SAN FRANCISCO · CALIFORNIA
Past the Golden Gate, in every direction.
Alcatraz and the cable cars, the bay and the bridge. Then the redwoods at Muir Woods, the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma, Yosemite’s granite and the Monterey coast, all an easy day from the city.
Pure San Francisco
Three things you can only do here.
Plenty of cities have a waterfront, a famous bridge and a big park. They don’t have a prison island out in the bay, the tallest trees on Earth half an hour north, and the Golden Gate.
Out in the bay
The Rock
There is only one Alcatraz, and it sits on its own island a mile offshore. Ferry across the bay, step into the cellblock, and take the audio tour narrated by the men once locked inside and the guards who watched them. The night tour, when the island empties and the city lights come up, is the one to book. Tickets sell out weeks ahead.
- 1 San Francisco: Alcatraz Ticket, Ferry, & Self-Guided App
- 2 Combo Tour: Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Grand City Tour
- 3 San Francisco: Alcatraz Island & 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Across the Golden Gate
The Ancient Redwoods
Half an hour north of the bridge, the trails at Muir Woods run beneath coast redwoods that were already old when the first ships reached the bay. They are the tallest living things on Earth, they grow only on this fog-fed strip of coast, and the canopy goes quiet the moment you step under it. Most trips pair the grove with the harbour town of Sausalito and a ferry back.
- 1 Muir Woods and Sausalito (Return by Bus or Ferry)
- 2 San Francisco Super Saver: Muir Woods & Wine Country w/ optional Gourmet Lunch
- 3 San Francisco: Muir Woods and Sausalito Half-Day Trip
The 1.7 miles everyone comes for
The Golden Gate
The most photographed bridge in the world is best met on foot or by bike: out across the span, often above a sea of fog, the city at your back and the Marin headlands ahead. Ride the full mile and three-quarters down into Sausalito and ferry home past Alcatraz. The towers were painted International Orange so they would show through the fog.
- 1 Golden Gate Bridge Guided Bicycle or E-Bike Tour from San Francisco to Sausalito
- 2 San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Bike or Electric Bike Rental
- 3 San Francisco: Golden Gate Bridge Catamaran Cruise
The one everyone books
If you lock in just one thing, make it this.
More visitors reserve this than anything else on the site. The safe pick when you only have room for one.
The classics
San Francisco’s Most Popular Tours & Day Trips
Muir Woods and the wine country, the bay cruises and the bridge, Alcatraz and the hop-on-hop-off loop. The days most visitors book first.
Where to begin
The days a San Francisco trip is built around.
Alcatraz and the redwoods, wine country and the bay, the bridge and Yosemite. The handful of trips most San Francisco visits are planned around, and the best of each.
The big question
Which way out of the city?
Some of San Francisco’s best days happen outside it: north to the redwoods and the wine, or east to Yosemite’s granite. Here is how the three big day trips compare, and who each one suits.
An hour north
The vines start over the bridge.
Cross the Golden Gate and the city gives way to Napa and Sonoma, the most famous wine country in America. A day tour pours at two or three estates, breaks for a long lunch among the rows, and hands the driving to someone else, so the only call you have to make is red or white.
Read the guide: Napa and Sonoma wine tours →Out on the water
The city lines up from the bay.
The skyline, the bridge and Alcatraz all fall into one frame from the water, and the boats run all day from Pier 39. Sail out under the Golden Gate, round the island, and slip back past the barking sea lions. The sunset cruises swap the narration for a glass of wine and the lights coming on across the hills.
See the bay cruises →The icon
Cross the most famous bridge in the world.
A mile and three-quarters of International Orange, strung between the headlands and the city, with the Pacific on one side and the bay on the other. Walk it for the view, or rent a bike at Fisherman’s Wharf and ride the whole span down to Sausalito, then ferry back past Alcatraz with the wind behind you.
Bike across to Sausalito →Eat the city
Where San Francisco eats.
This has been a serious food town since the Gold Rush. Walk the Mission for the burrito that made the city famous, the dim sum halls of the oldest Chinatown in the country, the stalls of the Ferry Building, and the sourdough and Dungeness crab down on the wharf. Come hungry, and wear good shoes.
- 1 San Francisco Super Saver: Muir Woods & Wine Country w/ optional Gourmet Lunch
- 2 San Francisco Authentic Food Tour with 5 Locals Favorites Dishes
- 3 San Francisco: Chinatown Culinary Walking Tour
After the fog rolls in
San Francisco after dark.
The city earns its evenings. A sunset cruise under the bridge as the lights come on, a ghost walk through the alleys of Chinatown and North Beach, dinner with the skyline laid out below, or the last ferry back from the night tour of Alcatraz. The fog only makes it better.
See all 20 evening experiences →By place
Pick a corner of the Bay.
Each one is its own day. Alcatraz out in the bay. The redwoods and Sausalito across the bridge. Wine country an hour north, Yosemite’s granite to the east, and the Monterey coast to the south.
By activity
Or pick how to see the city.
A boat if you want the bay and the bridge from the water. A bike to ride across it. On foot through Chinatown and the food markets, a vintage convertible for the postcard run, or a sail at sunset. The hop-on-hop-off loop ties it together.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in San Francisco? A long weekend that pairs the city and the bay with the country just beyond it.
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