San Francisco's Exploratorium offers free admission to the public on the first Wednesday of every month.

Housed within the walls of the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District, the Exploratorium boasts more than 400 interactive science, art, and human perception exhibits for kids of all ages.

Also offering public presentations such as hands-on workshops, lectures, performances, films, and other special events, the museum aims to create a culture of learning through innovative environments, programs, and tools that help people nurture their curiosity about the world around them.

San Francisco's most visited museums offer FREE admission on the first Tuesday of every month. Take advantage of Free Museum Tuesdays at:

Conservatory of Flowers
Located in Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory of Flowers boasts almost 2,000 plant species in five immersive galleries. From tropical flowers to giant water lilies, the conservatory is a lush and diverse living museum for all ages.

de Young Museum
Founded in 1895 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the de Young boasts a state-of-the-art new facility that integrates art, architecture, and the natural landscape in one multi-faceted destination. The museum showcases collections of American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and art of the native Americas, Africa, and the Pacific. Admission fees to special exhibits still apply.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art
As the only folk art museum in Northern California, the museum is known for a rich offering of focused and unique exhibitions of traditional and contemporary folk art and craft from around the world, demonstrating how folk art, contemporary craft, and fine art are all part of the same continuum.

Palace of the Legion of Honor
Built to commemorate Californian soldiers who died in World War I, the Legion of Honor is a beautiful Beaux-arts building located in San Francisco's Lincoln Park. Displaying an impressive collection of 4,000 years worth of ancient and European art in an unforgettable setting overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, the Legion is also home to an early cast of Rodin's famous "Thinker" sculpture. Admission fees to special exhibits still apply.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Located in downtown San Francisco, SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art. Opened in 1935 to "explore compelling expressions of visual culture," the permanent collection comprises more than 25,000 works of modern and contemporary art, including photography, painting, sculpture, media arts, architecture, and design. Admission fees to special exhibits still apply.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
YBCA presents contemporary art from the Bay Area and around the world that reflects the profound issues and ideas of our time, expands the boundaries of artistic practice, and celebrates the diversity of human experience and expression.

For more than 20 years sea music enthusiasts have gathered at San Francisco's Hyde Street Pier on the historic tall ships C. A. Thayer and Balclutha to sing chanteys and other sea songs.

This free event, which takes place the first Saturday of every month, has garnered a loyal following, drawing 80 to 200 people monthly.

Hear California history come alive with chanteys that describe the perils of San Francisco's Barbary Coast, the dangers of rounding Cape Horn, cruel ship officers, the joys and curse of drink, and hopes for riches during the Gold Rush.

Be sure to bring a mug for complimentary apple cider!

Reservations required; call (415) 561-7171.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco offers free admission to all visitors on the first Sunday of every month.

One of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art, the Asian Art Museum collection spans 6,000 years of history and includes 17,000 objects, from tiny jades to monumental sculptures, paintings, porcelains and ceramics, lacquers, textiles, furniture, arms and armor, puppets, and basketry.

The collection galleries are divided into seven geographic regions: South Asia; the Persian World and West Asia; Southeast Asia; the Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World; China; Korea; and Japan. Winding through all the galleries are three major themes: the development of Buddhism; trade and cultural exchange; and local beliefs and practices.

Every third Wednesday of the month, the newly reopened California Academy of Sciences offers free admission to all guests.

Located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, this groundbreaking institution has been a city landmark for more than 150 years, and is the only facility in the world to combine a museum, aquarium, planetarium, and world-class research and education programs under one roof.

This unique combination allows visitors to explore everything from the depths of a Philippine coral reef to the canopy of a Costa Rican rainforest to the outer reaches of the universe -- all within a single visit.

The new facility -- which employs sustainable materials and energy-saving technologies -- unifies the Academy's original array of 12 buildings into a single, modern monument to eco-conscious architecture. Crowning the building is the Living Roof, a 2.5-acre expanse of native California plants and wildflowers, which creates a sense of transparency and connectedness between the building and the surrounding park.

Join your guide Henry for an extensive walk through the streets (and over the hills) of San Francisco.

Enjoy the sights of the city as you wander through neighborhoods such as Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill. See Lombard Street, Coit Tower, and some of the oldest homes and hidden gardens in the city.

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is held weekly, and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Most Thursday nights, the California Academy of Sciences opens its doors after hours for NightLife.

Adults have a chance to explore the museum at night in a whole new light, as they dance to some of San Francisco's most popular DJs, enjoy food and cocktails, and mingle while perusing the Academy's world-class exhibits and getting up close and personal with aquarium critters.

