Overview

‘Escape from Alcatraz’ tour is the ideal bay cruise excursion when Alcatraz tickets are sold out. This is a guided cruise ferry tour that will take you into the beautiful Bay of San Francisco and around Alcatraz Island. Make the most of your San Francisco vacation and book this 6-hour combo adventure and enjoy a private and personalized guided tour of San Francisco, sailing around Alcatraz Island and under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Description

Make the most of your San Francisco vacation and book this combo adventure and enjoy a private 4-hour guided and personalized tour of San Francisco, and then sail around Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, for about 60 to 90 minutes.

After a private meet and great at your home, hotel or pick-up location in San Francisco, your personal tour guide will offer you a comprehensive four-hour private guided city tour, tailored to your itinerary and preference.

Why book a private city tour by SUV of ‘The City by the Bay’?

San Francisco is defined by its European lifestyle, microclimate, eclectic architecture, rich history, and steep topography. The abundance of San Francisco’s steep rolling hills characterizes the city’s unique topography, geography anddramatic landscape which made top Hollywood movie producers choose San Francisco as the shooting locations for iconic films.

Many of these picturesque hills and narrows streets are prohibited to van and bus tours, including Lombard street, the crookedest street in California, but also sites like Alamo Square, Telegraph Hill, Baker Beach, Sea Cliff, 16th Ave, the Russian Hill famous for its steep slope home to Lombard street, a curvy one-way drive that runs east-west through this scenic hill. This is where our tour can save you all the hassle and effort of walking up and down hills. Our luxury vehicles and SUVs are very suitable to the nature of these steep hills and narrow streets. We will stop anywhere you want, so you can capture thestunning views and sights of San Francisco.

Following your private city tour in a luxury vehicle with a private local tour guide, you will be drivento the Fisherman’s Wharf where we will check you in at the next ferry tour to embark on this bay cruise adventure that will take you around Alcatraz Island. This ferry tour will sail in the San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz prison.

-Please Note that this cruise does not land on Alcatraz Island but goes around it.

Itinerary

Join us and enjoy a personalized private trip tailored to your needs and expectations. We will meet you at your hotel in San Francisco around 9 am, and take you on adiscovery city tour of San Francisco’s top attractions, landmarks, parks, and monuments. You will visit amazing sights like the Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, stunning landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, the Palace of Fine Arts in Marina District, Historic Presidio, and distinguished neighborhoods like Chinatown, North Beach known as ‘Little Italy’, Mission District, Haight-Ashbury, and the Billionaires Row of Pacific Heights. You will enjoy several photo stops along the way, at each site and landmark of your choice. This is a private and guided tour, so you can interact with your personal guide and ask questions to understand the story of each sight as you drive along the way. Among other places you will visit include the stunning Twin Peaks overlook, Castro area, Civic Center, Union Square, Nob Hill, and the Fisherman’s Wharf where you embark on a ferry trip and sail into the San Francisco Bay and around Alcatraz Island.

Following your private city tour in a luxury vehicle with a private local tour guide, you can enjoy this new and exciting adventure that will take you around Alcatraz Island by ferry. Your driver-guide will drop you off in the heart of the Fisherman’s Wharf, at Pier 39 where we will redeem your bay cruise tour vouchers so you can sail around Alcatraz Island by ferry.

You will embark on the next available bay cruise ferry trip into the San Francisco Bay. This ferry trip can last up to 90 minutes and is subject to availability. It departs twice per day only, so we need to consider the time with our scheduled itinerary. Boarding the ferry is on a first-come, first-served basis as they do not take seat reservations. When this ferry trip is sold out, we reserve the right to book you on the regular bay cruise tour that lasts 60 minutes which follows pretty much the same itinerary, but the focus is not only on Alcatraz, but also the story of San Francisco sights. Some ferries may have tour narrations, while others don’t. It depends on the ferry and the season, and some even have it in various languages, available on a smart phone app you can download as you board the ferry.

We recommend an overnight inthe Fisherman’s Wharf area resorts or hotels, so you can take this ferry tour later in the day or the next day, in case it’s not available on that day. The ferry tickets we offer you are official tickets,so it can be used at any time during your stay in San Francisco.

This is the prefect trip in the San Francisco Bay when Alcatraz tickets are sold out. Book this combo custom adventure and seeevery angle of Alcatraz Island ‘The Rock’, while listening to the chilling and intriguing stories of this maximum security federal prison. How could anyone manage to escape this island standing like a fortress in the middle of San Francisco Bay? Join our passionate tour guides and learn more about the legendary ‘The Great Escape from Alcatraz’. Did John and Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris survive this daring and historical escape from Alcatraz prison?

