Self-Guided San Francisco Street Art Tour
I love street art, so when I had half a day to kill in the Mission District, I created my own San Francisco Street Art Tour. The Mission District of San Francisco is absolutely full of incredible murals and street art. You could easily spend an entire day (or several) hunting down new and interesting works of art on buildings, sidewalks, and hidden in alleys, but if you only have a few hours or simply want a little more structure, I can help! I love street art and I often share my findings on Instagram, but I wanted to share my Mission District route that would allow anyone to pack a lot of great art into a short amount of time. As an added bonus, this route doesn’t include any super long stretches on crazy steep hills – not an easy feat in San Francisco!
Street art is always changing, so I of course cannot guarantee that you will see the same pieces that I did, but I purposely chose areas that are street-art dense and also include some permanent pieces so you are sure to see some impressive pieces along the way. Make sure to Pin this image to save it for your next trip to San Francisco.
This Google Map marks all the main attractions I cover in this post, but there is art all over the place, so if you see something you love, go explore it. You can always loop back around to this route.
Iconic San Francisco Street Art in Clarion Alley
Start at Clarion Alley and Valencia Street, turn left down the alley.
A victim of police brutality
Clarion Alley is very well known, but don’t let all the tourists posing for Instagram photos turn you off. This alley is part of an art project called the Clarion Alley Mural Project so the art is always changing. I first visited in 2013, so I was excited to go back in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the art had gotten a lot more political. The alley was full of murals demanding affordable housing and protection from eviction, both huge problems in San Francisco. There were also several murals dedicated to victims of police brutality.
In orange: “One dot represents a housing unit unit served with a no-fault eviction notice. Actual Number of displaced people is significantly higher due to other forms of eviction and multiple people per unit”
Sycamore Street
Once you finish Clarion Alley, walk up one block and turn right on Sycamore Street
Sycamore street is less organized than Clarion Alley, but still covered in art and worth a stroll up the block.
San Francisco Women’s Building on 18th Street
Walk up Valencia street until you hit 18th, turn right. You cannot miss the Women’s Building
This place is an absolute must-see. The entire building is covered in incredible art dedicated to women of different generations and cultures. The building is so tall and thoroughly decorated that it is difficult to photograph, but it’s amazing to take a lap around and really soak in the details of each piece.
Guerrero to 24th street
This part of the San Francisco street art tour is the lightest on street art, but it’s a good route to get to the gold mine that is 24th Street. Of course, Guerrero offers some great views as well. This is the hilliest part of the walking tour, but I promise it’s not too bad! I think it was worth it for the classic San Francisco views of colorful houses, flowers, and steep downhill views into the city.
The street art may not be as dense on Guerrero, but you’ll still catch some interesting pieces along the way. I found that a lot of corner shops had murals, so be ready to zip back and forth from one side of the street from the other. Guerrero also had quite a bit of stencil street art on the sidewalks, so don’t forget to look down.
San Francisco Street Art Tour final leg – 24th Street
Turn left on 24th Street and get your camera ready.
I was not prepared for all the art on this street. I was running out of time before my flight, so I didn’t get to duck into every alley or fully soak in all the pieces. You could very easily do an entire San Francisco street art tour centered around 24th street and all its heavily decorated side alleys. However, if you’re looking for highlights, this is a great start.
Once again, you’ll need to be prepared to pop back and forth on either side of the street in order to see all the street art 24th street has to offer. You’ll often want to cross the street just to be able to get a full view of a building that is painted from the ground all the way up to the roof. There are also a ton of side alleys such as Osage Alley, Lilac Alley, and Cypress Alley that are completely covered in a mix of murals, graffiti tags, and creative street art.
As you cross over Folsom Street, 24th street turns into a Latin Cultural Neighborhood, so you will notice that the art starts to reflect Latino culture and history. You’ll also hear a lot more Spanish and start smelling amazing food. If you’ve got the time, grab some authentic cuisine to snack on while you check out the art!
Not sure what the House of Brakes did score all this amazing art, but the detail is incredible. In person, the houses look real at first glance.
You don’t really need a map for this area to find amazing street art, but there are a couple of iconic 
pieces that you should make sure you hit up. There is a massive mural on the corner of South Van Ness Avenue and 24th. It features a wide array of cultural icons and references, such as Mayan and Aztec art, Caribbean musicians, salsa dancers, tropical birds, religious figures, and more – all over the background of the Golden Gate Bridge. On the same corner but a different building, you can check out one of the most impressively detailed and realistic murals I have ever seen. At first glance, it looks like a couple of blocks of classic San Francisco houses, but it’s actually all on one flat building. There are more Latino cultural icons spilling into the streets between the painted houses. I don’t know what the “House of Brakes” did to deserve this masterpiece above it’s place of business!
Balmy Alley, Treat Avenue, and Harrison Avenue
Walk up 24th street towards Balmy Alley.
After you soak up South Van Ness, keep walking along 24th until you come to Treat Avenue on the left, where you’ll see a building with the entire side painted. One block up on the right you’ll come upon Balmy Alley, which is one of the better known and most visited alleys along 24th. Balmy Alley got its start in the 80s when artists used the area to express outrage over political and human rights issues, mostly within Central America. Now you can find a wide variety of styles that cover issues ranging from human rights to local gentrification. One more block up on Harrison Street you can check out 2 buildings whose sides are completely painted.
Notice the skull that says “ICE.” The skull next to it says “FEAR” and beneath that, it says “Unjust Immigration Policies”
How much time do you have left for your San Francisco street art tour?
Here’s the choose-your-own-ending part of the tour. As I said before, 24th street is jam-packed with art, so you could definitely keep going along the street and discover more street art. I, however, was walking further and further away from where I was staying and I needed to walk back so I could pack my bags and head to the airport. I was able to pack in one more impressive stop along the way: Harrison and 19th Street.
If you turn left on Harrison Street and walk to 19th, you will come upon a mural that takes up the entire block. The building will be on your left and it is mesmerizing. I obviously couldn’t photograph it all, I ended up taking video of most of it, but here’s one of my favorite sections:
From there I walked back to 16th street where I started. The whole self-guided San Francisco street art tour took me around 2.5 hours. You can adjust it to fit the time you have. This is by no means a comprehensive tour of the hundreds of murals and impressive pieces of art in the Mission District of San Francisco, but it’s a very beautiful and interesting walk that doesn’t include steep and lengthy hills that will destroy your calves.
Do you have favorite corners or streets in the Mission District for street art?
Did you discover something new along this route that you think others should check out? Share your tips in the comments! Street art is always changing, so it’s great to get updates and know what has changed and what new pieces have gone up!
