I had never been to California and planned a quick trip to San Francisco to visit a childhood friend. To make the most of our time together and to see a great variety of San Francisco sites, we decided to try the 5-hour San Francisco/Sausalito Tour offered by San Francisco Shuttle Tours. This water and land tour is a great introduction to areas you may want to further investigate while staying in San Francisco.

The tour started at the Ferry Building with a Ferry/Bay Cruise. On board, the Ferry has comfortable seating and beverages and snacks for purchase. You can sit outside and enjoy a coastal experience or stay inside and enjoy theatre like seating. We saw Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, and Angel Island. We were very lucky to have a crystal clear blue day and the scenery was amazing!

The cruise portion of the tour ended in Sausalito, which is a small town with art galleries, shops, and gourmet restaurants. While in Sausalito we had lunch and shopped. There were so many great things to do here that we definitely plan to return when we have more time. If you want to maximize your time in Sausalito, plan to arrive at the Ferry Building early and have a bite to eat there before the tour begins.

Next, we boarded our tour bus to head back toward San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge, where we were able to stop, walk around and take pictures. We then went on to the Palace of Fine Arts, Nob Hill, Grace Cathedral and Lombard Street (the most crooked street in the world). Lombard Street was actually a walking tour route. We were able to walk down the side of the street and take pictures from the very foot of this street.

Back on the bus, the tour took us to Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden, Chinatown, and Alamo Square Park. Alamo Square is known for its Victorian architecture, particularly the row of homes known as the “Painted Ladies” featured in countless TV shows and movies. This is a great spot for pictures.

During our tour, we also drove by: North Beach, Sutro Tower, De Young Museum, Coit Tower, Presidio National Park, City Hall/Civic Center, Conservatory of Flowers and Market Street.

Our tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly and even took pictures of us! This fast-paced tour includes a lot of on/off the bus and walking on some steep hills, allowing for breathtaking views of San Francisco, so be sure to wear comfortable shoes!

San Francisco Shuttle Tours can be set apart from its competition in several ways. They conduct their tours on smaller shuttle buses, so you enjoy a more intimate group dynamic. Also, you have both a driver and a tour guide, which is not only safer, but allows the guide to spend his or her focus on narrating and to accompany the group on the walking portions of the tour. Other tours you may want to consider include the Napa Wine Country Tour, the Monterey/Carmel Tour, and the Muir Woods Tour. We suggest you give them a try!

Visit San Francisco Shuttle Tours for more details, pricing and reservations.