Off the beaten track sights LA and San Fran

Where are you staying in LA, and also, in SF?

Not to be missed is Golden Gate Park with the Japanese Tea House and Garden, Botanical Garden, and
the Legion of Honor San Francisco fine arts museum where you can see “thousands of pieces of ancient and European fine art spanning more than 4,000 years.”

Be sure to go on an historic cable car for which San Francisco is famous .

“Nob Hill is one of San Francisco's signature neighborhoods, renowned for its city landmarks and the famous hotels that border Huntington Park...he area's reputation of privilege dates back to Gold Rush times, when cable car lines made the hilltop accessible and the railroad barons and bonanza kings built their mansions there.”

Eat in Chinatown; take a ferry ride to Sausalito or Angel Island; do the Fisherman’s Wharf tourist scene.
Other things to see are the Aquarium of the Bay, Asia Art Museum, Presidio of San Francisco, and Mission Delores.

One of my standard recommendations for SF. Look into the free guided walks from San Francisco City Walks which is associated with the local library. There are tours focused on the Gold Rush, on parks, on the Golden Gate Bridge, on Chinatown, on architecture, and lots more. How about Hitchcock film locations or a ghost tour? You could combine a tour of Golden Gate Park or the Presidio with some of the museums in those areas.

Speaking of tours, try to book the Alcatraz night tour for the best experience. They sell out, so book early. Get them from the official seller. If you can only do a day trip, get tickets from them as well.

Can't think of two many off-the-beaten-track attractions in San Francisco, however we enjoyed these highlights:

• get a transport pass for your number of days
• use the historical tram (streetcar) system - it's great fun and gets you around
• the historical cable cars are good too, but often very busy
• we caught the BART train (extra fare) to Berkeley and walked around the lovely university campus
• catch the metro / tram to The Castro (gay district) and stroll the main streets
• the farmers market at the Ferry Building is a great place (especially Saturdays)
• walk from Fisherman's Wharf to Fort Mason / Marina (same day as heading for the Golden Gate Bridge)
• ferry to Sausalito and back (included in the Pass)
• a bus-tour excursion to Muir Woods NM over the bridge

It's a great city to explore for a few days, and the trams + buses are frequent and easy.

San Francisco:
One of my faves are the murals in the Mission:

http://www.sftravel.com/article/guide-san-francisco’s-mission-district-murals

Grab a donut at Dynamite Donut to munch on along the way. I can personally vouch for the merits of Maple Bacon Apple.

https://dynamodonut.com

Another was to climb the Filbert Steps to Telegraph Hill (Coit Tower is up there) and take the Greenwich Stairs down (or vice versa). Interesting bits of S.F. history, and great view from the top of the Hill. While Coit is a well-known tourist attraction, getting up there via the stairs is less so.

https://2traveldads.com/2017/03/23/telegraph-hill-san-francisco-filbert-steps/

http://www.thd.org/single-post/2015/10/01/Neighborhood-History

#3 would be a walk along the funky floating houses across the bay in Sausalito. That was a lot of fun.

https://www.oursausalito.com/houseboats/houseboats-in-sausalito.html

Yeah there's Chinatown; hugely overrated except for the back alleys. If you do it, get off Grant Ave and onto some of these (for the moderators, this site is NOT for an escorted tour):

https://sf.curbed.com/2017/7/26/16034664/chinatown-alleys-san-francisco-tour

And there's a bunch of other stuff, not necessarily off the tourist tramp but well worth it. If you're into history, you'd enjoy the Presidio (I did).

https://www.nps.gov/prsf/index.htm

Hike some of the coast (liked that too):

https://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm

Most overrated? The Wharf, Lombard St, Union Square and Pier 39. Just my IMHO.

The easiest way to get off the beaten path is to avoid Fisherman's Wharf and The Embarcadero and focus on walks in SF's neighborhoods----Mission, Haight-Ashbury, Castro, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights...easy to find walking tours for any of thesde and you can string several of them together. If you like to read and missed it the first time, City Lights Books is worth a stop. The Haight will take you Golden Gate Park, which is good for local color and you might want to go to Cliff House at its western end. Look for farmers markets--like ones at the Civic Center of Wednesday and, I beleive, Friday--this one is for locals not like the one at the Embarcadero.

The Asian Art Museum is one of the best specialty art museums in the US and the collections of South Asian and SE Asian Art are among the best anywhere.

LA has multiple art museums and the contemporary collections are where they shine. LA is one of the most interesting places to eat in the US. Googie-styled coffee shops like Panns (near LAX) or Rod's in Arcadia are local landmarks along with kitsch places like Pink's and Tail of The Pup (hot dogs). There also are tons of burget places--In and Out is the most famous, but tghe local Tommy's chain is worthwhile and there are local places like Top's in East Pasadena that are worth a stop. There's a lot of worthwhile architecture in LA--mid-century in Silver Lake, early 20th century in the old downtown business district. With a little digging you can find quirky tours like Dearly Departed which spevializes in Hollywood death, sin & scandal.

Same thing in San Fran really, I wont have a car, but I haven't been to San Fran before so am more open to the usual tourist destinations.

Yes ... I was just responding the OP request in relation to SF ... none of my suggestions is particularly hidden, but we found them to be among our highlights, along with doing a lot of walking / tramming through the city's varied neighbourhoods, as you suggest.

In LA we used buses roughly between Santa Monica and Hollywood, and visited both the Chateau Marmont Hotel and the Beverly Hills Hotel, to do a bit of half-hearted celeb-spotting, with some success.

We also lunched at the Farmers Market (3rd St and Fairfax), and fairly close to Le Brea Tar Pits too.

For Los Angeles, if you're into art and architecture, I highly recommend the Watts Towers. They're beautiful, and the history of them is really compelling. Pretty well-known, at least to Angelenos, but still off the beaten track, given their location in a mainly residential area (literally rising 99 feet out of what was once the artist's yard). They're readily accessible via the Blue Line light rail, so no car needed. Tours are not offered all the time, so check ahead (you can still see them on your own, but the guided tours are nice).

Venice L.A. ....a must see...

bunch of pseudo woke pixies who think they got unicorn blood cuz they sell crafts and go to meditation daily