San Francisco - City Tour?

[WDWfan uk]

Is there a city tour that anyone can recommend with narration? Perhaps a hop-on, hop-off tour?


Thank you

 

[kkendle]

I have been looking for something like that as well...I have never done either of these...but I found both of these links and they both look great...

https://www.wharfpass.com/?gclid=COPS9-aN_7ECFeeMTAod0mcAvw

This one you can click 3 different options at the bottom to see what is included. It is a Wharf pass good for 2 days.

http://www.smartdestinations.com/sa...ISCO-SEOlist&gclid=CJSaj6CE_7ECFcldTAodJywADg

This one is a Go San Fran card that you can buy for how many days you want.

I am trying to decide if we want to do one of those oprions...and am leaning towards the Wharf pas...but who knows.

Good luck and hope this helps..

Kelly

 

[WDWfan uk]

Thank you Kelly - I also found this link: http://www.sanfrancisco.com/attractions/bus-tours.html

When are you visiting?

 

[kkendle]

Thanks Shirley....that is a great site. I didn't really look for just bus tours but several of them sound great!

We will be in CA from Sept. 27 (evening)-Oct. 9th (leaving very early morning). Sounds like a long time but we are having a hard time fitting in everything we want to do. We are flying into LA, and immediatley driving to San Diego....we love it there. Leaving early Sunday morning and driving to Anaheim to Disney...we have never been to DL, and I think I must go. We won't be there at opening time but wanted to go on at least 1 weekend day so we could see shows. We will staay offsite hopefully close and go also on Monday.

Then....we are not sure..maybe a coupl eof days in LA doing the go card stuff or maybe on our own tours, drive up highway 1 to San Fran possibly staying the night somewhere. That only leaves a couple of days in San Fran before we have to go back for our early morning flight on Tuesday the 9th.

I know...more info than you wanted. Have you ever been to San Fran before? When and how long will you be there?

We were there 10 years ago and drove down the coast as we started there. We loved it. We went to Alcatraz island and it was a fabulous tour...we really enjoyed it. We also drove up to Muir Woods and saw the redwood trees which was great.

Thanks for the link!

Kelly

 

[ncc1701]

We did a double decker bus tour that included the Golden Gate Bridge as part of the loop plus it went to Golden Gate park (stopped at the Cailf. Science Museum ) We got a 48 hour ticket so we didn't feel rushed. We also took the ferry over to Saulsalito from Fishrmans Wharf one morning and had lunch over there.

 

[deej696]

We did a bike tour from San Francisco across the Golden Gate and over to Sausalito. It was awesome. Pop into Napa Valley Burger Company for lunch...great place!

 

[Hanover]

We were just in San Francisco at the start of August and did the 48 hour hop on/hop off "San FrancisoGo" bus pass we got for a good rate from the entertainment book's website. We rode an open top double decker for the city tour. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott at Fisherman's Wharf and had a hop on/hop off stop right around the corner. We were able to add 2 choices with the go pass from the following: Muir Woods, San Francisco Bay Cruise, Aquarium of the Bay, Wax Museum @ Fisherman's Wharf, Ripley's Believe It or Not, 1/2 hour GoCar tour, 2 hour bike rental and Walt Disney Museum. I have their brochure here and it says that it was $49.99 for an adult and $39.99 for a child, but i believe ours was about $5 cheaper each than that on the website we purchased it. The phone # to the company is 415 440 8687. The tour guides were all good with the history of landmarks and were funny. I know that they had other tours from the same company to other landmarks in San Francisco and offered other trips like Wine in the Woods with Muir Woods and Napa.


Our 2 add on choices were to go to Muir Woods and the Walt Disney Museum. We were very happy because we planned on going to both and they weren't listed on the entertainment site as being 2 of the choices.The ride to Muir Woods was a bit windy and fast, but our boys loved the driver, Jacky. We took the 9AM bus ride to Muir Woods and it went direct, the only direct trip of the day. On the way back, it went through Sausalito, which is where the other trips leaving SF went to first.


