Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco is definitely the most famous prison in the United States, if not in the world. Many of the most notorious American criminals, including Al Capone, have served their sentences here and have found death either because of the harsh living conditions or because of the many unsuccessful escape attempts.
The prison is on the island of the same name (also known as “The Rock” because of its shape), in the San Francisco Bay, and its location has made it one of the most difficult prisons to escape from. Let’s take a look at the information to find out how to visit Alcatraz on a tour, get tickets, and take advantage of the various tours available and possible discounts. But first, a little history lesson…
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Alcatraz: A Short History
Due to its strategic location in the center of San Francisco Bay, the island was initially used as a lighthouse station, and later it was converted to a prison building (first it was a military prison, and starting in 1934, Alcatraz served as a maximum security prison). From the very beginning, however, there were signs already that would foretell the prison’s decline, since the island was very inhospitable and food, clothing, and also drinking water had to be transported daily from San Francisco.
Over time, the costs rose so much that some American politicians argued that it would be much cheaper to have prisoners stay at a luxury hotel than in Alcatraz. The conditions on the island were just as harsh as the conditions under which the inmates had to serve their sentences. For this reason, the Alcatraz prison sentence was reserved only for hardened or particularly recidivist criminals, and consequently made this saying famous:
Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz
The most fascinating features of the island, namely its proximity to San Francisco and its beautiful panorama, made the living conditions more difficult for the prisoners. If you visit the prison, try for a moment to identify yourself with the prisoners and what they might have felt when looking at the city and hearing the noises carried by the wind, knowing that, although it was so close, it was at the same time unreachable due to the cold and strong currents of the bay.
All this was extremely traumatizing and on New Year’s Eve, when the sounds of the city’s parties penetrated the prison walls, at the stroke of midnight, all the inmates used to make as much noise as possible so as not to be forced to hear what was going on on the mainland.
The prison was officially closed in 1963 because of the high costs of running it, but the story of Alcatraz did not end there because a few years later, in 1969, a group of Native Americans occupied the abandoned prison on the island for a short time to protest against the policies adopted by the federal government towards them and with the intention of founding a cultural center there.
After the initial enthusiasm, however, the difficult living conditions on the island became hard to deal with and a year later the last Native Americans were evacuated. Even today you can still see murals from the time of the occupation (for example, You are on Indian land).
The Escape Attempts
During the nearly 30 years of its operation, there were 14 escape attempts involving 36 prisoners (two of whom made two attempts). Out of these, 22 were captured, 6 were killed (either in a shootout with prison guards or by drowning), while 5 remain missing.
Among all these attempts, at least two deserve to be mentioned in particular. The first one took place between May 2nd and 4th, 1946, which is also remembered as the “Battle of Alcatraz” days. It was one of the bloodiest and most violent episodes in the history of the prison, where two guards (who had previously been taken hostage) and three prisoners lost their lives. These events partially inspired the 1947 film “Brute Force” starring Burt Lancaster.
The other famous escape attempt occurred on June 11th, 1962, and its events (although fictionalized) were brought to the forefront by the film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood. The main protagonists were inmates Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, who managed to dig a hole in the wall of their cell and escape using a makeshift raft.
The planning of the escape went on for a long time, as did the work to carry it out. Just to dig the hole in the wall, they had to spend more than six months using a spoon and an improvised drill made from the electric motor of a vacuum cleaner. Since they couldn’t work on their project throughout the day, they chose to dig during the music hour.
This way, the noises caused by the digging operations were masked by the sound of the instruments used by other prisoners. During the rest of the day, the hole was covered with cardboard painted the same color as the wall.
Once the work was completed, they prepared papier-mâché heads, using hair from the prison barber, which were placed on their beds to prevent the guards from discovering their absence during the night. They managed to reach the island’s beach using an unmonitored service corridor, and from that moment on, no one heard from them again.
Alcatraz Prison Tours
As you may have guessed, Alcatraz occupies a prominent position among the places of interest in San Francisco. There are basically 2 ways to visit Alcatraz. The first option is suitable for those who do not plan to do much else in and around San Francisco besides visiting Alcatraz, but in most cases, if you want to enjoy the main attractions of San Francisco in addition to the prison, we recommend you check a convenient second option (combined tours and tourist passes).
Please note: admission to Alcatraz is included in the national parks annual pass, however, as you can read in a note on the official website, the pass does not cover the cost of the ferry crossing from San Francisco, so in the end, you do not save much money. For this reason, even if you have the pass, you must book the visit in advance.
Option 1: Alcatraz Tour Only
If in addition to a cruise around the island you want to visit the penitentiary made famous by many movies including “The Rock”, you can do it exclusively through Alcatraz Cruises. The ferries departing from Pier 33 (not to be confused with the better-known Pier 39). Given the high demand, I advise you to book at least one month before your arrival in San Francisco.
I witnessed firsthand how valuable this advice is because when I showed up with my reservation at the boarding dock, I saw a sign at the ticket office announcing that there would be no seats available for the next 20 days. So if you are in San Francisco for only a few days and you are sure you want to visit Alcatraz, I advise you to book in advance, especially during the high season.
Thanks to the collaboration with the National Park Service, Alcatraz Cruises also offers, in addition to the transportation to the island, the possibility to use an audio guide that will be very useful during your visit inside the penitentiary.
Although I am not a big fan of audio guides in general, my advice, in this case, is to take advantage of it because this audio guide is not at all boring and the narration of the history of the penitentiary is interspersed with testimonies of former inmates who describe what daily life was like in Alcatraz. It will help you to fully understand the place you are visiting and allows you to get an idea of a typical day inside the prison while telling you the story of the many tragic and creative attempts to escape.
Alcatraz Cruises offers tours at many different times throughout the day, but if you want a more unique experience, I recommend the night tour, which will give you the opportunity to visit the island at sunset. In case you are interested in a tour in the nearby Angel Island, you can combine it with the visit to Alcatraz, but pay attention to the time of year in which you go, because this is, in fact, the only seasonal tour.
As far as ticket prices are concerned, you would spend $39 per person for the standard tour, $47 for the night tour, and $78 for visiting both Alcatraz and Angel Island. On the official website of Alcatraz Cruises, you will find all the information about the different tours and how to book them.
Instead, if you want to buy the ticket from a site such as Tiqets you can do so at the link below, taking into account that service fees are provided. The positive aspect of this option is that it allows you to buy your tickets much earlier than the official website (about 3 months), which may be of interest to those who are used to booking well in advance and just don’t want to risk missing out on this tour.
Option 2: Visit Alcatraz on combined tours or as part of a cumulative package
In addition to the first method described, there are other possibilities to visit Alcatraz that are often convenient for the majority of visitors, who, in addition to the famous island, want to visit other attractions, do other paid activities, and use public transportation (or even the bicycle) for trips around the city. Thanks to the tour of Alcatraz by Alcatraz Cruises, you can in fact combine it with other attractions and save money. Take a look at these interesting options:
- San Francisco and Alcatraz: City and penitentiary tours
- San Francisco: Alcatraz and two-day bus tour
- All packages combined with Alcatraz on GetYourGuide
- All packages combined with Alcatraz on Viator
As always, we recommend that you book in advance!
Where to Stay near Alcatraz
As we’ve already explained in another article, the best area to stay near the boarding point for tours of Alcatraz Island is the lively Fisherman’s Wharf. However, since getting around San Francisco is not at all complicated, you can easily choose one of the areas indicated in our article about where to stay in San Francisco instead.
Alcatraz Photo Gallery
