Lombard Street

Very good expereince. Paul (our last guide) was the absolute best. He was personable and played music along with his information about the city.
The first driver who was both driver and tour guide on an open toped van/bus was very rude and didn't inform us where/if we could get off for stops at Lombard and Coit Tower. Slowed down only. Wish I could remember h is name. (but he may not have given it)

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Best segway tour ever! Our guide, Marie, was informative, funny, and full of energy. It was our first activity upon arriving in San Francisco, and it gave us a good overview of the city in a short time. And going down Lombard Street on a Segway is the only way to go!

Doing what: San Francisco Crooked Street Advanced Segway Tour

Great value for the price of a 2 day ticket, we found this was the ideal way to get an overall view of the area and we completed the full circle first and then selected specific areas that we wanted to explore in depth.
Obviously the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park, highly recommend The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio, Pier 39 of course, Lombard Street and the Cable Car ride from Union Square to Fishermans Wharf just blew me away.
Choices of shopping and eating places was great along Fishermans Wharf.
The trip over to Alcatraz was very good and informative - NEVER go to San Francisco without booking this in advance or you wont get to go to the rock. Do not let the rain and fog stop you either.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Ticket and Alcatraz Tour

We enjoyed the Alcatraz tour, some additional stops on the Hop on Hop off Bus would have helpful eg Marina, Civic Centre, Opera and Symphony Hall and Lombard St. As we were travelling in Central America prior to San Francisco it was difficult to ring confirmation 48 hours prior. An email link to the local agent for confirmation additional to phone would be helpful especially for overseas patrons.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Ticket and Alcatraz Tour

Booked this activity last minute, while at the rental location. The vehicle we got was noisy, slow, and very beat up. We saw many newer vehicles around town that were rented from the other locations (we got ours at Union Square).
Putting all of that aside.... you MUST do this if in town. You will have a fantastic time and be able to see all of the sights that you CANNOT actually see on the hop-on, hop-off buses. We spent about four hours and were able to head up to Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill, up to Inspiration Point, Twin Peaks, North Beach, the Painted Ladies, drove down Lombard and had more people taking OUR picture than pictures of the street... we will certainly do this again when we are able to get back to San Francisco. We'll also look for Go Cars in other cities we visit; we'll just make sure we get one that's in better shape.

Doing what: San Francisco GoCar Tour

This is a great way to see the city. It's inexpensive, and it goes to all the highlights. However, it would have been nicer if it went closer to Lombard street than it did..we were so far away from it, that it was very hard to see the street. Otherwise, it is a very good tour!

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Only one loop tour. Not all stops where really close to the sightseeing attractions, e.g. Lombard street. The "center" of San Francisco was excluded there tour only went round of San Francisco. Probably because in the center tour buses could not really drive there because of the steep streets. So hop-on-hop-off is not so recommended in San Francisco. Better to discover the city on your own.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

We were disappointed. Some places didn't require getting off to stay because you just wanted a picture. One stop in particular was the narrow or crooked street. Driver announced it, but a bus pulled up beside us and we never saw it. Three of us hollered, we can't see it. Hold up til that bus leaves. The driver went on ahead. Another driver was sooo annoying with his so called loud hip talk. It grated our nerves. We had to get off the bus to get rid of him. He was on one of the open buses.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Worst bus tour of a city I've ever had, and I often choose the bus tours to get an overall view of the city. The bus was run down with broken seats and broken speakers. The guide was uninteresting and hard to hear. The closest we got to Lombard Street was 5 blocks away, and they were like "over there is Lombard Street." Took forever to get picked up by the bus once I got off and tried to get back on.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

I would post no stars if possible. Dreadful. Boarded on Lombard/Steiner - guide Willie. His commentary is delivered in rapid-fire stuccato style with a strong reliance on slang, peppered with what must be his personal sense of humor and punctuated by his cackley laughter. Over a scratchy sound system, it was hard to understand him. It must have been impossible for the ESL guests on the trip. There were several in the group, most of whom kept looking at each other with wrinkled noses. I and what seemed like most of the guests debarked at the first available spot, the Science Museum in GGPark. I never bothered to get on a subsequent bus and just took the loss of my $$ on the chin. I won't be back. Very disappointing.

While Willie may be a great guy full of wonderful stories, in this role in my opinion, he is not a very good ambassador for the City of San Francisco. A few of the people who got off the bus as I did expressed the same to me. They were from an English speaking country and couldn't understand what was coming out of the loudspeakers. That's not good. I hope they picked up a later bus and had a better experience.

Doing what: San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour