Hotels, restaurants and shopping in city of the Golden Gate can cost tourists lots of gold. However, with smart planning, seniors can actually enjoy visits there without spending too much of it. Next time you’re in San Francisco, here are suggestions to help in your quest for free things to do.

Haight-Ashbury Memories: If you were part of the foggy, smoky 50s and 60s hippie generation, wander back to where it all started. Along with funky stores, you'll see poetry readers, musicians and ragged wanderers, making for great people-watching and video/photos.

Golden Gate Park: A thousand square acres of beauty and tranquility typifies the city's laid-back character. Make up a picnic basket and enjoy morning mists by Stow Lake. Visit the free-admission Conservatory of Flowers, de Young Museum, Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Check the schedule for free events, music and fairs. Golden Gate Bridge: Hike or bike the two-mile-long span. The magnificent views on the bridge high above the ocean are enough to make singer Tony Bennett lose his heart all over again.

Fisherman's Wharf: Visit Maritime National Historical Park next to the wharf. Stroll out on Pier 39 to be greeted by the friendly barks of lolling sea lions.

Lombard Street: This is for hearty seniors to hike one of the crookedest streets in the world. The hilly, curvy byway is a photogenic stretch between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets.

Art Exhibits: Admission-free is the Walter and McBean Galleries at the San Francisco Art Institute, with contemporary art exhibits. Other galleries and museums have free admission days and reduced ticket prices for seniors. 

For more info about the City by the Bay, go to sfgov.org