Daly City sits right at San Francisco’s southern edge, making it a natural starting point for exploring the Peninsula. The city spans from the Pacific coast almost to the bay, and getting here is easy: BART connects Daly City directly to downtown San Francisco and to SFO, which is about a 15 minute drive away.
Daly City is home to the Cow Palace Event Center & Arena, famous for the annual Grand National Rodeo, Horse & Stock Show and The Great Dickens Christmas Fair. The arena has also hosted diverse events such as concerts by The Beatles and National Political Conventions.
Some of the region’s most dramatic coastline is right here. At Mussel Rock Park, trails wind along the bluffs to ocean views and paragliding launch points, and a sandy beach waits at the park’s north end for beachcombing at low tide. Nearby, the Thornton Beach Vista overlook offers sweeping views of the cliffs and surf, and San Bruno Mountain State and County Park, just to the east, rewards hikers with panoramic views of the San Francisco skyline and the bay. Back in town, Daly City’s diverse community shows up deliciously on the dinner table, with a well known Filipino food scene and plenty of global flavors to explore.
Daly City is also a place of historical distinction: The Daly City History Guild Museum & Archive sits near the original site of John Daly’s dairy farm, where refugees from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire first camped and later built homes on lots Daly sold to them. The village that grew there, once known as Vista Grande, became Daly City in 1911.
