The best place to view the Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco California has to be one of the most photographed landmarks in the world.  It doesn’t matter where you go it won’t take you long to find a picture of it somewhere.  Its vastness means it’s hard to get a really bad shot if it.  However, if you want to get a shot that really stands out from the crowd, here are the best unique places to view the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Beach One

San Francisco is one of those unique cities that has a bit of everything; city skylines, islands, beaches, forests, the whole works!  There are many beaches lining the shore on the south side of the beach and many of them have a great view of the bridge.  Getting a shot that combines sand and the architectural landmark itself can be a real winner.

The Museum One

This one is probably the least obvious.  If you visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Golden Gate Recreational Area not only do you get to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Walt Disney himself (make sure you read my post on the museum if you want to know more) but halfway through the museum, you will also be greeted with an amazingly clear view of the bridge itself.  You will walk through a large window-lined area in the museum and the views of the bridge from here are amazing, and as it’s on the second floor you get a great high angle too!  Also, it’s inside just in case you end up in San Francisco on one of the cities colder, wetter days.

The Island One

Alcatraz, the island prison,  is, of course, one of the most famous places in San Francisco but what is not often talked about here is its amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge.  After touring the barracks and prison (check out my post on that here) people often miss out on exploring its natural areas that cover the lower areas of the island.  Not only is this home to many rare birds and flora but some of the viewing platforms look right out onto the bridge.

The Tree One

I have saved the best until last in my opinion as this is not only one of my favourite shots of the Golden Gate Bridge but actually one of my favourite travel shots ever.  If you head to the Golden Gate Bridge Panoramic Lookout Point (see it on the map below) you’ll get a pretty good view, but if you head just to the right of it you will see some stairs which leads to a small rural area with trees.  We actually found this a different way, we were walking along the lower shore and had begun to take the walking route up the hill, only to find some of it closed for maintenance so we were forced to take the more difficult path which opened up into this incredible view!  I love the view of the bridge framed by the trees, I simply adore this photo and there was no one else there when we got these shots.

These are just a few of my favourites, the Golden Gate Bridge is so beautiful that it can be hard to get a bad shot but these areas really make them something special.  I’ve made a map so you can discover the exact locations to view the Golden Gate Bridge easily:

Which is your favourite location?