Alcatraz Island and Guided San Francisco City Tour

Combine the official Alcatraz tour and a fully guided city tour for a day of San Francisco highlights

This full-day tour breaks you into Alcatraz Island prison and features guided entertainment and stops to explore Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Land’s End, Twin Peaks and Mission Dolores.

Duration: 7-8 hours
Cancellation: Tours with Alcatraz tickets are not refundable
Ages: All ages
Ticket: email and mobile accepted

Highlights

  • See San Francisco’s top attractions like the Haight-Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Castro
  • Make stops to photograph and experience the Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Bridge, Land’s End, Twin Peaks and the Mission
  • Ferry to Alcatraz Island for the famous prison tour
  • Hear guided tour narration in your own language
  • Begin with a pickup from two major San Francisco hotels

What’s Included

  • Pick up at two San Francisco locations
  • Local expert guide commentary in English
  • Foreign language audios for the city tour available (specify at checkout)
  • Alcatraz Island admission

What’s Not Included

  • Meals or beverages
  • Guide gratuity

Description

Ride in comfort before you float the bay as you tour the city’s top attractions, on this San Francisco City tour plus Alcatraz. Our city insider guide goes way beyond a “hop-on, hop-off” experience to deliver a fully-narrated San Francisco sightseeing adventure. Your comprehensive 4-hour morning City Tour ends in style with a ferry ride to and tour of the (in)famous Alcatraz Island in the afternoon.

Morning: Bus City Tour

Stop #1 – Palace of Fine Arts

After a morning pickup at one of two convenient San Francisco locations, your city tour will begin on San Francisco’s waterfront in the popular Fisherman’s Wharf before rolling through the Marina District on your way to your first stop. At the lovely and hinstagrammable  Palace of Fine Arts, you will have the chance to stop and photograph the historic building, grounds, and stunningly beautiful lagoon.

Stop #2 – Golden Gate Bridge

Continue to the most iconic stop at the Golden Gate Bridge. Spend 10-15 minutes at a perfect vista point taking photos and creating memories.

Stop #3 – Land’s End Overlook

The next stop on your San Francisco City Highlights tour will be the historic Land’s End where you can stretch your legs while overlooking Sutro Baths and the Pacific Ocean coastline. Later, you will be blown away by the beauty of Golden Gate Park as you ride past Dutch windmills, Queen Wilhelmina’s tulip garden, the bison paddock, and old redwood and eucalyptus groves. Next, we’ll take you through the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where you can see some of San Francisco’s famous Victorian homes, known for their iconic architecture.

Stop #4 – Twin Peaks

Fog-permitting, the next stop on this tour gives you a birds-eye-view of the whole Bay Area from atop Twin Peaks. Here, you’ll get an amazing panoramic view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais, Mount Diablo, the whole Bay and more from the viewpoint sitting 1,000 feet above sea level. To say it’s breathtaking would be an understatement!

Stop #5 – Mission District

The last stop will immerse you in the history of San Francisco’s early settlements, from Native Americans to Spanish missionaries. Learn more about Misión San Francisco de Asís, locally known as Mission Dolores, one of California’s oldest and most historically important missions, and the site of the fledgling settlement of Yerba Buena, that would one day grow up to become San Francisco.

Afternoon: Sail to Alcatraz Island for the Famous Prison Tour

Grab some lunch in Fisherman’s Wharf, then make your way to Pier 33 to board your ferry for the Alcatraz Island Prison Tour. The 15-minute sail has incredible views of the city skyline, Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay and Angel Island  — have your camera ready!

On arrival to Alcatraz Island, pick up the Cellhouse Audio Tour included with the purchase of this San Francisco and Alcatraz tour package. Hear the voices of prisoners and guards describing their experiences at Alcatraz in English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Dutch or Mandarin.

After touring on Alcatraz Island to your heart’s content, take one of the returning ferries back to Pier 33. If you’ve worked up an appetite or thirst, there are plenty of Fisherman’s Wharf options before making your own way back to your hotel.

Things to Know About this Tour:

You must bring a government-issued photo ID to board the Alcatraz Ferry

Children under the age of 8 must have an appropriate child seat for the city tour

Itinerary

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  • 08:30 AM to 10:00 AM - Pick up, Palace of Fine Arts

  • 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Golden Gate Bridge and Land’s End

  • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Golden Gate Park and Twin Peaks

  • 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM - Mission District, Fisherman's Wharf

  • 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM Enjoy the Infamous Alcatraz Prison Tour

Times listed are approximations. Traffic and unforeseen events can cause delays

What Our Guests Are Saying About Us

Authentic guide!

Our guide was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, approachable, and thorough. She also adapted well to detours and other unplanned obstacles.

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Nathan M, TrustPilot

Authentic guide!

All in all, we felt the price justified the experience and recommend Extranomical to future visitors to San Francisco. Our guide was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, approachable, and thorough. She also adapted well to detours and other unplanned obstacles. She even handled well an interruption by a participant who took a mobile phone call. Moreover, she was authentic and really cared that her guests would have a quality experience.

