Balboa Theatre

San Francisco


First stop Cannes; next stop Balboa and 37th, where film-fest favorites split the bill with Bogart noir classics, family-friendly Saturday-morning matinees and B-movie marathons with in-person director commentary. This 1926 movie palace is run by the nonprofit San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation, which keeps tickets affordable and programming exciting.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San Francisco attractions

1. Buffalo Paddock

0.37 MILES

Since 1899, this has been Golden Gate Park's home where the buffalo roam – though technically, they're bison. SF's mellow, well-fed herd rarely moves –…

2. Legion of Honor

0.62 MILES

The Legion of Honor, or more formally known as the “California Palace of the Legion of Honor”, is a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It is…

3. Lincoln Park

0.74 MILES

America's legendary coast-to-coast Lincoln Hwy officially ends at 100-acre Lincoln Park, which served as San Francisco's cemetery until 1909. The city's…

4. Windmills

0.74 MILES

Surfers aiming for Ocean Beach keep in sight these twin landmarks on Golden Gate Park's extreme western edge. The 1902 Dutch windmill at the northwestern…

5. Lands End

0.83 MILES

Looking out from Lands End feels like surveying the edge of the world. Nestled on the point of land between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, the park's…

6. Cliff House

0.88 MILES

Populist millionaire Adolph Sutro imagined the Cliff House as a working man's paradise in 1863, but Sutro's dream has been rebuilt three times. The latest…

7. Sutro Baths

0.91 MILES

It's hard to imagine from these ruins, but Victorian dandies and working stiffs once converged here for bracing baths in woolen rental swimsuits…

8. Ocean Beach

0.96 MILES

The sun sets over the Pacific just beyond the fog at this blustery beach. Most days are too chilly for bikini-clad clambakes but fine for hardy…