Legion of Honor

The Legion of Honor, at 100 34th Ave in the Lands End area of San Francisco, California, is a Beaux-Arts museum set on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate. The building, modeled on the Palais de la Legion d'Honneur in Paris, centers on the Court of Honor, where a cast of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker sits outside the main entrance. Inside, the permanent collection covers about 4,000 years of art, with a strong emphasis on European paintings, sculpture and decorative arts, and a substantial group of Rodin sculptures. Galleries are arranged chronologically, and visitors move between Old Master paintings, Impressionist works and period rooms. The museum also holds a large collection of works on paper and hosts rotating special exhibitions that may carry an extra charge. A typical visit takes about two hours, longer for visitors who join a docent tour or linger in special exhibitions. The grounds themselves are worth time: the museum sits next to Lincoln Park, and the walk from the courtyard to the cliffs and the Lands End coastal trail gives views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 AM to 5:15 PM and is closed on Monday. Admission is $20 (USD) for adults, $17 (USD) for seniors 65 and over and $11 (USD) for students with ID; visitors under 18 enter free, and the first Tuesday of each month is free. The ticket also gives same-day entry to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, which suits a two-museum day. Weekday mornings are the quietest, and weekends and free days draw larger crowds. Muni bus lines 1 and 38R serve the Richmond District, with a short walk to the museum, and the Clipper fare is $3 (USD). Many visitors combine the museum with a walk along the Lands End trail or a stop at the nearby Lincoln Park Golf Course viewpoints.