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Old 01-25-2011, 02:52 PM
 
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What tours of the city do you recommend or do you think the tours are worth the money? Is it better to take a tour instead of exploring on our own?

We don't want to stay in the city since we think it will be expensive so we need to drive to our hotel the same day. What is your advice on how to spend the day? TIA
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Old 01-27-2011, 11:30 AM
 
Location: Northern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by janelle144 View Post
What tours of the city do you recommend or do you think the tours are worth the money? Is it better to take a tour instead of exploring on our own?

We don't want to stay in the city since we think it will be expensive so we need to drive to our hotel the same day. What is your advice on how to spend the day? TIA
How many days will you spend in SF?

You can stay in Millbrae or near the airport and take BART into downtown SF. Parking in SF is difficult and/or expensive. You can get around easily on public transport and can visit the usual tourist places on your own at your own pace. It's not that hard to figure out.
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Old 01-27-2011, 12:26 PM
 
Location: South Korea
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Yeah I would look at the airport for cheap hotels, you can find places that are half what they'd be in Union Square. If you want somewhere really convenient where you can walk to a lot of stuff then by all means splash the cash for a Union Square place. But if you want to save money then you can stay at the airport hotels and either take a shuttle to Millbrae BART or drive to the BART station and park at the garage there and take the train into the city, which is inconvenient compared to being in the middle of SF but again you're saving money.

Though someone here recommended a hotel on Lombard in SF with free parking I think that had a very good price, similar in price to airport hotels. It's not the best area in terms of convenience but it's fairly close to Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square/Chinatown etc.

Sorry I don't know what tours are good, people who use this board probably aren't the best to ask because most of us live here so we don't go on tours. I'm sure there are places you can find reviews of them, maybe yelp.
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Old 01-27-2011, 03:24 PM
 
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They have the San Quentin tour but I can't think of anything more depressing than to visit a penitentiary, even one not operating anymore. We plan to be there one day. I know not much time to do anything really so we thought a tour would be best otherwise we would run around not sure where to go or what to see.
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Old 01-27-2011, 04:12 PM
 
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Recently I perused Yelp for SF tour info, coming up with the following. (Note that I have been on none of these.)

FYI – the two categories I skipped over were bay cruises and Chinatown walking tours. Everything else with decent ratings is below (Gray Line – not so well reviewed).


Architecture walking tour (semi-easy, 2-3 block, two hours)
Architecture Walking Tour
San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour - Financial District - San Francisco, CA

SF Movie sites:
San Francisco Movie Tours - What You'll See
San Francisco Movie Tours - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA

Many various (mostly) specific-subject walking tours:
San Francisco Walking Tours | City Guides
San Francisco City Guides - Civic Center/Tenderloin - San Francisco, CA

General walking tours:
On The Level SF Tours - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Sightseeing Tours, Guided Walking Tours for Families, Seniors and Group Activities

Foodie walking tours:
In the Kitchen with Lisa - Home
In the Kitchen with Lisa - Diamond Heights - San Francisco, CA

Local Tastes of the City Tours - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Tours, Guided Walking Food Tour | Local Taste

http://www.foodieadventures.com/FoodieAdventures.com/Chris_Milanos_FOODIE_ADVENTURES!____San_Francisco_ Food_Tours____Culinary_Walking_Tours_of_San_Franci so____Tour_Info.html (http://www.foodieadventures.com/FoodieAdventures.com/Chris_Milanos_FOODIE_ADVENTURES%21____San_Francisc o_Food_Tours____Culinary_Walking_Tours_of_San_Fran ciso____Tour_Info.html - broken link)
Foodie Adventures - Union Square - San Francisco, CA

Chocolate & wine tour (SF):
Gourmet Walks - SOMA - San Francisco, CA
Chocolate & Wine Tour:: Gourmet Walks: food and wine walking tours in San Francisco and Napa (http://www.gourmetwalks.com/chocolate-and-wine-tour/ - broken link)

Ducks & Quackers:
Ride The Ducks - San Francisco Duck Tours - North Beach/Telegraph Hill - San Francisco, CA
Ride The Ducks San Francisco | San Francisco Duck Tours

Bay Quackers - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Duck Tours | SF City Bay Area Tour | California Tourist Attraction | Bay Quackers

Ghost:
San Francisco Ghost Hunt - Pacific Heights - San Francisco, CA
Join San Francisco's Original Supernatural Adventure Walking Tour. Meet real ghosts from wild and romantic times gone by!

