Question about Alcatraz tours

[kh81828587]

I will be on an Alaskan cruise with a friend in Aug. I will be getting into San Francisco 4 days before the cruise with my husband and son.  My son really wants to see Alcatraz. I'm planning on doing a day tour with him, but he also wants to do the night tour. Are they the same or is it worth it to do both? This is on his life bucket list, to get there, so I want to give him the full experience. If we do both tours, is it better to do them both on the same day or should we do the night tour one day and then the next day do the day tour?  He's not even going on the cruise with me, but is flying out with me just to see this, so I want him to get the most out of it. Any suggestions? I haven't gotten our tickets yet, but I know I need to do that soon to guarantee we have them, but was wondering about the difference or should we do both?

[princeton123211]

9 minutes ago, kh81828587 said:

'm planning on doing a day tour with him, but he also wants to do the night tour. Are they the same or is it worth it to do both?

The night tour is sort of an enhanced version of the normal day tour. Doing the day tour would be redundant unless you wanted to see the views of San Francisco in the daylight. The "Alcatraz Behind the Scene Tour" we've done and it's very comprehensive (longer, limited to smaller group, etc.) If you needed to choose one, this would be the one to do. 

[kh81828587]

I'm finding several places to get tickets. Do you know which one is the official site? I don't want to risk a scam.

[kh81828587]

I just found another post with the official site. We can't get tickets until at least 90 days out, so I'll have to wait since we don't go until Aug.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Doing both would be redundant with everything else to do in SF.  Just do the night tour.  You didn't say how old your son is.  He might enjoy the Exploratorium just down the pier, Golden Gate Park, or Museum of Ice Cream.  You can also go out to Lawrence Hall of Science at University of CA Berkeley.  It's a short UBER ride and probably has the best view of the SF Bay anywhere.  Get a picnic lunch before you go and let him enjoy the hands on stuff.       

Edited February 22, 2020 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[kh81828587]

33 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Doing both would be redundant with everything else to do in SF.  Just do the night tour.  You didn't say how old your son is.  He might enjoy the Exploratorium just down the pier, Golden Gate Park, or Museum of Ice Cream.  You can also go out to Lawrence Hall of Science at University of CA Berkeley.  It's a short UBER ride and probably has the best view of the SF Bay anywhere.  Get a picnic lunch before you go and let him enjoy the hands on stuff.       

My son is 32, and the main reason he's flying out with me is for Alcatraz. We are also going to see other things, but that's the top of his list. I sent him the link for the Behind the scenes tour and he's very interested in that.