This is a fascinating trip and an interesting way to enjoy the sights of the city skyline, the scenic hills of the city and sail along beautiful places like Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Marina, and the Fisherman’s Wharf.

To keep the cost down, we do not include your drop-off back to your hotel after your tour, which saves the overtime hours. So, you can enjoy a free and relaxing afternoon at your own pace in the famous Fisherman’s Wharf area, the right place in San Francisco to spend your afternoon. There is so much you can do and see such as shopping, events, attractions, restaurants, hotels, museums, beaches etc…

Next to the ferry, where your bay cruise trip starts and ends, is located the famous Pier 39 – a top destination and popular tourist attraction – built on a pier in the Fisherman’s Wharf of San Francisco. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of California sea lions hauled out on flatting docks on Pier 39’s marina.

From the pier, one can see Sausalito, Treasure Island, Angel Island, Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Bay Bridge as well.

You may want to consider staying at one of the hotels in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, and away from the traffic and construction in downtown. Some of the famous hotels located in Fisherman’s Wharf include the historic Argonaut Hotel, San Francisco Marriott and Courtyard, the Sheraton, the Best Western Tuscan Inn, the Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square‎, and the Holiday Inn among other many hotels in the area.

-Please Note that this cruise tour does not land on Alcatraz Island but goes around it.

Other details and tips for visitors

-Please Note that this cruise does not land on Alcatraz Island but goes around it.

-Following your private city tour in a luxury vehicle with a private local tour guide, you will enjoy this new and exciting adventure that takes you around Alcatraz Island by ferry.

-After your private city tour, we will drop you off at Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf, where your ferry trip starts and ends. We do not include your drop-off at your hotel as stated above after the bay cruise tour.

-This ferry trip can last up to 90 minutes and is subject to availability. It departs only twice per day and boarding on the ferry trip is on a first-come, first-served basis as they do not take reservations. When this around Alcatraz cruise ferry trip is sold out, we reserve the right to book you on the regular bay cruise tour that lasts 60 minutes, no refunds or adjustment will be made as this is out of our hands and question of availability as they do not take reservations, and only depart twice per day expect in winter.

-Some ferries may have tour narrations, while other don’t offer it. Thisdepends on the ferry and the season, and some even have it available in various languages on a smart phone app you can download as you board the ferry.

-Schedules and dates are subject to change, cancellation and availability depending on the season and weather conditions. San Francisco’s weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the bay of San Francisco is often subject to wind and heavy fog mostly in summer and lots of winter rain. Dress in layers and expect a cool and foggy afternoon.

-Winter schedule is very restricted and subject to weather conditions (many departures are cancelled due the rain and fog). We do not issue any refunds as this is beyond our control, but you may use these ferry bay cruise tickets the next day, if you go on your own tothe ferry terminal,located at Pier 39/41.

-Advance Booking is required as we do not offer last minute tours.

-We apologize, but we do not allow pets on board of our vehicles and these are also not equipped for disabled or wheelchair accessibility.

-Indoor seating in the ferry is covered with weather-proof windows with protection against wind, rain and salt water. Outdoor seating is available on secure, safe and railed-off sections of the deck.

-There is a snack bar available on the boat that sells a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Also available are hot dogs, chips and other snack foods. You can also dine either before or after the ferry tour in this very popular area of San Francisco.

-A free multi-language audio tour may be available, but not guaranteed,on some ferry tours which could include English, Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, German & Taiwanese. Please bring your Wi-Fi enabled smartphone device to access the tour commentary; headsets will be provided based on availability.

Tour Prices

This is a private city tour by SUV /luxury vehicle, and the price is per each guest.

This custom city tour is totally private by luxury vehicle, and the price is per person. We don’t offer semi-private tours; all our trips are totally private.

This is a private city tour by large luxury van (like15 seaters deluxe minibus) The price is per party (small group). This tour by large van is totally private and not available for public reservations or individual booking.

What’s Included in this San Francisco city 4-hour tour?

All applicable taxes, San Francisco city 4-hour private and guided tour in a luxury vehicle, complimentary pick-up and drop-off in San Francisco downtown, Fisherman’s Wharf, and surrounding areas or neighborhoods, but not outside of these areas.

What’s Not Included in this San Francisco city 4-hour tour?

Meals, Driver’s gratuity tips. Gratuities are recommended and customary in the USA at 15%-20%), and entrance tickets to any optional site(s) or monument(s).

Notes: For time considerations, we don’t drive across the Golden Gate Bridge on the half-day tour but we do include it on our full-day San Francisco city tour.

