Your senses will be overwhelmed as you walk on the streets of San Francisco, a wonderful city that has its own charm and is different from other major American cities. It’s not easy to organize a visit of San Francisco on your own. There are many attractions in this city, and planning a visit usually entails studying the culture and trying to find the most beautiful areas of the city (by the way, have you already read our guide on the things to do in San Francisco?).
Also, in terms of activities, this city offers just as much as any other American big city. If planning seems to be too frustrating, a good solution is to rely on packages and guided tours of San Francisco, which will help you explore the best parts of the city without wasting too much time doing research. In this article, we want to provide you with a selection of tours in San Francisco, so that you can choose the one that suits you best.
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San Francisco Guided Tours
If you have decided to go on guided tours, you will realize that San Francisco offers a great variety of them. In order not to make you feel disoriented, given the huge number of tours, we have selected the most interesting and popular ones. Prices on this page are subject to change depending on the tour operators, so you should always check the actual price by clicking on the links we have provided for each tour.
Alcatraz Tours
Alcatraz is probably one of the best-known attractions in the entire city. The impenetrable island that had been the safest prison in the world for many years has inspired many successful films. Unfortunately, prisoners were often detained here in inhumane conditions. The one-hour guided tour tells the story of the abandoned prison with anecdotes and reconstructions of life inside The Rock.
To do this tour, follow the instruction to buy tickets in our dedicated in-depth article:
Plan a visit to Alcatraz Prison
San Francisco City Tours Including Alcatraz
Many tour operators provide visitors with tours to Alcatraz in conjunction with visits to other beautiful sites around San Francisco. For example, they may take you on a tour of the city, a trip on the bay, or on excursions in the surrounding areas. In this way, in addition to visiting the famous prison with an experienced guide, you can also enjoy other “must-see” locations that you will probably want to visit in San Francisco, but you will save money as opposed to paying the price of individual attractions (you can find more about this in our article on Alcatraz San Francisco).
Click on the links below to check out the many possibilities to choose from:
- San Francisco and Alcatraz: City and Alcatraz combined tours
- San Francisco: Alcatraz and 48 hours bus tour
- All packages combined with Alcatraz on GetYourGuide
- All packages combined with Alcatraz on Viator
San Francisco Bus Tours
Those who like to enjoy riding in a comfortable bus while visiting the city have found the right tour. It is a one-day or two-day hop-on hop-off bus tour. What does hop-on hop-off mean? Your ticket will be valid for the entire route and for the whole period you select (24 hours or 48 hours). You can get on and off the bus whenever you want at the available stops.
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24-hour Ticket
- Starting at $55 (per person)
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48-hour Ticket
- Also includes a panoramic night sightseeing tour
- Starting at $78 (per person)
Helicopter Tour San Francisco
That’s right, there is another way to see San Francisco that is usually reserved for seagulls and other birds… Helicopter tours in San Francisco are the best because the view of the bay from above is very impressive and new. Here are two possible solutions with different durations:
- Helicopter Flight 1:
- Duration 15-20 minutes (starting at about $226 per person)
- Helicopter Flight 2:
- Duration 25-30 minutes (starting at about $290 per person)
More information about Flight 1
More information about Flight 2
Golden Gate Bike Tour San Francisco
Crossing the legendary Golden Gate Bridge by bicycle is an absolute must, and not only because it allows you to reach Sausalito. The view that you can enjoy over the bay while cycling is incredible. There is a guided bike tour departing from Fisherman’s Wharf, but the cheaper option is to rent a bike and organize your own itinerary in San Francisco.
- Guided Bike Tours
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Starting at $64
- Bike Rental
- Duration: 24 hours
- Starting at $43 (24 h)
More information about the bike tour
More information on bike rental
Bay Cruise and Golden Gate + Alcatraz
If you don’t want to give up sailing on the San Francisco Bay, you can choose an elegant catamaran or boat cruise to get as close as possible to the Golden Gate Bridge, wave to the sea lions, and admire San Francisco from their point of view. For a higher price, in addition to a cruise, you can enjoy a visit to Alcatraz. We recommend that you check the availability of tours of the prison on the tour website.
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San Francisco: Sunset Catamaran Cruise of the Bay and Golden Gate
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Starting at $90 (per person)
More information about the tour
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San Francisco: Golden Gate Bay Cruise and Visit to Alcatraz (optional)
- Duration: 6 hours
- Starting at $50 (per person)
More information about the tour
More information about the tour (with visit to Alcatraz)
Beetle Convertible Tour
Visiting San Francisco in a 1960s Beetle convertible is not a bad idea! Imagine the astonished and jealous looks of those who will see you drive past the impassable Lombard Street, over the Golden Gate Bridge, to Sausalito, or Muir Woods, under the giant redwoods. This nice tour will allow you to visit the city using the GPS installed in the car and you can film your trip with an HD camera. The duration of the tour is 3 hours.
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3-hour Tour
- Starting at $57 (Groups up to 4)
More information about the Beetle Convertible Tour
3-hour Segway Tour of San Francisco on the waterfront
Not everyone may think it’s comfortable to ride it, but the Segway is the latest trend in tourism! You can ride your Segway along the San Francisco waterfront accompanied by a guide, who will also offer you a training session before departing on the tour. The tour lasts 3 hours and during that time, you will reach some of the most unforgettable destinations in the city.
- Duration: About 3 hours
- Starting at $79 (per person)
More information about the Segway tour
Tour of 49-Mile Drive by GoCar Tours
Among the many tours to visit San Francisco, we can’t leave out GoCar Tours, the first talking car with an integrated GPS that will guide you through the streets of San Francisco and tell you the history and culture of the city just like a real-life guide. The tour lasts 5 hours and will also take you along the famous 49-Mile Drive. Before departing, there will be a training session to learn how to “tame” this dynamic car!
More information about the GoCar Tour
More Tours and Excursions in San Francisco
If you want to look at an even wider selection, here are some useful links to find the tour that is best for you.
All bus hop-on hop-off tours
Here are all the sightseeing bus tours available. There are some that also include additional discounts!
All bay cruises and boat tours
If you want to enjoy the thrill of a cruise on San Francisco Bay, take a look at these options:
Golden Gate Bridge Tour
If you are fascinated by the bridge that connects San Francisco to Sausalito, consider one of these tours:
All GoCar tours
If you liked the idea of driving a talking car, check out the GoCar tours:
Useful Websites to Find Tours of San Francisco
Finally, we want to mention two websites where you will find all kinds of tours of San Francisco:
