Guide to spending Valentine’s Day in San Francisco

If you're looking for a champagne moment, head to the St. Regis San Francisco, which will host a concert featuring internationally renowned Italian tenor Pasquale Esposito singing love songs. Presented by Festival Napa Valley’s Olivia Decker Power of Music Series, the event will be held in the hotel's Williams private event area and includes a pre-concert reception with sparkling wines from Napa Valley’s Domaine Carneros paired with fine chocolates. Your date is sure to be impressed by the historic and regal hotel setting. Afterward, you have the option of heading over to the property’s new restaurant, Astra, for a prix fixe dinner ($180 per person). Even better, book an overnight in one of its luxury guestrooms. Tickets to the concert and pre-performance sparkling wine and chocolate reception are $85 per guest.

Museums and sex may not usually pair together, but this Valentine's Day, head to the city's favorite museum, the Exploratorium, for a night out learning about how the world gets it on—quite literally. Learn from Exploratorium biologists about everything from the mating rituals of zebrafish to the naughty bits of flowers. Cocktails will be served. The 18+ event takes place on Thursday, February 9 from 6–10pm in the Osher Gallery 1. 

Nearly any holiday celebration in the Bay Area comes with many offerings of cruises out on the water. And Valentine's Day may be the best time for a boat ride of them all. Head out on the water on February 14 from 6:45–10pm for a Valentine's Day Dinner Cruise, whether with your significant other or friends. Toast with champagne while dancing the night away and taking in the views of San Francisco's skyline. Tickets start at $155. 

Some people want an intimate dinner at home for Valentine's Day, while others want quite literally the opposite: a full-on ball at a sex club. The Power Exchange is holding its annual Valentine's event, the Love & Lust Valentine's Ball, with plenty of chocolate, masquerade masks and naughty activities. There will be two floors open to everyone, and the third floor is open to couples only from 9pm to 4am. Sexy or fetish attire is encouraged.

Located in Portola, this premium no-sugar chocolate maker, The Good Chocolate, is offering a special Valentine’s Day event that would make a perfect gift. Head to the storefront for an interactive experience, where you get to make three chocolate gift packs and then stroll a block up to enjoy a live jazz concert featuring vocalist Noa Levy & leading Bay Area musicians in 99 Leland, a creative community space sponsored by Mission Blue Cafe. The event will take place on Friday, February 10 from 6:30–9pm.

Laughter is the best medicine, so they say. So if you're not feeling particularly jazzed about love this year, we have the event for you. From the creators of About Last Night—a local favorite one-night stand storytelling series—comes an anti-Valentine's Day show, "SO THIS SUCKS." Hear true tales of heartbreak and disappointment as a handful of brave storytellers take to the stage to share breakup tales. The event, which will take place on February 13, will feature live music by Ben Visini.

Take your Valentine's Day dinner plans up a notch with a full-on cirque show at Berber SF, a swanky Moroccan restaurant in the Pork Gulch. The show will bring culinary art and acrobatics together for a "sensual feast for your eyes." Take in the acrobats and aerialists while feasting on a modern Moroccan multi-course menu, comprised of edible aphrodisiacs and exotic spices from North Africa. Enjoy complimentary champagne and roses throughout the evening. Choose from a four or five-course cirque show with earlier and later seatings.

The Ferry Building is going out for Valentine's Day this year. Swing by the historic building for an evening of gourmet bites, wines, cocktails, music and art celebrating love and the city. Browse through the various restaurants and stalls throughout the evening, eating and drinking as you go, with small bites paired with wine tastings from over 20 merchants and more than 20 Napa Valley Vintners. Event proceeds will benefit Foodwise, the nonprofit operator of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market that runs education programs. In addition to eating and drinking, enjoy Flamenco performances, music, and a chocolate spin art bar by Recchiuti Confections.

Comedy and tiki drinks—a winning combination to get you through V-Day. Grab tickets for the first "HellaSecret" comedy shows, a series of pop-up live comedy shows at unique spots all across the bay. The Valentine's Day show will be held at a secret location—buy the ticket, and they'll notify you of where to go. What we do know: it's at a Tiki bar in San Francisco "that's a retro-oasis filled with dreamy decor and colorful assortment of decorative exotica." Drinks include everything from Mai Tais to Hurricanes to Mango Banana Coladas—plus draft beer. The event will also feature a Korean food pop-up.