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Nathan M, TrustPilot

Everything we expected!

Our guide Don was excellent. Loved his laid back California vibe. We had a pretty thorough tour of the city, with great commentary. The coach was comfortable & sheltered us from the chill.

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Leenora B Broussard, GetYourGuide

Everything we expected!

Our guide Don was excellent. Loved his laid back California vibe. We had a pretty thorough tour of the city, with great commentary. The coach was comfortable & sheltered us from the chill. By the afternoon, Alcatraz was everything we expected & the boat ride was gorgeous.

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Leenora B Broussard, GetYourGuide

Amazing tour!

SF tour and stops at key areas . Alcatraz good and able to stay as long as you want so no pressure!

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Jane Corser, GetYourGuide

Awesome tour!

Joseph was our tour guide and Archie was our driver and they made a great team with their combined knowledge from growing up in the area.

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Lindsey Feld, GetYourGuide

Awesome tour!

We did this tour on the first full day we were in San Francisco and we felt it was a great introduction to the city! Joseph was our tour guide and Archie was our driver and they made a great team with their combined knowledge from growing up in the area. Alcatraz was awesome and we were lucky enough to experience it during fleet week with the Blue Angels flying above us. Highly recommended activity!

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Lindsey Feld, GetYourGuide

Excellent experience

Both the city bus tour and Alcatraz Island experiences were excellent, with a very experienced and well understood morning tour guide.

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Ralph L Lewis, GetYourGuide

Excellent experience

Both the city bus tour and Alcatraz Island experiences were excellent, with a very experienced and well understood morning tour guide. Unfortunately, coordination between Extranomical and the Guided City Tour people was not as seamless as it should have been. When we arrived in the morning, the on site coordinator didn't have us listed for the afternoon tour and I had to make a last minute phone call to Extranomical to be apprised of the afternoon check-in details.

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Ralph L Lewis, GetYourGuide

Very Exceptional!

Tour guide Kimmy collected us on time from our Hotel and proceeded to give us a wonderful insight and tour of San Francisco in her mini bus - 12 people in total and very covid safe

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Suzanne Fitzgerald, TrustPilot

Very Exceptional!

Tour guide Kimmy collected us on time from our Hotel and proceeded to give us a wonderful insight and tour of San Francisco in her mini bus - 12 people in total and very covid safe (masks mandatory) - we covered so much area and learnt so much about each area... history, movie sets and famous people, restaurants to visit, etc - I now feel very wise about SF! We had two stops along the way and even did a trip along the Golden Gate Bridge. Amazing photo's from this vantage point (a whale even made an appearance in the bay on queue). Kimmy's knowledge (being a local) is exceptional! We were then dropped off at the Pier to head off on the Alcatraz tour with plenty of time to buy lunch. Was a really interesting and informative day. (For lunch, if you are not into the hamburgers and fried fish available along the wharf area - cross the road from the pier to a really lovely cafe - beautiful indoors/outdoors, food and bathrooms). The visit to Alcatraz is a must - very sobering indeed and definitely a 'must do' when in San Francisco. It is a really good idea to research the 'Escape from Alcatraz' story before you go as this will really give you a better understanding of the prison and day-to-day life. When you arrive on Alcatraz - go to the top where the prison is actually located and where you are able to pick up (free) an audio machine to take you on a personal tour. Excellent tour - highly recommend to all visitors to SF - run by a very professional company.

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Suzanne Fitzgerald, TrustPilot

Very enjoyable

Went on the full day tour of San Francisco and Alcatraz. It was very enjoyable. Bus driver Jack was super friendly and Michelle our tour guide was very knowledgeable about San Francisco.

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Ingrid Bennett, TrustPilot

Very enjoyable

Went on the full day tour of San Francisco and Alcatraz. It was very enjoyable. Bus driver Jack was super friendly and Michelle our tour guide was very knowledgeable about San Francisco. Took us to a lot of sights and different areas of the city.

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Ingrid Bennett, TrustPilot

A must tour!

The Alcatraz/City tour was good. Our guide showed us all the major sites & explained them well. Alcatraz is a must & the tour made it as easy as possible.

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Kerry Dubbert , TrustPilot

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FAQs

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  • What will we see during the city tour?

  • Is the Alcatraz portion of the tour guided?

  • What should I wear?

  • Do I need to bring my ID?

  • What should I bring?

  • How much time will I have on Alcatraz island?

  • Is Alcatraz accessible for those with disabilities?

  • Why not purchase Alcatraz and a city tour separately?

  • Are meals included? Can I buy or bring my own?

  • Do I need to be at Pier 33 - Alcatraz Landing before my departure?

  • Why is this tour non-refundable?

  • How do I collect my Alcatraz tickets?

  • Are there dining options on Alcatraz Island?