Love Museums? Check Out These Free Museum Days. December 3-11, 2016

If you need a break from digging through boxes at sample sales check out these upcoming free museum days:

The Walt Disney Family Museum celebrates Walt Disney’s birthday with its annual free day. This is the only free day all year so mark your calendar.

Visit the eco-friendly California Academy of Sciences admission free, no strings attached,no fine print.

Anyone with a Bank of America (or Merrill Lynch) credit or debit card can visit participating museums admission free both Saturday and Sunday. One hundred fifty cultural institutions across the United States are in the program including nine in the wider Bay Area.

This week has free admission days at TEN top Bay Area museums.

Bonus: many of the museums are family friendly and some will even appeal to your eye rolling tween.

Free Museum Days:



WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM

The Walt Disney Family Museum is free Monday, December 5, 2016.

104 Montgomery Street The Presidio, San Francisco 94129 MAP

In honor of Walt Disney’s birthday the public is invited to enjoy The Walt Disney Family Museum admission free. This is the only free day all year. Check out artifacts including the first known drawing of Mickey Mouse (and all the earliest merchandise), a cabinet filled with Disney’s Oscar awards, memorabilia from the New York World’s Fair, the real train Walt built in his backyard that would later be the model for the Disneyland Railroad, and much more. I ♥ the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Click here for 10 tips for the Walt Disney Family Museum free day.

Bonus: December 5th also marks the museum’s first daily lighting ceremony in which one lucky family will illuminate holiday decorations on its newest immersive installation, Home for the Holidays at Carolwood. The installation celebrates Walt’s family and love of trains, most notably featuring an elaborate three-dimensional model of the Disney Family home on Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

California Academy of Sciences Sunday is free Sunday, December 11, 2016

55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco MAP

Four times a year, the eco-friendly California Academy of Sciences is admission free, no strings attached. The last free day for 2016 is Sunday, December 11, 2016.

Enjoy the aquarium, the planetarium, the four-story rain forest, the African Hall (with penguins), swamp exhibit (with rare white alligator), T Rex and blue whale skeletons and the beloved Earthquake Exhibit. Don’t forget to make your way up to the “green” roof covered with local plants and a sweet observation deck.

Click here for 8 tips for the California Academy of Sciences free day.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

BANK OF AMERICA MUSEUMS ON US

Free museum days at 9 Bay Area museums on December 3 + 4, 2016

Aptly named “Museums On Us”, anyone with a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card can visit participating museums admission free the first full weekend of every month. One hundred fifty cultural institutions across the United States are in the program including nine in the wider Bay Area.

Fine Print: Bank of America Museums On Us allows each card holder one free admission. You must show your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch card and photo identification.

More Fine Print: Special exhibitions and ticketed shows are not included in the Bank of America Museums On Us free offer but you still save the cost of admission making this a great deal.

Click here for museums participating in Bank of America Museums on Us and tips.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

FIRST TUESDAY FREE MUSEUM:

Conservatory of Flowers is free December 6, 2016

Golden Gate Park

100 John F. Kennedy Drive

San Francisco, CA 94118

Click here for current exhibits.

The Conservatory of Flowers is the oldest wood and glass conservatory in North America. This spectacular greenhouse/botanical garden houses rare and exotic plants and has varied and interesting special exhibits focusing on plants.

Contemporary Jewish Museum is free December 6, 2016

736 Mission Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

The Contemporary Jewish Museum highlights exhibitions and programs that explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas. Click for current exhibits and events.

Bonus: Mark your calendar — the CJM is open on Christmas day, December 25th and admission is free!

Golden Gate Park

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive

San Francisco, CA 94118

NOTE: Entry to the museum is free but special exhibition fees may apply.

Click for current exhibits and programs.

The de Young Museum houses an impressive collection of American art, international textile arts and costumes, and art of the ancient Americas, Oceania and Africa. The museum has an intriguing permanent collection and the special exhibits are not to be missed.

Lincoln Park

34th Avenue & Clement Street

San Francisco, CA 9476121

Tel: (415) 863-3330

NOTE: Entry to the museum is free but special exhibition fees may apply.

The Legion of Honor displays an impressive collection of 4,000 years of ancient and European decorative arts and paintings, and one of the largest collections of prints and drawings in the country.

Museum of Craft and Design is free December 6, 2016

2569 3rd Street

San Francisco, CA 94107

Hours: Tuesday 11 – 6

The Museum of Craft and Design has changing exhibits showcasing innovative contemporary work in craft and design. Be inspired.



Click here for current exhibits.

Yerba Buena Center For the Arts is free December 6, 2016

701 Mission Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

The YBCA is a unique fusion of art, innovation and ideas in a social environment. Its changing exhibits bring together artists, inventors, producers, thinkers, and the community for the purpose of propelling short and long-term social change.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

FIRST WEDNESDAY FREE:

East Fort Baker

557 McReynolds Road

Sausalito, CA 94965 DIRECTIONS

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bay Area Discovery Museum is a hands-on interactive children’s museum located inside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Think non-commercial toddler “Disneyland.”

The GLBT History Museum is free December 7, 2016

4127 18th Street

San Francisco, CA 94114 MAP

Phone : (415) 621-1107

Hours: 11 am to 7 pm

The GLBT History Museum is the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the country. The museum celebrates 100 years of the city’s queer history through dynamic and enlightening exhibitions and programming. Click here for current events and exhibits.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

FIRST SUNDAY FREE:

200 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA

The Asian Art Museum is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian Art, with over 17,000 artworks spanning 6,000 years of history.

1000 Oak Street Oakland, CA 94607

The Oakland Museum of California brings together collections of art, history and natural science to tell the story of California and its people from many angles. View the museum’s collection including: 70,000 examples of California art and design, created from the mid-1800s to the present; 1.8 million items representing California’s history and cultures from the era before Europeans arrived, to the 21st century; and 25,000 square feet dedicated to California’s unique and diverse climate, geology, ecosystems and wildlife.

BTW, these free days are not the only way to gain free museum entry. As a self-proclaimed museum nerd (and deal tracker aka cheap skate) I have written several posts covering museums that are always free and museums deals. Check these old posts out and save!

Deals We Are Tracking:

© 2016 Deal Tracker SF. All rights reserved.

Don’t miss another deal – subscribe to Deal Tracker SF. It’s FREE. And no worries – we would never share your info or spam you and you can opt out at any time.