Where to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco was one of the most fun cities to photograph on our entire five week USA road trip. In particular, I fell madly in love with the Golden Gate Bridge, taking hundreds of photos of it over three separate days! We got very lucky with clear skies and stunning sunsets - not always the case in the city famous for its fog! Here are some of my favourite spots for photographing this beautiful bridge.

Baker Beach

We loved watching the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach. The start of the trail down to the beach is most accessible by car, so we took an Uber and then walked down to the sand. When we arrived about 30 minutes before sunset, the beach was still really busy with people who'd been there during the day, but we headed on down the coast towards the bridge. We walked as far as we could, for about ten minutes, before hitting a rocky outcrop that blocked the way to the rest of the beach. There were already quite a few photographers and sunset viewers sitting up on the rocks, so we scrambled up to join them for the wait.

And it was absolutely worth it. The waves crashing against the rocks turned golden as the sun slowly dropped down over the sea. The sun sets in the opposite direction to the bridge, so you get a nice soft light over the bridge itself.

Taken on Baker Beach

To our surprise, the beach became virtually clear of people about fifteen minutes after sunset. This worked for us, as the sunset lasted for almost an hour (I'm not sure if this is a San Francisco thing or if we just got lucky with an exceptionally long sunset!) so we were able to take some more peaceful shots of the empty beach. In the photo below, you can see the few people who remained on the rocks after sunset.

Taken from Baker Beach

In the photo below, we were the only ones left on the beach, aside from a few late-night fishermen!

Golden Gate Welcome Centre

This is probably the first viewpoint you'll come across, as its easy to navigate to by car, bike or public transport. It's probably the most busy spot during the day, but when we arrived at blue hour, just after sunset, it made for some amazing shots of the bridge all lit up!

Torpedo Wharf

Getting to Torpedo Wharf was fun in itself. From the Golden Gate Welcome Centre, you follow a signposted trail down to the water, via a nature trail and a strange tunnel that you have to hunch over to squeeze through. As you descend the winding trail, there are a series of pretty viewpoints, including this one about half way down, framed by nature:

Taken on the Torpedo Wharf trail

Down at the bottom, there are two great spots to take photos. The first was along the edge of the water, where you could watch the sun setting directly over the bridge. The second was on the pier, where you could also watch the sky turn pastel over the city in the opposite direction.

Taken from Torpedo Wharf

Crissy Field

We decided against Crissy Field for a sunset, as it's a bit further from the bridge than the other three viewpoints I've mentioned. However, we took a walk past it and happened to see the city's infamous fog - nicknamed Karl - sweep in dramatically! Below is a quick phone snap we took to prove that Karl exists!

Taken from Crissy Field

On the bridge

We took a walk along the bridge itself, intending to get to the viewpoint on the other side, but we turned back less than half way along it. Unlike the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC, pedestrians and vehicles travel side-by-side, so we found it extremely noisy. The footpath was also dominated by hundreds - literally hundreds - of tourists with rental bikes, making it pretty stressful trying to admire the bridge while dodging hoards of bikes. It's also difficult to take photos of the bridge as a pedestrian, as the footpath is off to the side, making it impossible to get a nice, symmetrical shot down the middle of the bridge! You might have more luck in a car, I don't know.

Bonus: the other bridge

The Golden Gate isn't the only cool bridge in San Francisco. If you visit the food market at the Ferry Building, not only can you try some incredible treats such as Argentinian empananas and tacros (croissant tacos), you can also eat with a view of the much longer Bay Bridge, as seen below.

The Bay Bridge from the Ferry Building