Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-03-2009, 05:12 PM
 
34 posts, read 198,697 times
Reputation: 42

Advertisements

Hi! We are going to San Francisco for two nights in August from Oregon. We want to get as many things in as possible and are doing all the touristy things but I see on some websites that they reccomend buying Alcatraz tickets early because they sell out. Do they really sell out or can we buy them at the wharf? We just don't have a set schedule and don't want to be locked into any time.

Otherwise, we plan on riding cable cars, going to Chinatown, going to the Wharf, etc. I went for a school trip in 1988 so I didn't get to do a lot, and my hubby and moter-in-law have never been so it should be fun for all of us!

Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-03-2009, 06:21 PM
 
Location: Northern California
3,722 posts, read 14,725,748 times
Reputation: 1962
Yes, you have to get tickets for Alcatraz in advance. It's a very popular attraction in SF.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2009, 01:08 AM
 
Location: Richmond, TX
193 posts, read 436,891 times
Reputation: 110
Ditto. Get tickets as early as possible.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2009, 09:10 AM
 
34 posts, read 198,697 times
Reputation: 42
Awesome. Thanks for all the help!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2009, 09:16 AM
 
Location: La Crescenta, CA
418 posts, read 1,735,008 times
Reputation: 335
BTW, if you don't get tickets early enough (I didn't -- I had no idea how popular it would be!) you can buy standby tickets. The day I was there, everyone in the standby line was able to get to the island -- some without waiting very long at all.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-05-2009, 12:17 PM
 
50 posts, read 168,091 times
Reputation: 52
Hi. I did one of the Alcatraz night tours in April. It was awesome. So glad I did it and extremely glad I booked my ticket one month in advance. Just wanted to add that make sure you book your tickets at the official Alcatraz Web site. Otherwise, they won't honor them. Good luck and have fun! And bring good walking shoes. You will need them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-06-2009, 12:01 PM
 
242 posts, read 433,175 times
Reputation: 283
We did the headphone tour and loved it. Also, there is only one line of boats which take you to Alcatraz... some people seem to think that you can take one of the various fishing boats to the island and then check it out from there. Wrong - there is one and only one line that will take you there. Buy your tickets early and you'll be fine. Also, while there, be sure to get a shrimp and crab sandwich before your trip from Pier 39.... YUM!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-16-2009, 07:27 AM
 
34 posts, read 198,697 times
Reputation: 42
Thanks for all the info! We are looking forward to our San Francisco trip in August. We're trying to pack a lot of stuff into a little amount of time.

Before we buy the tickets, does anybody have any ideas on if the night tour is better or not? It sounds like you get a more detailed tour with the tour guide and all, and the website makes the idea of watching the sunset (if it's not foggy!!) behind the bridge sound appealing, but I worry about it getting too dark to see anything outside. Of course, that could add to the alure of the "danger" of the island

I"m sure all of the tours will be worthy but input as to which time is better would be great. Thanks for the help! Can't wait for all the yummy seafood and to get away even for just a few days!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-16-2009, 08:15 AM
 
55 posts, read 248,537 times
Reputation: 59
Night tour is definitely better. There is something a little bit spooky about being on the Rock at night. At night, after the general audio tour they have special talks by different rangers about different subjects regarding Alcatraz. If tickets are still available for your dates, I would highly recommend it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-07-2011, 09:40 PM
 
1 posts, read 6,397 times
Reputation: 13
We just returned from SF, had no Alcatraz tix Aug 4th since we did not know the difficulty in getting them - at lunch Aug 4th, with my dumb smart phone I went the the alcatrazcruises website and tried for tix - after multiple attempts they showed for 9:30 Aug 5th, I originally put in one ticket to get that - I selected to buy and changed the quantity to 3 and shockingly it went through and I got 3 tix - worth a shot, seems tickets free up, and the ferry was not exactly over full.....you never know
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:13 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top