We also did the night tour of Alcatraz that we had bought in advance and our ds15 and ds11 really, really LOVED it.

 

[Hanover]

KKendle--we also did LA but ended up flying instead of driving the PCH last minute when we got Southwest flights for $78 each. It ended up cheaper to do that than drive with the one way rental fees and get a hotel, etc. We also ended up with 2 days more in LA by flying.

Another thing I will note is that I was shocked that it took us so long at the San Francisco airport to get our luggage and rental car. We are used to flying into MCO in Orlando and other east coast airports and getting our luggage and rental car within a half hour. It took us at least an hour and a half in San Francisco just to get our luggage and rental car. The airport and rental depot were just very crowded and chaotic. LAX was much quicker.

Looking back on our trip, we wished we would have skipped Vegas (other than the day trip to the Grand Canyon) and spent an extra couple of days in San Francisco. We were prepared for SF to be much colder than Vegas or LA, but still ended up buying jackets because our jeans, hoodies and light weight wind breakers didn't cut it. We liked LA, and next time want to spend more time in San Diego than LA. We'd do Disneyland/CA Adventure and maybe Sea World again, but skip Universal. I would also not try and get Disney show tickets again or go to Hollywood, as the traffic was insane each of the 3 times we went there. We were 36 miles away in Anneheim and it took 2 hours each time to get to LA.

 

[kkendle]

KKendle--we also did LA but ended up flying instead of driving the PCH last minute when we got Southwest flights for $78 each. It ended up cheaper to do that than drive with the one way rental fees and get a hotel, etc. We also ended up with 2 days more in LA by flying.

Another thing I will note is that I was shocked that it took us so long at the San Francisco airport to get our luggage and rental car. We are used to flying into MCO in Orlando and other east coast airports and getting our luggage and rental car within a half hour. It took us at least an hour and a half in San Francisco just to get our luggage and rental car. The airport and rental depot were just very crowded and chaotic. LAX was much quicker.

Looking back on our trip, we wished we would have skipped Vegas (other than the day trip to the Grand Canyon) and spent an extra couple of days in San Francisco. We were prepared for SF to be much colder than Vegas or LA, but still ended up buying jackets because our jeans, hoodies and light weight wind breakers didn't cut it. We liked LA, and next time want to spend more time in San Diego than LA. We'd do Disneyland/CA Adventure and maybe Sea World again, but skip Universal. I would also not try and get Disney show tickets again or go to Hollywood, as the traffic was insane each of the 3 times we went there. We were 36 miles away in Anneheim and it took 2 hours each time to get to LA.

Thanks for all the info....so you did the Go San Fran pass...not the wharf pass right? I don't have a CA entertainment book but have a St. Louis one....probably need the CA for the discount.

We were thinking of doing the LA go card as well..because we wanted to go ona studio tour..maybe Warner Bros or Paramount. We may just do a few things on out own rather than get the pass.

Why skip Universal? I have been debating going there or not and every time I decide to skip it, I have second thoughts. Have you been to Universal Orlando? I have been several times and with the 2 parks, I am sure it is a lot nicer than the Hollywood park. But...I have never been so think maybe we should go...which is exactly why I need to go to Disney...because I have never been!

So travelling to Universal area was a 2 hour ordeal? I am thinking after the 2 days at Disney, going towards Santa Monica and staying there and driving in for the studio tour etc....either that or staying nearby Universal? Any thoughts on which would be better?

Thanks for the info...your trip sounded great!

Kelly

 

[Hanover]

Thanks for all the info....so you did the Go San Fran pass...not the wharf pass right? I don't have a CA entertainment book but have a St. Louis one....probably need the CA for the discount.

We were thinking of doing the LA go card as well..because we wanted to go ona studio tour..maybe Warner Bros or Paramount. We may just do a few things on out own rather than get the pass.

