Yosemite National Park Day Trip from San Francisco

San Francisco, United States of America

Get out of town! Exchange the big-city charms of San Francisco for the fresh air and natural beauty of Yosemite, California's most famous national park. You'll spend around four hours within Yosemite: one hour with the group, and approximately three hours to explore the scenic wonders of Yosemite Valley independently.

After crossing the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, you'll travel through the Great Central Valley and into the Sierra foothills, where the Forty-Niners panned for gold.

Following the beautiful Merced River to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, you'll enter Yosemite National Park. Glaciers cut through these mountains, forming the spectacular granite monuments you'll see throughout the park.

Highlights on your Yosemite National Park day trip include:

• San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge
• Sierra Nevada Range
• El Capitan
• Bridalveil Falls
• Vernal Falls
• Merced River
• Yosemite Falls
• Cathedral Spires
• Half Dome

This tour is seasonal, operating from April through to October.

USD $119.99

Review by: duskydawn1	September 2011
Great day. Fabulous experience.

Review by: Eric J	August 2011
The driver was great at giving information and pointing out things along the way. He stopped at a fresh fruit and vegetable stand and at deli so we could pick up lunch. It was wonderful way to have a picinic lunch in the park. I would recommend this trip as a way to get to a national park without having to drive.

Review by: Caroline P	July 2011
Stunning scenery but a very long day

Review by: Alison B	June 2011
great day out, tour guide/driver very informative and very entertaining. Would definitely recommend this trip as Yosemite should not be missed. Loved it

Review by: DAVID	June 2011
good place to be outdoors

Review by: John A	June 2011
This was an amazing day. You can not do Yosemite in a day but if that's all you have then this is the way to go. The driver provided by grey line was a star and made the trip fun.

Review by: Helen M	June 2011
Definitely worth seeing. The scenery is outstanding and the guide was very knowlegeable and looked after the party very well.

Review by: Nilima J	May 2011
We had the best time ever! It is a beautiful place and we visited when the waterfalls were in full flow! It was amazing... the grandeur of the peaks and waterfalls is unimaginable.... Our guide Steve was a great guy and we had an amazing time with him. He was extremely knowledgeable and witty and very funny... It was a long trip of 14 hours but because of Steve, our tour dint seem strenuous at all... Thanks a lot for the great time!

Review by: John W	April 2011
Yosemite NP is absolutely stunning, a must see. An exrta hour or two there would have been good though, even if it meant getting back to San Fran late at night. If you have time do the overnight trip.

Review by: Katherine M	October 2010
We were really disappointed to be put in a 15 seater coach instead of a proper tour bus. Apparently this was done to save entry fees (which were included in our cost already). But what it did was make a very long trip extremely uncomfortable. Both my husband and I are tall and we had no leg room at all. Also i found the driver to be very negative and cynical. An unfortunate end to our trip. Yosemite was beautiful but to be honest I wouldn't recommend it unless it is spring and the waterfalls are running. Sorry to sound negative but the bus ride really killed it for us!

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
Great views but only 3 hours of free time in the Park with 10 hours of bus.

Review by: Allen R	August 2010
A very good trip with a very entertaining driverhost. Stephen was his name. The only drawback was the traffic coming home ran us an hour over and 15 hrs is an awfull long day for someone on vacation! I don't know how you could make it any better. Cudo's to Stephen for making the trip interesting and as fun as he could!

Review by: Anonymous	July 2010
My fiance and I went on the tour. Very Professional and Knowledgeable Driver. He knew a lot about each little city we drove through on our way back to Yose. We had 3 hrs on our own. We rented bikes and toured the park. The driver stopped at multiple places where we ould not get to on bike. Food Wise We stopped at a local farm market in the Central Valley. Awesome Cookies. Then for dinner we stopped at a shopping center we could choose from 3-4 different places. Vehicle was a Dodge Sprinter. Comfortable for up in Mtns. Stephen was out driver and he was great.

Review by: Peter D, Australia	June 2010
What a day, 14 fantastic hours, DG did the best job for us including ensuring we ate well and saw the best of the sights. He went out of his way to make sure we all did the valley tour. Thanks DG.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	April 2010
This was well worth the money! The bus ride to Yosemite alone is worth the trip. We passed through small American country towns, stopped for coffee and snacks along the way and got to see some countryside that is just as beautiful as Yosemite itself. Our tour guide had plenty of stories and fun facts to tell us along the way and the personalized tour through Yosemite was priceless. This tour is a must for anyone travelling to California!

