This is a must see for families who are drawn to the urban downtown areas or the shopping districts of the cities they visit. Adjacent to the city’s financial district, Union Square itself is a wide open city square surrounded by large department stores and upscale boutiques, art galleries and a multitude of restaurants. If you want to go to the so-called “center of it all,” this is arguably the place. Along with shopping and people watching, Union Square is a great spot for the family to enjoy an urban picnic before embarking on a cable car ride. You can walk just a few blocks south from here to get to the Museum of Modern Art (151 Third Street), which houses an extensive collection of the work of modern masters, and nearby Yuerba Buena Gardens, an extensive public park and entertainment area also on Third Street, that features an elaborate, hand-carved carousel built in 1906.