Take in some knowledge with your libations -- each week features provocative science programming and a few surprises.

Meet your guide David at the San Francisco Downtown Hostel for a free historical tour of downtown San Francisco.

Learn about Union Square, Chinatown, Nob Hill, and other downtown landmarks. Don't forget your camera!

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is held weekly, and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Join your tour guide Joe for an evening excursion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Located in downtown San Francisco, SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art. Opened in 1935 to "explore compelling expressions of visual culture," the permanent collection comprises more than 25,000 works of modern and contemporary art, including photography, painting, sculpture, media arts, architecture, and design.

SFMOMA offers half-price admission and extended hours every Thursday starting at 6 p.m., making this the perfect chance to soak up some culture with your fellow hostellers.

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Hostel's restaurant -- the lovely Cafe Franco -- transforms from a dining space into a film screening room.

The hostel shows a different film each weekend night fitting into a special theme (such as "So Bad it's Good" or "Shot in San Francisco,"), so check the events calendar at the front desk to see what's playing this week. Or, just drop in to see what's on the screen, and kick back with some freshly popped corn.

Café Franco also dishes up healthy, low-cost dinner specials and tasty coffee drinks during the screenings, so you won't go away hungry.

San Francisco City Guides offer free historical and architectural walking tours of San Francisco's most famous (or, in some cases, infamous) districts, as well as some of its more hidden neighborhoods.

Approximately 30 different walks are offered each month, year-round, rain or shine. Walkers meet at the place and time designated in the current tour schedule. No reservations are required.

On the first Thursday of every month, San Francisco's premier hands-on science museum -- the Exploratorium -- hosts After Dark, an evening series exclusively for adults.

A mix of cocktails, conversation, and playful, innovative science and art events, each evening showcases a different topic, from music to sex to electricity. All events include a cash bar and film screenings, plus an opportunity to play with our hundreds of hands-on exhibits.

Mingle with inventive scientists, artists, musicians, programmers, and designers. Enjoy live performances, provocative films, interesting music, cutting-edge technology, unexpected extravaganzas, and more. Where else can you find an intellectually stimulating playground for adults -- with free parking?

Though today dwarfed by the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point's four tiers of cannon were once the most awesome feature at this narrow entrance to San Francisco Bay.

This mighty fort kept an armed and unwavering vigil over the golden gateway for almost half a century until its original cannons were removed, but no enemy challenged its might.

Discover the fort by the beauty of candlelight on this ranger-led night tour. Seeing the fort by flickering flame, with bright stars overhead, is a special way to take a trip into the shadows of the fort's past.

Comedy fans need look no further than San Francisco this winter as some of the biggest names in sketch, improv, and stand-up comedy gather for SF Sketchfest, the city's 20-day comedy festival.

Running January 14 - February 2, the 2010 SF Sketchfest includes a Sketchfest Tribute to Conan O'Brian, Monty Python's Terry Jones, Cinematic Titanic with Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl and Frank Conniff from Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Weird Al" Yankovich, and an evening with the Reno 911! Sheriff's Department.

In addition to a full gamut of comedians, the festival also features musical guests Aimee Mann, Mates of State, Michael Penn, Grant-Lee Phillips, and Jill Sobule. Familiar faces from The Daily Show,  Saturday Night Live, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The Kids in the Hall, The Big Gay Sketch Show, Whitest Kids U’Know, Upright Citizens Brigade, and The State add to the impressive 2010 SF Sketchfest lineup.

The festival takes place in 11 different venues across the city, from the historic Castro Theater to the Dark Room in the Mission District, Mezzanine in SOMA, and the Herbst Theater (6 blocks from the San Francisco City Center Hostel).

The annual Noir City Film Festival revels in film noir's rain-slicked streets, shadowy alleys, and sex bombs in silk peignoirs, bringing classic films to the giant screen of San Francisco's historic Castro Theatre.

Over 10 days, fans will be treated to 24 classic films, many of which cannot be seen anywhere else. Not on video. Not on DVD. Not in any "home entertainment" format. See these films as they were meant to be seen -- on a giant screen in an old fashioned movie palace!

The theme for this year's incarnation of the "world’s most popular noir film series" is part and parcel of classic noir: Lust and Larceny.

The $12 double-feature admission is good for two back-to-back screenings.

