expected, although I could have done more research. Also tourists need a plan for the other side once they descend into Sausalito. Arriving there in the height of summer as we did in August there are long queues of people waiting to board the ferry.

But the ride is a real holiday memory – a genuine must-do and straightforward enough for children aged 10 and above.

A boat trip around the bay is a great idea at the best of times and the next day we take the Golden Gate Bay Sightseeing Cruise from Fisherman’s Wharf, sailing around Alcatraz with fantastic new views of the bridge, the bay and the city.

Other highlights of our stay include the new Madame Tussauds, which opened in June 2014, and the San Francisco Dungeon. Fantastic photo opportunities abound in Madame Tussauds, which of course has a San Francisco flavour with local heroes including Francis Ford Coppola – director of The Godfather and now a successful hotelier.

Of course as with any major city, an open-top bus ride is the best way to view the sights in a short space of time. And having sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and cycled over it, we have to drive over it too. The highlights of our Big Bus Tours trip though are the sights and sounds of Haight-Ashbury, the birthplace of the summer of love.

Most of these attractions and more are included in the CityPASS or the Go San Francisco Card, each of which offer tourists a great deal, with a range of attractions and transport options brought together on one card.

It is only once we get off of the bus however that we find our true highlights, taking a stroll up and down the steep streets made famous in films from Dirty Harry to Blue Jasmine. Walking down the world-famous Lombard Street, where eight sharp turns are said to make it the most crooked street in the world, is something that I’m pleased wasn’t included in our bike tour.  

Book it: DoSomethingDifferent.com offers a Bike Tour over The Golden Gate Bridge from £52 per adult and £36 per child. It also has the Golden Gate Bay Sightseeing Cruise from £21 per adult and £16 per child. The Go San Francisco Card is also bookable via the operator from £52 per adult and £39 per child and the CityPASS is from £52 per adult and £55 per child. dosomethingdifferent.com