Are you an exhausted passenger just getting off your plane? Are you hoping to stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat, and use a bathroom that isn’t the size of a coffin or inside an airport terminal?

Is the airport that you landed at San Francisco International Airport, a.k.a. SFO?

We’ve got good news: If you have a layover at SFO this travel season — and aren’t the kind of airline passenger that feels the need to be at their gate five hours early — you have several options for visiting San Francisco itself during your wait time. That’s thanks to BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system that provides direct trains between SFO and the city itself.

By using the SFO-San Francisco BART line as our guide point, here are some places to jump off and explore around that station — with just a handful of suggestions to get you started. You can bring your luggage along, but you might be more comfortable stashing it at SFO during this time. The round trip fare for these itineraries will cost you around $20 — use BART’s fare calculator tool to see exact ticket costs.

• View BART’s system map

And if you’re usually a cautious traveler who prefers to wait out a day-long layover in the terminal? Imagine it as a spur-of-the-moment, movie-like adventure before you get home or go on to your next adventure. Imagine it like Ferris Bueller traveling to Chicago for the day. Imagine just eating a really good burrito.

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(If you’re reading this as a Bay Area resident and have even more ideas for an SFO layover, use the comment box at the bottom of this story to tell us what you’d add.)

A quick primer on using BART

BART trains run both above ground and below ground around the Bay Area. The system runs 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. on weekdays, 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Sundays. Holiday hours for BART service will also vary.

From SFO, the Red Line (last stop: Richmond) and the Yellow Line (last stop: Antioch) north will take you into San Francisco itself.

Paper tickets are no longer sold for BART, so a Clipper card is the only way to pay for your BART fare (which you’ll tap at the turnstiles at each station.) You can either purchase a plastic Clipper card for $3 at the SFO BART station, and load that with money for your fare, or you can download the Clipper app to your iPhone or Android and load your fare that way, which saves on the $3 cost of a physical card.

As with any major metropolitan transit system, it’s a good idea to stay alert to your surroundings while riding BART — especially if you’re particularly tired from travel. Thefts can occur, so don’t flash your phone or expensive electronics.

(A heads up: You may also see signs in San Francisco for Muni, the SFMTA’s transit network within the city itself. Muni is a separate system — that includes trains, buses, streetcars and SF’s iconic cable cars — but it uses many of the same stations as BART, and riders can transfer easily from BART to Muni this way with a Clipper card. The itineraries suggested below don’t use Muni, but there’s nothing to stop you from choosing your own adventure and hopping on Muni, too, if you’ve got more time.)

Four San Francisco itineraries for an SFO layover

1. Closest: Get off at 24th station in Mission (around 22 minutes from SFO)

Your nearest hotspot to stop near SFO is the Mission District. Here, Mission and Valencia are some of the most bustling streets in San Francisco. Valencia especially offers many stores to window-shop and peek in. (Like one gift shop dedicated to taxidermy.)

• Get a Mission-style burrito, which you can find at places like Taqueria El Buen Sabor.
• Vegetarian pizza of the day at Arizmendi Bakery.
• Or Panchita’s Pupusería & Restaurant.
• Or, for a bite that’s a bit fancier, Burma Love.
• Grab a dessert at Dandelion Chocolate.
• San Francisco is a great spot for vintage shopping. Some spots in Mission include: Afterlife Boutique, no, Buffalo Exchange, Empress Vintage.
• Alamo Drafthouse is a gorgeous movie theater serving a full meal and drinks during the film.
• Take a walk in beautiful Dolores Park.
• The Mission also has some excellent indie bookstores. Silver Sprocket, Sour Cherry, and Needles & Pen are dedicated to graphic novels, comics, zines, table books, and art. For a classic bookstore, visit Dog Eared Books.
• McSweeney’s — the publishing house based in San Francisco — has a pop-up shop on Valencia Street filled with books, magazines, and stylish literary merch.

2. A little further: Get off at Civic Center/UN Plaza (around 26 minutes from SFO)

• Spend a couple of hours at the lovely Asian Art Museum, which almost always has a special display. This season, it is artist Takashi Murakami’s Monsterized exhibition. Check out hours and timings on its website.
• Get a table at the excellent Brenda’s French Soul Food…
• …or a super banh mi for under $5 at Saigon Sandwich.
• Peek into City Hall, where you’ll see beautiful architecture, local politicians at work and — hopefully — several weddings in process (factor in a little extra time to go through the airport-style security).
• Stop by Philz to get the mint mojito coffee, which this author craves every time they leave California.

3. A little further yet: Get off at Montgomery (around 30 minutes from SFO)

• This is the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District (or FiDi) and a short few-minute walk to Chinatown’s Dragon Gate.
• You can grab an amazing meal in Chinatown. KQED staffers particularly recommend Peking Duck and Bund Shanghai.
• You can also head to this tea lounge, Asian-fusion bakery, and Good Mong Kok Bakery, all in Chinatown.
• If you’ve got a little longer, stroll into North Beach and visit Vesuvio, the cafe-bar where San Francisco’s beatnik poets once gathered…
• …then head next door to the City Lights bookstore.

4. Furthest: Get off at Embarcadero (around 32 minutes from SFO)

• Check out the historic San Francisco Ferry Building — where there are cute shops, places to eat, and a gorgeous view of the bay. It’s a huge building and can easily take up an afternoon.
• Some KQED staffers’ favorite food spots include: Cholita Linda, Peaches Patties, Reem’s and El Porteño‘s Empanadas.
• Miette Patisserie’s pastries have little French desserts for sale.
• Or grab a burrito from a local favorite, Señor Sisig (also in the Mission.)
• There are farmers’ markets at the Ferry Building on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Enjoy the beautiful city, grab photos and a gift or two! (And be sure to get back to SFO with enough time to clear security and make it to boarding on time.)

KQED’s Carly Severn, Marisol Medina-Cadena, Adrienne Lee, and Rik Panganiban contributed to this story.

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