When I lived in San Francisco, I rarely spent money except for food and drink. Until the last year there, I didn’t have a car so I took buses and cabs to anywhere I wanted to go in the City.  Here’s a short list of free entertainment:

• Go to the Marina Green and watch the kites, off-leash dogs, roller bladers, runners, families and wanna-be-surfers.
• Walk from North Beach to the Financial District smelling the Italian food, espresso, and eventually the money.
• Drive through the Presidio, then ritzy Sea Cliffs to Bakers Beach to the Great Highway.  Get out and walk to the windmills and into the Western edge of Golden Gate Park.
• Go to Golden Gate Park and discover new walking trails, watch the kids play at the carousel, look for wildflowers, lay on a hill by the Conservatory of Flowers, listen to music played by street musicians.
• Bring the Sunday paper to the top of Telegraph Hill, sit on the lawn and enjoy the view.
• Walk through China Town from North Beach and end up at Union Square, sit on a bench and people watch.
• Visit the grand old restored San Francisco Library.
• Visit a specific neighborhood, smell the ethnic food, and listen to a foreign language being spoken, window shop.
• Attend all of the free festivals, Bay to Breakers Race, Opening Day on the Bay, free concerts and theatre in the parks… I rarely planned anything, I usually saw a poster, an article or just stumbled across it.

I could spend a lot more time on this list!