San Francisco Tours

[Jaberwocky]

We will be in San Francisco on September 22, cruising with Princess. We are scheduled to be at the pier at 7am. The ship doesn't have the tour we are looking for, but we have found one through Viator Tours. Does anyone know anything about this group? Do you think we would likely be able to meet the tour at 8:30 am? (It is a 10 minute walk from the pier). We want to tour Alcatraz and go to Muir Woods, without renting a car. The tour is an 8 hour tour so should be back to the pier by 5pm. Ship leaves at 11 that evening, so shouldn't be a problem at that end of the tour. Thanks for any info or suggestions you might have.

[Melcoug]

We're going the week after you and I was researching this myself. I found this company who appears to be offering a similar tour at a better rate.

 

http://www.allsanfranciscotours.com/body.asp?tour=SFO-B0052&page=TourDetails

[Putterdude]

Viator are just agents who book tours in many parts of the world....you may be better off to see if you can find the actual operator of the tour.

[Editrix]

We want to tour Alcatraz and go to Muir Woods, without renting a car.

 

Tours of Alcatraz leave from Pier 35, a few steps from the cruise terminal. You don't need a private tour guide for that. Buy tickets in advance, online, and then you can easily walk from your ship to the ferry. The ticket price includes the ferry ride and an audio guide, all you need to be able to DIY. Just remember to dress appropriately. On a windy day, if the fog rolls in, you will find yourself chilled to the bone. Tourists are rarely prepared for that.

 

http://www.nps.gov/alca/index.htm

 

http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/

[Jaberwocky]

Thanks for the tips. We will likely go through a real company instead of through Viator. The reason we want to take a tour is that we want to combine Alcatraz, Muir Woods and Sausalito. Would still appreciate any other tips anyone might have about what companies to check out.

[jamscckmc]

Looking for tours that go to Muir woods and then Napa or Sonoma. They seem to leave very early. Anyone know of tours leaving from close to where the ship docks?

[cibaygirls]

I recently used Edge of the World tours to do a sonoma valley tour when I was in port for my birthday in May. He was fantastic. It is a father/son operation; I had the father as our tour guide (his name is escaping me right now:(). He took us to some out of the way places to get a great view of the golden gate. i believe on his website he does offer other tours. He picked us up right in front of the pier and dropped us off right there. He is very willing to work with you. He typically only did the tour I wanted on Wednesdays, but we were in port on Tuesday so he cancelled the wednesday and rescheduled it, for only 2 of us. He ultimately had others join us, and I grabbed 2 people from our roll call, but he was very accomodating. He also has very high ratings on trip advisor. Enjoy your trip whatever you decide to do.

 

Dana

Edited July 18, 2014 by cibaygirls