Why skip Universal? I have been debating going there or not and every time I decide to skip it, I have second thoughts. Have you been to Universal Orlando? I have been several times and with the 2 parks, I am sure it is a lot nicer than the Hollywood park. But...I have never been so think maybe we should go...which is exactly why I need to go to Disney...because I have never been!

So travelling to Universal area was a 2 hour ordeal? I am thinking after the 2 days at Disney, going towards Santa Monica and staying there and driving in for the studio tour etc....either that or staying nearby Universal? Any thoughts on which would be better?

Thanks for the info...your trip sounded great!

Kelly

We have an entertainment book for our local area, we didn't have one for CA. My DH just read the little card with the membership info in our book to log in. My husband always checks on entertainment's website for places we are heading for discounts and they had some good ones for CA. We got the Southern CA pass with 3 day hoppers at Disney, one day to Sea World and one day to Universal for $255 for each adult. That was the cheapest we could find.

My dh and I had been to Universal Hollywood in 1992, but our boys had never been. It took us 2 full hours in morning traffic to get to Universal from Anneheim. We all really enjoyed the tram tour with the movie sets, but other than that it was super hot and overly crowded. We did 3 other rides and called it to go back to Anneheim and swim. It was super crazy shoulder to shoulder crowded. I actually felt unsafe in certain areas because of the extreme crowds. It took us almost an hour just waiting in line for lunch and then there was no where to sit. We love Universal Orlando, been many times, and never saw crowds like we were in in Hollywood. We were at Universal Hollywood during a heat wave and very high 90s weather so that made it worse. Our boys said that they'd definitely skip it next time and would rather have gone to a Disney park.

My DH wanted to do a Warner Bros or Paramount tour, but we were so busy we just never had the time. We did speak with someone at a Disney show taping we had tickets to but never got in because of too many VIPs that did Warner Bros and loved it.

We did one day in Santa Monica and really enjoyed the beach and area. We stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott there and then went to Disney and stayed on our DVC points for the next 6 days. We got to WDW several times a year, but the boys and I had never been to Disneyland and none of us had been to CA Adventure. We all enjoyed them very, very much--though we all still love WDW more.

 

[Hanover]

I forgot to add: Yes, we had the San FrancisGo pass, not the wharf pass.

 

[kkendle]

I forgot to add: Yes, we had the San FrancisGo pass, not the wharf pass.

Thanks again....I was a little confused because you said you added 2 attractions to your GO pass....I thought you could add as many as you wanted...although for how many days you buy it for. But maybe that is what you could fit in. Have you seen the wharf pass? It appears to be a bit cheaper and is for 2 days....and since you can only fit in so many things during 2 days anyway...it may be a better option.

How about hotel costs? You said you stayed at the Marriott (on the wharf?) I am finding hotels in san Francisco to be pretty pricey for the most part. But, staying very close to the wharf may be a good option as we could just park the car and leave it...then use the hop on hop off bus for transportation.

The hop on hop off tour has to be done by 5:30 though right? I think I read that somewhere but an getting confused as I have read so much.

Maybe we will skip Universal...the tram tour sounds good though. I imagine that the first week of October will not be near as crowded as it was for you in August however. US Orlando is 2 parks though, so the heavy summer crowds kind of disperse throughout both parks so that helps. We really love that park as well.

 

[kkendle]

I forgot to add: Yes, we had the San FrancisGo pass, not the wharf pass.

I forgot to ask....was the go pass this:

http://www.smartdestinations.com/sa...ISCO-SEOlist&gclid=CJSaj6CE_7ECFcldTAodJywADg

This site says it is quite a bit more than whaat you paid..how many days did you do?

