Guided tours in San Francisco
San Francisco offers a huge variety of exciting guided tours. Of course it is possible to tour the city alone by foot, in a car or by public transportation, however, the guided tours will present to you the city in the most convenient and interesting manner and will teach you a lot about this colorful and unique city.
Bicycle tours
For the sportier, a bicycle tour of the city heart is warmly recommended. Believe it or not, but even in a city abounded with inclines and slopes like San Francisco one can have fun riding the bicycle with no special effort on a historical terrific route named “Wiggle”.
Town hall:
Graffity:
Painted Ladies:
Good tours with energetic knowledgeable guides are conducted by the company Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours.
The tours depart from the
trendy Hayes Valley and reach the Civic Center, the
Golden Gate Park, Alamo Square, the Hippie neighborhood
Ashbury Height, alleys full of graffiti and more. The
tour lasts about 3.5 hours. The Company offers even
longer tours as well as personally suited private tours
for small groups.
The company
Bike and Roll (that
has branches in other U.S.A cities) organizes bike tours
which include a ride on the Golden Gate Bridge with a
return by ferry boat from Sausalito. It is also possible
to rent a bike and ride alone. Those who don’t want to
exert themselves can rent an electric bike.
Segway tours
The most popular tours with the youth
are those conducted on a Segway. There is nothing like
traveling up and down the steep slopes of the City on a
Segway and receiving thrilling explanations while
passing next to the main tourist attractions.
The two
companies that organize these tours of the City are:
The City Segway Tour, a large corporation that organizes
city tours in many cities of the world, among the
pioneers of Segway tours, and
San Francisco Guided Segway Tour which offers a variety of city tours, for
beginners and advanced, including a tour of Sausalito
and a night tour. Riding the Segway is allowed to
persons above the age of 12 that weight more than 45 Kg.
Fire Engine Tour
Another lovely tour that especially suits families is San Francisco Fire Engine Tours. On this tour you will visit the City, including on the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to Sausalito on a red shiny fire engine accompanied by guides that will not stop entertaining you.
Movie Tours
Movie lovers can join a City tour following movies organized by San Francisco Movie Tours. The tour will take you thru shooting sites of about 200 famous scenes from 100 movies that were shot in the City. The tour is conducted on buses with huge screens and excellent surround system.
Guided foot tours
Guided foot tours
are conducted in various neighborhoods of the City such
as: China Town, and “Little Italy”.
On my
opinion, The best tour of China Town is
All About Chinatown Tours .
This is a specially recommended tour that provides a totally different view angle of this interesting neighborhood, considered the largest Chinese Quarter outside of Asia. If one tours the quarter alone, he will probably enter the various souvenir shops, observe the unique building architecture and the abundance of Chinese symbols and have a Chinese meal in one of the many restaurants or have a “Dim Sam” and continue. However, when you join the tour with the amazing tour guide Linda Lee, you get exposed to a different and fascinating world, and you learn a lot, all thru a yielding personal experience. The tour takes you to a Fortune Cookie manufacturing plant, having of course a taste of the cookies’, visit a pharmacy in which next to various medical herbs are also alligator feet and dried insects, and have a nutshell lesson on Chinese Medicine, visit a Buddhist Temple and make wishes, see the locals in various meditation exercises, roam the fruits and vegetables market with a huge variety of products with most attractive prices, glance into the Chinese School and learn about the rigid studies conducted there, after studies at the American school, and learn from first hand how it is to grow up in this bubbling crowded quarter. Linda is thrilling and amusing and she succeeds to captivate everyone. At the end of the tour one can join her for a meal in one of the Quarter’s restaurants where mainly the locals dine. Those who do not wish to dine, receive a list of recommended restaurants in the Quarter to enjoy at a later time. The tour takes around two hours, without the meal. You will be surprised how much you have learned in such a short time.
Especially tasty foot tours are conducted by Gourmet Walks: Fun Foodie Tours, which offers various types of food tours. The most famous of them is the chocolate tour offered by the company. Those who savor the sweets will gurgle with pleasure. The tour takes the visitors to small local chocolate factories, gourmet shops and delicatessen that specialize in chocolate, at an organic coffee shop famous for its chocolate, and everywhere samples of a variety of magnificent high quality chocolates are offered while hearing explanations and fascinating stories in the manner in which chocolate is produced, its history, sources and more.
For those who prefer salty food, and especially Asian food, it is recommended to join the tour by the company named Gourmet Japantown/Fillmore that departs from the small Japanese Quarter goes thru the luxurious Pacific Heights Quarter and the Jazz and fashion quarter Fillmore.
On this tour you will have a taste of Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese food, including deserts and interesting and special drinks but will also visit trendy coffee shops with healthy food and lots of atmosphere. While doing all this you will hear the story of the Japanese Community in the City during the Second World War, which after the attack on Pearl-Harbor, was expelled from its home, all of its property taken, and sent to secluded closed camps. You will also see interesting buildings and get to know quarters that are less familiar to Israelis. Each food tour takes about three hours, you certainly will not remain hungry!
For those who prefer a
Hebrew Guidance, you will be glad to hear that there is
also a good solution for this. Sarah Navon, a tour
guide, and Israeli who lives many years in San
Francisco, knows every corner of the City and has guided
many groups of Israelis in various guided tours.
Currently she is a private guide for families, couples
and small groups. She joins you in your car and for 8-9
hours she will show you the wonders and secrets of the
City from every possible angle. You decide with her on
the tempo and the contents of the tour in accordance
with your wishes and needs and she will lead you thru
the curved streets to the most beautiful vista points at
the most appropriate time (it is advisable to remember
that climate in San Francisco is volatile and cloudy,
especially in the summer), she will tour with you in the
special neighborhoods and introduce the city to you in
depth in a manner that only a local can do. While
touring with her you will learn a lot about the City’s
history that included earthquakes, fires and
revolutions, about the colorful population that lives
here, the special structure of the City, and many other
interesting facts.
Sarah will also recommend to you
what to see, where to visit, dine and spend time in the
following days of your trip, so It is recommended that
you take the tour with her at the beginning of your
trip.
Recomended Hotels in San Francisco
The recomended area in san francisco is fisherman's wharf, it is expensive one:
The Fairmont Heritage Place Ghirardelli Square
More cheaper but still good hotels:
Courtyard by Marriott Fishermans Wharf