• The itinerary may change based on your time, road or weather conditions, pick-up location and preference. When it is rainy or foggy, we have to skip some areas /places for safety considerations or due to the lack of visibility.
• Please note that vehicles taking 7 passengers or more are prohibited entry to many places in San Francisco, like Lombard Street, Alamo Square, Telegraph Hill, Marina, Sea Cliff, Hyde, and wherever a sign is posted in this regard. We therefore recommend our SUV tour option, which is without doubt the best way to travel to these sights.
• Smoking is not allowed in our vehicles. We are sorry, but our vehicles are not pet friendly and not equipped for passengers with disability or wheelchairs, thank you for understanding.
• Please note that many sites, attractions, landmarks and neighborhoods are restricted and prohibited to large vehicles and vans including places like Lombard Street, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, Sea Cliff, Marina, Muir Beach and Overlook, Alamos Square (painted ladies), and all other areas restricted by law to van or bus tours. The SUV tour option is the perfect choice as you can go anywhere in the city where larges vehicles are prohibited.

Term & Policy

Alcatraz Tour Terms and Conditions

Please note that tour guides are not allowed to guide inside Muir Woods National Monument and Alcatraz The pick-up at your hotel in San Francisco is included. However, to keep the cost down, the drop-off after your Alcatraz tour is not included.
Alcatraz tickets are extremely hard to get because they are often sold out weeks and months in advance. The sooner you book the better.
Approved online transactions do not guarantee your Alcatraz tour or tickets, as we should go through a process in order book these tickets. After we receive your transaction, the tour can be approved or declined based on availability. This is due to the increasing popularity of Alcatraz.
The only online calendar available on our website is extremely hard to manage and update on a daily basis. This calendar governs all our tours and is available in over 10 different languages, which multiplies the number of tour options by 10! When Alcatraz tickets are sold out, we cannot simply block the calendar for these particular date(s) because this will prevent all other clients from booking any of our tours in 10 different languages, which would put us out of business! Alcatraz represents only 1% of our tours and it’s impossible to block the calendar each time Alcatraz is sold out. For that reason, we have amended these terms and conditions on our website stating clearly and unequivocally the following terms regarding Alcatraz tour and tickets:
-All our tours including Alcatraz are subject to availability even if the online transaction is approved. We do reserve the right to void or refund your transaction when Alcatraz tickets are sold out.This is totally out of our hands as the only provider of Alcatraz tickets and tours are governed by the U.S. National Park Service.
-We do require 8 business weeks in advance when booking our Alcatraz tour during the peaks season, holidays and week-ends. The peak season refers to the period of April to the end of October.
-We reserve the right to offer you alternative tours when Alcatraz is sold out. If you decline our offer, we will fully refund your transaction – a process which takes about 10 business days before your funds are available to you. This is stated on our terms and conditions page, available in all languages.
When Alcatraz tickets are sold out, customers make the common mistake of desperately rushing to book the Alcatraz tour directly on our website, without taking the time to review our terms and conditions in this regard. We cannot be blamed as we make it extremely clear that we have no control over Alcatraz tickets when they are sold out.For that reason we do require your booking at least 8 business week sin advance!

Trip Reviews

Awesome bay cruise around Alcatraz Island

This is great and an alternative tour experience when Alcatraz tickets are sold out, we were disappointed as we didn’t manage to get Alcatraz tickets, next time, we will anticipate and book Alcatraz tickets in advance. We were happy with this trip, it combined our city private tour, and the ferry cruise around Alcatraz island, we were trying to see most of SF attractions in a half day tour, and that was perfect as we had a trip the next day to Hearst Castle, and it was our last day in California. The cruise ship trip was over an hour, a ferry trip that took us around SF bay, around Alcatraz Island, and under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Alcatraz-SF: Worry-free vacation package

Worry-free vacation package, we were lucky to find and book this all-inclusive SF Alcatraz tour package, it was a worry-free reservation all included, the perfect way to indulge in San Francisco if you have no time. It was a convenient, affordable, and fulfilling combo trip of SF city attractions and Alcatraz tour. a must-do when visiting the city by the bay, and worth every penny you spent

The Beautiful Island of Alcatraz and criminology

From the city tour to Alcatraz Island, we, and our kids had an amazing adventure, a bit cold in San Francisco Bay in summer ironically, but were very interested in the criminology and forensics stories of Alcatraz and San Quintin prison like Charles Manson, the Zodiac, Fong "Little Pete" Ching, Zebra killers, Felix Mitchell, the Unabomber, Scott Peterson, and Clarence and John Anglin and Frank Morris and their famous 'Escape from Alcatraz'. Wow! the feeling visitors get when you stepping onto Alcatraz island from the ferry boat is quite eerie and a bit creepy but interesting.