San Francisco's famed Grace Cathedral presents a series of free recitals featuring some of the world's greatest organists playing the cathedral's magnificent, 7,466-pipe, Aeolian-Skinner organ.

On January 31, hear David Graham, instructor at the Royal College of Music and organist at Farm Street Church in London.

Join your fellow hostellers for a trip to one of San Francisco's oldest and most captivating neighborhoods: Chinatown.

Though it's only a few blocks away from the San Francisco Downtown Hostel, Chinatown is another world unto itself, bustling with shops and buzzing with people. Explore hidden alleyways, sip various Chinese teas, see mysterious historic temples, and visit the famous San Francisco Fortune Cookie Factory.

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

After a long day of being a tourist, wouldn't it be nice if you could just come back to the San Francisco City Center Hostel and kick back with a movie and a pizza?

Well, tonight you can! We'll provide the pizza, the popcorn, and the movie (check the Activities Board in the lobby for the title of the week). You provide four bucks.

To join in, please sign up in advance at the front desk.

San Francisco's famed Grace Cathedral presents a series of free recitals featuring some of the world's greatest organists, playing the cathedral's magnificent 7,466-pipe, Aeolian-Skinner organ.

After Easter (April 4), the series goes on hiatus, as work begins to replace the failing roofs over the two organ chambers. So go while you've still got the chance!

The celebration of Chinese New Year in San Francisco kicks off with the Chinese New Year Flower Fair, set in the heart of Chinatown.

The Flower Fair provides a festive atmosphere for the community to purchase their New Year flowers, produce, and candies, while enjoying traditional Chinese dance, music, art, and cultural displays.

The Chinese New Year Flower Fair blossoms with an abundance of fresh auspicious flowers such as peach blossoms, narcissus, orchids, snap dragons, and chrysanthemums, and fruits such as oranges and tangerines, which symbolize abundant happiness. Traditional Chinese entertainment, such as Chinese Opera, will be performed on stage both days.

The New Year celebrations are officially launched on Saturday, February 6, at 10:30 a.m., with a mini-parade featuring lion dancers, giant walking puppets, costumed stilt walkers, drummers, and dancers. The mini-parade runs along Grant Avenue from California Street to Pacific Avenue, where Mayor Gavin Newsom will preside over a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Chinese New Year is a two-week spring festival celebrated for more than 5,000 years in China. The San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration originated in the 1860s during the Gold Rush days, and is now the largest celebration of Asian culture outside of Asia.

The celebration includes two major fairs, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair (February 6-7) and the Chinatown Community Street Fair (February 27-28). The highlight of the festivities is the spectacular Chinese New Year Parade (February 27).

The Chinatown Community Street Fair takes place the weekend of the Chinese New Year Parade and is an opportunity for visitors to experience Chinese cultural arts such as folk dance, music, kite making, calligraphy, and acrobatics.

Traditional and modern entertainment is featured on the main stage throughout both days. Kids can enjoy the street fair's petting zoo and other fun activities.

Chinese New Year is a two-week spring festival celebrated for more than 5,000 years in China. The San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration originated in the 1860s during the Gold Rush days, and is now the largest celebration of Asian culture outside of Asia.

The celebration includes two major fairs, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair (February 6-7) and the Chinatown Community Street Fair (February 27-28). The highlight of the festivities is the spectacular Chinese New Year Parade (February 27).

San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade is one of the grandest illuminated night parades in America, and a fantastic way to ring in the Year of the Tiger!

Join the revelry and experience gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, martial artists, and Chinese acrobatics. The parade's grand finale features the 201-foot Golden Dragon, carried by a team of 100 men and women, accompanied by more than 600,000 firecrackers!

Chinese New Year is a two-week spring festival celebrated for more than 5,000 years in China. The San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration originated in the 1860s during the Gold Rush days, and is now the largest celebration of Asian culture outside of Asia.

The celebration includes two major fairs, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair (February 6-7) and the Chinatown Community Street Fair (February 27-28). The highlight of the festivities is the spectacular Chinese New Year Parade (February 27).

Now in its seventh year, the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival celebrates the sea with 50 documentary, fictional, and animated films that aim to increase audiences' appreciation of the oceans that surround us.

View the beauty and mysteries of the ocean, experience the thrill of saltwater sports, explore coastal cultures, and pause to reflect on the importance of this vital ecosystem. Film are broken into 12 programs, some with specific themes such as "surfing" or "sharks." Many programs are followed by in-depth discussions with filmmakers and content experts, bringing to life the issues playing out on the screen.

