The bay, the bridge, the Rock.
Alcatraz ferries and Golden Gate rides, wine-country days and redwood mornings, the whole bay lit gold at dusk. What each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven that never miss.
First visit or fifth, these carry a San Francisco trip. The ferry out to the Rock, a slow morning under the Muir Woods redwoods, the wine-country day everyone comes home talking about.
Big Bus SF: Hop-on Hop-off Tour with 17 Stops and Sunset Option
Big Bus SF Red Route hop-on hop-off with 17 stops, earbuds audio, open-air deck, and optional sunset or Chinatown upgrades.
From $56 per person
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★ 5.0Crowd favoriteSmall Group Yosemite and Giant Sequoias Day Trip from San FranciscoFrom $2393,671 reviews
★ 4.5Sells out fastHop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour with 17 StopsFrom $563,600 reviews
★ 4.5Worth the fareYosemite Highlights & Giant Sequoias Day Tour from San FranciscoFrom $2193,455 reviews
★ 4.5Easy winSan Francisco Super Saver: Muir Woods & Wine Country w/ optional Gourmet LunchFrom $1793,352 reviews
★ 4.6Local favoriteAlcatraz Island & 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off TourFrom $1202,245 reviews
★ 4.0First-timer pickCombo Tour: Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Grand City TourFrom $1492,228 reviews
Book the Rock before it sells out.
Alcatraz is the ticket that goes first in San Francisco, often weeks ahead. The cell-house audio tour, narrated in part by the men who worked and were held there, runs a little over two hours once you count the ferry each way. Go on an early crossing, and give the island the time it asks for.
Wine, woods, or the Sierra?
Almost everyone leaves the city for a day, and the right one comes down to how far you want to drive. Three ways out of San Francisco, each one already sorted by price, length, and what the day actually asks of you.
Vines and tastings
Wine Country
8 to 9 hours (approx.) · from $165 · 4,455 reviews
North across the Golden Gate to Napa and Sonoma, three or four wineries with tastings poured, lunch among the vines, and someone else driving the whole way home. The classic San Francisco day out, and the one that books up first on a summer weekend.
See the wine-country days →
Redwoods and a ferry
Muir Woods & Sausalito
5 to 8 hours (approx.) · from $91 · 5,098 reviews
A half day, and the biggest trees you will ever stand under. Walk the boardwalk through Muir Woods, then drop down to Sausalito for lunch on the waterfront and a ferry back past the bridge and Alcatraz. Easy pace, huge payoff.
See the redwood trips →
The long day out
Yosemite & the Sierra
14 hours (approx.) · from $239 · 3,671 reviews
The big one: granite walls, waterfalls, and giant sequoias, four hours each way with an early start and a late return. A long day by any measure, but people plan whole trips around getting into the valley. Book the small-group tours first.
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The bay saves its best for dusk.
The skyline switches on as the ferries head out. A sunset sail under the Golden Gate, the downtown lights doubling on the water, a night crossing to a floodlit Alcatraz. This is the hour San Francisco stops looking foggy and starts looking like itself.
The best meals here are walking tours.
San Francisco eats by neighborhood. Dim sum and tea in Chinatown, cannoli and espresso in North Beach, tacos and pupusas across the Mission. Go with a guide who knows which door to knock on and which line is worth it.
Ride across the Golden Gate.
Coast the bridge deck to Sausalito and ferry back, let a GoCar talk you up the hills on its own tour, or pile into a painted VW bus for the long way around. The wind off the bay comes free with every one.
The city the cable cars built.
The last hand-operated cable cars anywhere still haul up the hills, past the painted Victorians of Alamo Square and down toward Chinatown, the oldest in North America. On foot or by open-air trolley, a good guide turns a photo stop into the story behind it.
Start with a single hill.
The city works in pockets. The bridge and the bay up in the Marina, espresso and City Lights in North Beach, dim sum and dragon gates in Chinatown, the cable cars climbing between them all. Each one is its own afternoon.
What are you in the mood for?
Twelve ways into the same city. Tell the tile what kind of day you want, and it opens onto every option, each one priced and rated.
Out of the city by morning.
The Golden Gate is the front door to half of Northern California. Wine country and the redwoods sit an hour north, Monterey and Big Sur a couple hours south, Yosemite a long day east. The seat home is part of the ticket.
Seventy-two hours, sorted.
You can’t see all of San Francisco in one trip, but you can do the right three days. Land and get your bearings, then the bridge and the bay, then a day out of town.
Day 1
The waterfront and the Rock
Take an early ferry out to Alcatraz, then walk Fisherman’s Wharf for chowder and sea lions and ride a cable car back over the hills. The day that needs booking earliest.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The bridge and the bay
Cross the Golden Gate on foot or by bike, lunch on the Sausalito waterfront, and ferry home past the island. Save this one for a clear morning before the fog rolls back in.
Plan day two →
Day 3
A day out of town
Hand off the driving and head north: tastings in Napa and Sonoma, or the Muir Woods redwoods if wine isn’t your thing. Back in the city in time for dinner.
Plan day three →
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