Musée Mécanique 🇺🇸

Step back in time at the Musée Mécanique, a one-of-a-kind interactive museum located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Housing one of the largest privately owned collections of its kind in the world, this vibrant for-profit attraction showcases over 300 20th-century penny arcade games and mechanical artifacts, displaying about 200 of them for you to explore. Founded by Ed Zelinsky and now managed by his son Dan, the museum offers a nostalgic journey where you can actually play the vintage machines.

You will discover a fascinating array of rare coin-operated amusements, including music boxes, video games, love testers, player pianos, peep shows, photo booths, Mutoscopes, and pinball machines. Center stage is taken by a massive diorama of a traveling carnival featuring a working Ferris wheel. Highlights include an 1884 Praxinoscope—the collection's oldest piece—and what is believed to be the world's only steam-powered motorcycle, built in Sacramento in 1912.

You can also marvel at toothpick machines crafted by San Quentin prisoners, see couples dancing in the Royal Court diorama from the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, and encounter Laffing Sal, a famously creepy six-foot-tall laughing automaton.

What to see at Musée Mécanique

• Collection of over 300 mechanical 20th-century arcade games and artifacts
• Features an 1884 Praxinoscope and what is believed to be the world's only steam-powered motorcycle
• Displays San Quentin prisoner toothpick sculptures and the famously creepy Laffing Sal
• Centerpiece diorama of a traveling carnival alongside player pianos, fortune tellers, and pinball

Visiting tips

Admittance to the museum is completely free, but bring cash or coins since you must pay to play each individual game.

How long: 1-2 hours · Best time: daytime

How to get there & what’s nearby

Musée Mécanique is easy to reach on San Francisco’s public transport, and pairs naturally with Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. For where to stay, the weather and full itineraries, see our San Francisco travel guide.