Films screen at Theatre 39 at Pier 39; combine your film ticket with an admission to the Aquarium by the Bay and receive a discount.

Noise Pop is San Francisco's leading independent music festival, showcasing nationally known indie rock, electronic, punk, and cutting-edge musical artists, as well as the best local bands.

Going 18 years strong, this year's festival boasts more than 60 bands and solo artists, including the Magnetic Fields, Mirah, Atlas Sound, John Vanderslice, Four Tet, Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, Deerhoof, and Nice Nice, at various venues throughout the city. Some of the most widely acclaimed bands in America played Noise Pop as emerging artists early in their careers, including The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, The Shins, The Flaming Lips, The Donnas, The Decemberists, and Bright Eyes.

In addition, Noise Pop features a film festival, screening music documentaries and videos that embrace and reflect independent music and culture. This years films include P-Star Rising, the story of a nine-year-old rapper who goes from performing on the street corners to sold-out club shows, and Downtown Calling, a retrospective portrait of the underground scene in the late 1970s, featuring Fab 5 Freddy, Mos Def, TV on The Radio, Debbie Harry, and many more.

The festival also includes Pop 'n' Shop (Feb. 27), an independent design fair featuring over 40 Bay Area designers and artists selling their latest chic and unique clothing, jewelry, limited edition screen-printed posters, and other fun stuff at affordable prices. There will be tasty snacks for sale as well as a full bar and, of course, excellent music.

A festival showcasing independent music and film wouldn't be complete without art. The Art of Noise exhibition (Feb. 19-28) celebrates artists who create work that traverses the two timeless muses of Art and Music.

Lastly, the festival hosts Industry Noise, a day-long conference for musicians, groupies, music writers, and tech geeks on independent music, technology, and the changing music industry. In addition to panels and speakers, there will be small discussion groups and individual mentoring, with some "big names" talking about how they manage their music careers.

San Francisco has a long history of craft beer brewing, and the Bay Area remains one of the epicenters of the modern resurgence of American artisan breweries. In other words, SF Beer Week (February 5-14) is an excellent excuse to don your best beer goggles and dive into some local brews.

For 10 days, dozens of breweries, bars, gastropubs, and restaurants throughout the Bay Area celebrate our local craft beers with more than 100 events, including new releases of rare microbrews, beer tastings, happy hour food pairings (from cheese and chocolate to oysters and sausage), meet-the-brewmaster nights, and special events featuring multiple-course meals.

In fact, the huge array of events on offer can be dizzying. Here are a few affordable picks for San Francisco visitors:

• Humphry Slocombe, the Mission district’s hot new boutique ice creamery, serves up beer ice creams made with local brews, every day during SF Beer Week.

• Anchor & Hope in SOMA hosts Kegs for a Cause, February 5-7. Choose from over 60 brews, and for every beer purchased $1 goes to Haiti earthquake relief. On Friday, slurp down Happy Hour Oysters for $1 each.

• On February 6, Chuey Brand hosts Beer 2 Brakers, a bicycle pub crawl featuring food and beer pairings. The ride starts at 933 Treat in the Mission district, with "brakes" at Thirsty Bear Brewing Company and Gordan Biersch Brewery & Restaurant in SOMA. (Cost: $15; proceeds benefit the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation.)

• Think craft beer has to come in a bottle? Free your mind at Can-A-Palooza, on February 8 at 21st Amendment Brewery in SOMA, with $2 canned craft beers from 21st Amendment, Oskar Blues, Anderson Valley, Buckbean, and Big Sky.

• On February 12, hop on Caltrain and ride down the peninsula for a Caltrain Pub Crawl with WetYourWhistles, visiting four bars near Caltrain stops in Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City. (Cost for Caltrain day pass to/from San Francisco: $8.50)

• On February 13-14, the Toronado pub on lower Haight hosts the 17th annual Toronado Barleywine Festival, pouring a wide variety of strong ales.

February is also Strong Beer Month, when 21st Amendment Brewery in SOMA and Magnolia Pub & Brewery in Haight-Ashbury release special kegs and casks of vintage and barrel-aged beers. In addition to bringing back some old favorites, both breweries will debut at least two new beers.

Take a free walking tour with the San Francisco Historical Society, and explore San Francisco's past as a port city.

Learn about the history of the city's waterfront, from the days of sail to the era of the longshoremen. Begin at the Great Seawall, San Francisco's largest public works project, and follow the waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf, past two WWII vessels and the Hyde Street Pier, home to the country's largest collection of historic ships. The tour ends at Aquatic Park.