 

[Hanover]

This is the one we used (but booked the San FrancisGo ticket from them from the entertainment website): http://www.city-sightseeing.us/

We were in San Francisco from mid day Friday until early Sunday when we flew to LA. After we got the rental car and drove and checked into our hotel, we had lunch nearby and then did the hop on/hop off until we checked into our Alcatraz night tour. After the tour we walked around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. I can't recall how long the day tours ran, but they did offer a night tour too. The next morning we went to Muir Woods on the 9AM bus. Had lunch in Sausalito at the Spinnaker on the water and great view of San Francisco. Went to the Walt Disney Museum, saw the nearby Yoda statue at Lucas Studios, drove down Lombard Street, went to Ghirardelli, walked around Fisherman's Wharf again and ate at some of the outdoor seafood vendors for dinner. It was a whirlwind 2 days, but feel like we really got to see a lot of the city. The hotel was not cheap (I think our bill was close to $700 total) but I couldn't recommend the location more and it was very clean. We had to pay close to $40 for parking each day added onto our bill, but a lot of hotels nearby charged close to that price.

We used DVC points for the Disneyland hotel one night and Grand California for 5 nights. We were going to pay out of pocket for the one night since we couldn't get into it using DVC points, but they wanted $440 so we stayed in Santa Monica insted. We all preferred the Disneyland Resort over the Grand California, though both were awesome. We loved being able to walk to the park entrances in a matter of minutes. The EMH started at 7 when we were there. We had 2 days at Disneyland and 1 day at California Adventure and really felt like we got to ride what we wanted to ride during that time. We did not do any kind of dining plan. The CM when we checked into the Disneyland Resort said that basically you just get vouchers to eat at certain restaurants and there is no discount for buying the vouchers. We ate at the Storyteller's Cafe, Goofy's Kitchen and the Rainforest Cafe. The Cheesecake Factory was near Disneyland and we ate there twice for dinner too. Compared to WDW, we found the Disneyland buffet restaurants to have far less options for actual dinner food, but far more desserts.

 

[kkendle]

So you did the San Fran Freestyle Package for $94.99? I don't think this is related to the GO Card...at least from what I read. Or maybe it was the Alcatraz and All Loops for $81.99. Hmmm...sounds like a good deal...but not sure I want to go back to Alcatraz although it was a great tour. Touring at night might be cool though.

Yeah, parking is sure expensive it seems...that is why we are thinking of checking into hotel and just leaving car like you did.

 

[Hanover]

So you did the San Fran Freestyle Package for $94.99? I don't think this is related to the GO Card...at least from what I read. Or maybe it was the Alcatraz and All Loops for $81.99. Hmmm...sounds like a good deal...but not sure I want to go back to Alcatraz although it was a great tour. Touring at night might be cool though.

Yeah, parking is sure expensive it seems...that is why we are thinking of checking into hotel and just leaving car like you did.

I'll have to ask my husband the exact cost, but I didn't think it was that high. He booked that and the Southern CA passes on entertainment's website. I booked all of our other tickets so I don't know the specifics of what tabs exactly he went on to book the hop on/hop off passes. He's a police officer and in annual training so I can't ask him right now, but will tonight. We did the Alcatraz tickets separate, and I think we only had the one main loop included in our hop on/hop off 48 hour pass but could have added the other loops for an extra charge.. I do not see the tickets we got on the website of the tour company. I do know that the office was packed with people that had not pre-ordered tickets and the Go pass was available there at the office for new bookings.

We thought about just getting a taxi to/from the hotel to avoid the cost of the rental and parking, but we did use the car to/from the airport, to go to the Walt Disney Museum, to Lucas Studios, to Ghirardelli (though we also walked there from hotel another time) and to drive down Lombard.

 

[disneydance]

Has anyone used the go San Fran card? We are going to San Francisco in 2 weeks for a week and that looks rather intriguing and a rather good deal.

 

[kkendle]

Has anyone used the go San Fran card? We are going to San Francisco in 2 weeks for a week and that looks rather intriguing and a rather good deal.

I have been looking as well and have not used anything at this point...are you talking about the Go Card for San Francisco, or the San Francisco City Pass? They also have a Wharf Pass.

 

[disneygurl1987]

I have been thinking the double decker bus for when I go there in October, I am only there 2 full days and seems to be the the best option for me since I will be doing San Fran solo. I haven't been there since I was 9 (I will be 25 this time). I don't think the San Fran card would be worth it for me.