Salesforce Tower
San Francisco's tallest building runs a nightly LED light show visible from 30 miles away.
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At 1,070 feet, this obelisk-shaped tower is the tallest in San Francisco and second-tallest west of the Mississippi. It was the last building completed in César Pelli's lifetime. After dark, 11,000 LEDs at the crown broadcast video animations across the Bay Area skyline — street-level viewing is free.
What to look for
- The continuous grid of metal fins that wrap the facade from street level all the way to the roof, defining the obelisk silhouette
- Brises soleil on each floor — horizontal shading elements built into the curtain wall to deflect direct sunlight
- The LED light sculpture crowning the roof: animated sequences begin at dusk and run every evening
Find it at 415 Mission Street between First and Fremont, directly adjacent to the Salesforce Transit Center in the South of Market district.
Salesforce Tower is one of 31 sights worth the detour in San Francisco, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the San Francisco pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in San Francisco
- Golden Gate BridgeOpened May 27, 1937 as simultaneously the world's longest and tallest suspension bridge — you can walk the 4,200-foot main span yourself.
- Alcatraz IslandFor 29 years, cold Bay tidal currents did what bars alone could not — make escape nearly impossible.
- Transamerica PyramidAn 853-foot pyramid that ruled San Francisco's skyline for 45 years — still on the Transamerica logo even though the company quietly moved its HQ to Baltimore.
- Golden Gate ParkSan Francisco turned three miles of bare shifting sand dunes into the country's third-busiest urban park — starting from scratch in 1870.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)The West Coast's first museum devoted solely to 20th-century art, now stretched across 170,000 square feet after a 2016 expansion that nearly sextupled public space.
- Alcatraz Federal PenitentiaryA 9-by-5-foot cell surrounded by cold bay currents — the federal government once staked its reputation on the claim that no one could leave.