Review by: Catherine K, United States of America	April 2010
Bus was very dusty - did not look like it was cleaned in a long time - I could write my name in the dust. Also the bus was struggling on the mountains - it might need a tune up. We got there at 6 because it said the bus leaves at 6:30am and need to be there 12 hr before. We found out at 6:30am it really was not leaving until 7:00am. We had a 20 minute late start because some people were not there. They said they were supposed to have gotten picked up but the bus never picked them up.

Review by: Pearl P, United Kingdom	November 2009
A very enjoyable visit to Yosemite but unfortunately the Bay Bridge was closed on the morning of our excursion. This added an extra hours travelling in both directions. This extended travel was tiring and the driver had to be relieved before we reached San Francisco because he had exhausted his working hours.

Review by: Neha A, Australia	October 2009
What an amazing day trip! Although the trip is long 4 hours one way, the reward at the end of the journey is well worth it. Yosemite is an amazing place! Unless you have the time to stay overnight, this day trip gives you a great taster into the National Park. It is very hard to leave but you are guaranteed to want to go back. Because we made some time on the trip up, we ended up having 3 full hours of free time at Yosemite which was great. We also had a one hour tour of the park with the driver who took us to Bridal veil falls and tunnel view lookout which was great because then on top of that we had 3 hours to do what we liked. The park shuttle bus helps to conveniently transport you through the park, so getting around whilst you are there is very easy. Granted we had the picture perfect day weather wise so it was an absolute dream experience, I am sure Yosemite has something to offer no matter what the weather may bring.

Review by: Suzanne O, United States of America	October 2009
The trip guide was very, very good. However, if I had to do it over again the trip was too long for just three hours in the park. We didn't want to rent a car and go through all that, maybe a package where you get the ride and a room there at Yosemite for a night or two would have been better!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	August 2009
Excellent tour. Need more time in Yosemite!

Review by: Jyoti P, India	May 2009
We had a superb guide and thanks to him the trip was brilliant!

Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom	May 2009
Great trip. Our driver was brilliant and very knowledgeable and allowed plenty of time for photographs.

Review by: Soemantrie A, Australia	May 2009
Great park, very nice, if you get a chance go in spring then you will see all the waterfalls in their full glory. Be aware the trip from San Fran to Yosemite is a long one.

Review by: Anonymous, Philippines	May 2009
Boring, we just slept almost the whole trip to and from Yosemite. Maybe if we had a more informative guide. The views were spectacular, but maybe one needs to read up on Yosemite before going in order to know and understand what one will see there. Yosemite itself was very beautiful.

Review by: JYOTI P	May 2009
We had a superb guide and thanks to him the trip was brilliant!

Review by: Emma Teresa V, Mexico	April 2009
Going there was long, but we enjoyed being there because of the nature views you get. We even saw a black bear.

Review by: Shane D, Australia	November 2008
The only complaint we had with this tour was the bus was a small one for such a long journey and you couldn't see out of the windscreen as it was described as a dog nose bus. Apart from that and it being a dry year and no waterfalls, we thought the rest of the tour was great and so was the tour guide

Review by: B F, United States of America	May 2008
Just a few disappointments - we understood that we would see redwood trees and that was not the case and it needs better places to eat during the trip.

Review by: Bart F	May 2008
Just a few disappointments - we understood that we would see redwood trees and that was not the case and it needs better places to eat during the trip.

Review by: Siva K, United States of America	April 2008
You could allow more time at the park for the customers.

Review by: SIVA K	April 2008
You could allow more time at the park for the customers.

Review by: Suzanne B, Australia	November 2007
A long day, but worth every moment.

Review by: Suzanne	November 2007
A long day, but worth every moment.

Review by: Reece P, United Kingdom	September 2007
If you do no other trip whilst in San Francisco you should not miss this amazing valley. It is truly the eighth wonder of the world.

Review by: Johnny C, United States of America	May 2007
The views of Yosemite were marvelous, including the waterfalls, trees, and nature. The only thing that I can say was a drawback to this trip was the four-hour trip there and the four-hour trip back. That's very long. But other than that, it's a must-see!