Take a free walking tour with the San Francisco Historical Society, and get a rare look inside one of the city's famous "painted ladies."

World-famous Alamo Square and its environs make an exciting walk through an almost unspoiled Victorian neighborhood of San Francisco. View some of the city's most spectacular Victorian houses, including the oldest surviving home in San Francisco, and excellent examples of later residential architecture. The tour will go inside at least one of these imposing homes.

Reservations required; call (415) 537-1105 ext. 100 or email rsvp@sfhistory.org.

Open every day, San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace is a foodie mecca, offering fresh organic produce, gourmet treats, and fine dining. With a focus on small, regional food producers -- and many eateries and small businesses owned by well-known top chefs -- you can sample local artisan cheeses, chocolates, breads, and more.

Most Saturday mornings, celebrated Bay Area chefs stop in to demonstrate ways to prepare the sustainable, seasonable goods found in the Farmers' Market. Visitors can watch these experts in action, taste their creations, and leave with recipes to try themselves at home. Programs sometimes include interviews with farmers, food artisans, or other Farmers' Market vendors.

This month's schedule includes:

February 6: Matthew Kerley of Magnolia Pub & Brewery

February13: Eric Tucker, chef at Millenium and author of The Artful Vegan

February 20: Chad Newton of Fish & Farm

February 27: Alessandro Cartumini of Quattro, Four Seasons Silicon Valley

See the website for the full event schedule.

Dedicated to traditional bluegrass and authentic old-time string-band music, the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival showcases some of the most talented Americana and roots musicians on the scene today. The festival runs over nine days at several small clubs and cafes in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and the North Bay.

This year's performers include Loudon Wainwright III, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Crooked Jades, Whisky Puppy, Jimbo Trout, and many more. On February 20, the festival hosts a full day of workshops with teaching musicians, covering guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, harmony singing, and more.

HI-San Francisco is proud to be an official sponsor of the 12th annual SF IndieFest, a 15-day extravaganza hailed as "the real deal" in independent film festivals by the San Francisco Chronicle. Running February 4-18 at the Roxie Cinema in the Mission district, SF IndieFest prides itself on screening entertaining, provocative, and "absolutely independent" work.

Among the dramatic features screening at the festival is Kyle Patrick Alvarez' provocative debut film Easier with Practice, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at CineVegas 2009. Based on an autobiographical article by Found Magazine creator Davy Rothbart, Easier with Practice stars Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) as Davy, a disillusioned writer on a book tour who gets a mysterious phone call in his hotel room, igniting a long-distance phone sex relationship that provides a sharp contrast to his awkward and unfulfilling real-life relationships.

The feature documentary Corner Store follows Yousef Elhaj, a Palestinian immigrant who has worked day and night for ten years, building a small business in San Francisco's Mission district, saving money in order to bring his wife and children to live with him in America. The film follows Yousef as he travels back to his homeland to finally reunite with his family -- but much has changed in the past decade, in his family, his country, and himself.

Also on tap is David Silberber's, Oh My God! It's Harrod Blank!, an obsessively made documentary filmed over 18 years, which explores the creative life and adventures of eccentric art-car artist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur Harrod Blank. According to the New York Times, the film "not only creates a vivid, fond portrait of the eccentric Mr. Blank (a man who seems to love chickens more than people), but also provides a profound meditation on the pros and cons of rugged individualism."

SF IndieFest is also well known for their parties, which happen almost every night of the festival. On February 6, pack up your skates, fire up the time machine, and get ready for the Roller Disco Party at Cellspace in the Mission district. Skates will be available for rent, and the hippest of retro tunes will be spinning on the sound system. (Cost: $10; $5 in costume; free with any IndieFest ticket stub or advance ticket receipt. 21+ only.)

Now in it's seventh year, the Big Lebowski Party takes a load off on February 12 at Cellspace. Come dressed as your favorite Lebowski character. Enjoy some white Russians, bowl in the Fest’s mini bowling alley, follow in Maud’s footsteps down the zip line, and watch this 1998 Coen brothers’ film projected on the wall. But remember the Dude abides. (Cost: $10; $5 in costume; free with any IndieFest ticket stub or advance ticket receipt. 21+ only.)

In addition, this year's IndieFest is preceded by the San Francisco Winter Music Fest, featuring Bay Area bands performing at Bottom of the Hill and Thee Parkside in Potrero Hill, Jan. 29 - Feb. 4.