Haunted Haight Walking Tour - Haight-Ashbury - San Francisco, CA
Welcome To The Haunted Haight Walking Tour. A San Francisco Ghost Paranormal Historical Walking Tour of Haight Ashbury San Francsico Ghost Walking Tour Paranormal History Of San Francisco's Haunted Places in San Francisco

Mr. Toad:
Mr. Toad's Tours - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
Mr. Toad's Tours, San Francisco

Bikes & wine:
Gears & Grapes Getaways - Western Addition/NOPA - San Francisco, CA
Napa & Sonoma Day Trips, Napa & Sonoma Wine Tours, Wine Tasting Tours

Bus SF:
Tower Tours - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
Grand San Francisco City Tours from Tower Tours in San Francisco

San Francisco Shuttle Tours - SOMA - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Shuttle Tours. The More Comprehensive Tour Options Around.

Dylan's City Tours - Pacific Heights - San Francisco, CA
Dylan's Tours | Dylan's Famous Tour

Gray Line Sightseeing and Tours - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
Gray Line San Francisco Deluxe City Tour-half day sightseeing

Urban Safari - Nob Hill - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Tours Alcatraz Urban Safari Unique Private Fun Different (http://www.theurbansafari.com/tours.html - broken link)

Fake cable car:
Classic Cable Car Sightseeing And Charters - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
Classic Cable Car Sightseeing | San Francisco Sightseein Tour

Open-top bus, hop-on, hop-off:
City Sightseeing San Francisco - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco tours. Double Decker Bus, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge and more

via Public Transit:
The Real SF Tour - Financial District - San Francisco, CA
The Real SF Tour: Top Things To Do In San Francisco -Walking Tours, Day Trips, Urban Adventures

Green tour:
Green Dream Tours - Outer Richmond - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Tours, Muir Woods Tour, Wine Country Tour, Bay Area Tours & Charters: Tours - Elie's Green Dream Tours (http://www.greendreamtours.com/san-francisco-muir-woods-tour.html - broken link)

60s
Magic Bus By Antenna Theater & Teacher Bus - Civic Center/Tenderloin - San Francisco, CA
The Magic Bus is a 90 minute multi-media adventure on a bus, half sightseeing tour, half documentary film about the '60s. Not Just A Tour...It's A Trip!
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Old 01-27-2011, 04:16 PM
 
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WOW, more tours than I knew of, thanks.
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Old 01-27-2011, 04:19 PM
 
Location: South Korea
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Yeah, walk around the Union Square area during the day and you see dozens of buses for different tour companies rolling around.

Also Alcatraz is a neat thing to do, you take the ferry there and then you pick up a headphone set that plays a very good audio tour that tells you where to go and tells you what you're looking at with great narration and interview excerpts by former prisoners and guards. It's a bit pricey at over $20 per person but I think it's fun plus you get great views of SF and the entire Bay Area from the ferry and the island.
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Old 01-27-2011, 11:05 PM
 
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Riding the cable cars gives you a nice little tour of SF and it's only $5. I'd stay in downtown and not commute. You can get a room for 100 in a decent place around Union Square. You could also use the name your own price feature on priceline.
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Old 01-28-2011, 07:42 AM
 
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We visited this past Novemeber & took an uplanned double decker bus tour that departed from Fisherman's Wharf. I don't remember the price of the tickets, but do remember that they were worth it. We took it on our first day there which worked out great, as we got a general outline of the sights & city and decided which places we wanted to spend more time at on our own. It included just about every SF attraction I can think of.

I thought the Alcatraz tour was fun & worth the ticket price just for the photo op. You can snap pictures of the city from an amazing vantage point.

There was also I SF movie tour I saw on Tripadvisor. I thought that one sounded great but was unable to take it due to schedule.
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Old 02-18-2011, 12:01 AM
 
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Took the 5 hour tour from pier 3. Glad we did but only saw a bit of the city. China Town, Nob Hill, Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge and area. Just had the half day so that is the way to do it.
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