Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do | Viator.comAlcatraz and San Francisco City Tour
based on 155 reviews
Duration: 6 hours (approx.)
Location: San Francisco, California
Product code: 2660SFODLX3
155 reviews of Alcatraz and San Francisco City Tour
Read what other Viator.com travelers think about the Alcatraz and San Francisco City Tour. What they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved, it's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
The whole trip was a blast. Not only was it not rushed, but the tour guide by the bus driver was well worth it. Alcatraz Island was as you see it in the movies, with the audio tour giving it a realistic sense of being back there. The only downside to the day's trip was no idea of what time to be at the tour offices. Otherwise a great day out.
Reviewed by: Colin H, United Kingdom, August 2006 Note from Viator: The tour departure times are listed on your Viator Voucher. There's also a local number to call in case you have any questions once you arrive in San Francisco.
It was easy to use your website. Easy to book and easy to print off vouchers. And we really liked the Alcatraz tour.
Reviewed by: Andrew F, United Kingdom, August 2006
I recommend this to any first time San Francisco visitor. The tour guides really know their stuff! I'm very glad I went on this tour.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States,
We were very disappointed with our trip. The day of the trip was the day of the Gay Parade. As a result many streets were blocked off. The driver drove around and told us repeatedly that we were unable to do the regular trip. He stopped at places just to waste time. We hardly saw anything at all. He then took us to the port to get the ferry to Alcatraz. We arrived over an hour early. We were told we would be picked up at 5.30pm. This only gave us 1.5 hours on Alcatraz which was nowhere near enough. We decided that since we would never have the opportunity to visit Alcatraz again we would have to miss the bus ride home. Our trip was a waste of time and totally spoiled our day. We should have been told that our trip would be seriously curtailed because of the parade. We would willingly have rescheduled the trip.
Reviewed by: Tricia K, United Kingdom, July 2008
Tour guide not very clear and at times hard to understand.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United Kingdom, July 2008
The Alcatraz part of this tour was great and well worth doing. Unfortunately, we booked it with the combined city tour, and this part of the tour was a total waste of time, energy and money. We went back to points of interest that were just skimmed over by our horrid tour guide. His continuous attempt to use the English language with humour was extremely frustrating, and I suspect by the faces around us that others felt the same. He was an Austrian who obviously doesn't like Germans, and he was nothing short of arrogant, rude and insensitive. I am surprised that such a person hasn't received more complaints and been removed from this role. The gay festival weekend was opening the next day, and the tour guide went on and on and on about the San Fran council and gay people, to the point where his personal opinions seemed homophobic. One comment was "it's crap." His comments were all blurted out with this guttural accent. I am the mother of a professional gay man, and through my own line of work know many beautiful gay people, so I didn't appreciate the guide's views. Throughout the trip, one of his lines used often after commentary was "Who the hell cares anyway?" My girlfriend, whose 60th birthday we were celebrating with our husbands, was shocked when the guide volunteered inappropriate comments about suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Reviewed by: Ronni L, Australia, July 2008
Pick up at the hotel, perfect. San Francisco city tour, interesting but I fell asleep with the voice of the guide. Alcatraz tour, great. Bus to the hotel, horrible! Nobody told us when the bus would be back to Alcatraz so we walked to the company and they told us we missed the last bus with 10 minutes. We had to find another way to go to the hotel alone and in an unknown city.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, June 2008
I did this tour last year as I was in San Francisco for a conference. This year we decided to make it into a holiday and I had raved onto my husband about how good this trip was and how we would see the city. Instead, we were shown the city but not the main touristy bits, to be honest thats what we wanted to see, Lombard Street from the bottom up. I understand that tourist cars aren't allowed to do go down the road. To see Coit Tower, the different regions such as North Beach etc rather than the beach on a cold and drab day.
Alcatraz was good, but again the tour had been changed from last year and for some reason they don't highlight where Al Capone's cell was or even Birdmans. It is an ok tour and definitely interesting but I have to admit I was disappointed.
There was not really much to do at Alcatraz.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, September 2007
The driver/guide gave some misinformation, and his grammar was so bad that it was a distraction. Alcatraz was great, but I would book it separately if I did it again. This tour got us there later in the day, so we felt rushed.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, August 2007
The tour is very short, and we had just a few stops to take pictures and enjoy the place. I could not take pictures of Chinatown, because we saw it just by glance and I was on the opposite side of the bus. The most important thing is that when there is fog, the tour operator should make the Golden Gate Bridge the last stop. It was a foggy day, and we could see absolutely nothing of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was frustrating to me. We couldn't see one meter in front of us, and the bus driver didn't even stop because there was no reason to. I came from Brazil to see the Golden Gate bridge and I couldn't see it! The tour operator should really instruct the guides to go to the bridge at the end if the day is foggy.
Reviewed by: Gildete L, Brazil, July 2007
There were too many people on this tour to make it enjoyable.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, Canada, July 2007
This tour hits the main points and is a good starting point for touring San Francisco. However, don't expect to be able to get of the bus at all the tourist spots you go to. Alcatraz is definitely worthwhile and deserves 5 stars!
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United Kingdom, July 2007
Our guide was rather mundane in speech and we actually felt like falling asleep on the tour. He needed to be more animated and keep everyone's interest. Also, I was disappointed that we didn't travel on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, July 2007
The trip to Alcatraz was VERY interesting. Our tour guide left much to be desired however. His information about the city was off beat, original and not very interesting.
Reviewed by: Matthew C, United States, March 2007
