Alcatraz Tourist help!

polr

Hi, We're thinking of taking a trip to alcatraz (night tour if we can) in August. We'd also like to do a wine tour, possibly the redwood forest and a cruise of the bay. We've seen some trips that take in all three (minus the bay cruise) for about $100 but am unsure of which are reputable travel companies (we're UK based so it's all over the internet).

We look on the oficial alcatraz site and it says there are no available tickets this year so I think our only option is to go through one of these tours..?

Has anyone got a company they can recommend (preferable have used) or have any tips of the best way to arrange this?

Thanks in advance

sarmia

Hi,

We went to Alcatraz last month and booked it through http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/. I believe they are the offical tour company and are the only tours which allow you to go onto alcatraz. I dont think you can book more than 90 days in advance, so that might be why the dates are showing as unavailable. .Night tours up to the 10th of August are available to book now.

We had a great time in SF and I would definately do Alcatraz again.

polr

sarmia wrote: »

Hi,

We went to Alcatraz last month and booked it through http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/. I believe they are the offical tour company and are the only tours which allow you to go onto alcatraz. I dont think you can book more than 90 days in advance, so that might be why the dates are showing as unavailable. .Night tours up to the 10th of August are available to book now.

We had a great time in SF and I would definately do Alcatraz again.

Man I'm an idiot! I even saw the 90 day alert and took no notice! Looks like I can book in a week or two. Thanks Sarmia.

Any other must see tips?

sarmia

Theres lots to do. How long you going for?

The sightseeing buses are worth getting, it was about $35 each for two days, hop on and off, so you get to see lots of the touristy sights and cheaper than taxis. We had a great time, wish we were going again!

The Golden Gate worth a look too and walk over only takes about 40 mins.

polr

I think we will be there for 3 to 4 days then spending the rest of a fortnight driving down to Vegas. I think we will get one of the bus passes, we'll be jet-lagged so it's probably a good, easy way to get about.

Did you do a wine tour when you were there?

sarmia

No unfortunately not as had a 2 year old with us. There were a company think it was called All San Francisco tours they did lots of different tours, similar bus ones, yosemite, napa valley lots! We spoke to a couple who did a wine tour and said it was fab. We drove up from LA the scenery is unbelievable.

markandkate

HI not sure of the name of the company but you can cycle accross hte Golden Gate bridge or walk and come back via the ferry. You get to a lovely town called Sausalito accross the bay form SF. fantastic views and a good way to see the surrounding area.

If hiring a car north if SF there are some lovely towns and you could use one like Guerneville where we stated as a base for exploring the wine regions the redwoods and the coast

rpstdavids

We booked through the site Sarmia mentions.

I recommend doing the 'night tour'.The island is a bit quieter and they have some areas open that are out of bounds during the day, and more talks are done at night. One point though, even though they say it's a 'night' tour, it will probably still be light when the last ferry leaves the island during August, it was just getting dark when we did it last September.

flutterbyuk25

I second the cycling over the Golden Gate bridge. It's a fab experience. you can hire bikes at various points in Fisherman's Wharf area. You can hire a seat or tow along buggy for the little one too.

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Microstar_2

When I went to Alcatraz there was no booking needed. I just turned up at the boat and paid cash - no idea you had to book, there seemed to be lots of free places (it was in September IIRC).

flutterbyuk25

Microstar wrote: »

When I went to Alcatraz there was no booking needed. I just turned up at the boat and paid cash - no idea you had to book, there seemed to be lots of free places (it was in September IIRC).

It's advisable to book in advance.

When I went last Sept they were more or less fully booked for 3 out of the 6 days I was there.

But you only need to book a few days in advance if you're there for say a week.

However the night cruises fill up fast.

x