Walk it. The whole thing. It’s 1.7 miles across, and walking is the only way to really feel it: the wind in your face, the ships sliding underneath, and the gentle hum of the deck under your feet. Pedestrians use the east sidewalk, which faces the bay and the city skyline, and when you reach the far end you can turn and look out past the towers to the open Pacific. Two completely different views of San Francisco in one easy walk.

Rent a bike and ride across to Sausalito. Every guidebook recommends this one, and every guidebook is right. You’ll coast down through the eucalyptus on the north side and roll into Sausalito, a little harbor town full of houseboats and waterfront cafés. Grab something cold on a dock, then hop the ferry back to the Embarcadero. You’ll see the bridge from above and from the water in a single afternoon, and it’s one of those days you’ll be talking about long after you get home.

Stop for coffee with a view. The Round House, a little Art Deco café at the south end of the bridge, first opened in 1938 and is now run by Equator Coffees. Some say it’s the coffeehouse with the prettiest view in the world, and with the bridge, the bay, and the ocean wrapped around you almost 360 degrees, it’s hard to argue. Grab a latte and a pastry, and if Karl has rolled in, ask about the International Orange Hot Chocolate, named for the bridge’s famous color. Warm hands, great view, zero regrets.

Go under it, not just over it. Fort Point is a brick Civil War fort tucked right beneath the south end of the bridge. Stand on the seawall with the waves crashing below and the traffic humming overhead, and you get something you won’t find many places: your hand on masonry from 1861 while 1937 steel soars into the fog above you. It’s free, it’s a little bit magical, and most tourists never even know it’s there.

Now see it from the other side. Fort Baker is an old Army post tucked into a quiet cove just below the bridge’s north tower, and from down here you’re looking straight up at the thing, with the city skyline glittering across the bay behind it. Grab a sandwich in Sausalito and spread out on the big grassy parade ground, where the old officers’ houses still sit in a row with their wide front porches. Then wander down to the fishing pier at Horseshoe Bay and watch the sailboats come and go. Somebody on that pier will be catching something. It probably won’t be you, and you won’t care one bit.

Head up into the Marin Headlands and look back. This is the view you’ve seen on postcards, and it’s even better in person. Drive or hike up to the old gun batteries off Conzelman Road on the north side, turn around, and there it is: that bright orange line stretched across the ocean, with the whole city rising up behind it. Bring your camera. Actually, bring a second battery.

Time it for golden hour. In the late-afternoon light the towers glow like a struck match, and the whole bay turns soft and gold. The wind can be brisk no matter the season, so bring that jacket, even if the sun was shining when you left your hotel. You’ll be the cozy one out there, soaking up a sunset you won’t forget.