Highly recommend this combo tour to cover most of San Francisco's famous attractions. The hop-on, hop-off buses included informative guides and the routes were easy to navigate. We booked the 48-hour hop-on, hop-off and as part of this, we also got two free walking tours, a city-by night tour be sure to wear warm clothes if going in the June/July period and a 7D virtual reality experience ticket at Pier 39 which was a nice bonus.
Review by: Susan H, May 2018
This excursion was awesome. We did the headphone audible that you listen to as you walk through your tour. It explained every little detail about aspect of this jail. There were pictures of the inmates some who were infamous like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Some of the cells were set up like they were back in the day. You learned about several events that occurred and some of the escapes attempted by those housed here. Walking around you are taken back in time without a doubt. The view from Alcatraz was amazingly beautiful. Of course if you are a prisoner the view is that last thing you appreciate. We toured the activity area where they would keep themselves busy, the library, the cafeteria and other parts of the grounds that are covered in beautiful succulents and flowers. The variety of birds that inhabit the island now is tremendous.... awe... what a life for them now. Well worth it and highly recommend you don't miss this excursion.
Review by: Mark G, April 2018
The Alcatraz Tour was excellent especially the Audio tour._br/_ The quality of the Hop On Hop Off bus varies greatly. _br/_ Some buses are covered in advertising so you cannot see outside the windows. Avoid these._br/_ Some buses only have a recorded commentary._br/_ 24 hours is long enough for the Hop On, Hop off,_br/_ 48 hours is way to long
Review by: traceylynn90, April 2018
Great tour guides . Cheap prices -better than the Big Bus ! B-B Hsyes was a great and entertaining guide . Please go to Sausalito -what a beautiful coastal village ! easy to use .
Review by: Stephen W, April 2018
I would never use Viator again after my experience with this, the tour itself was very good, however the providers that Viator used, i.e. Gray Line were an absolute shambles. I booked this tour initially 4 months prior to my departure, I printed the vouchers that were sent and phoned Gray Line a few weeks before my arrival as advised to confirm my time of my tour, I was advised by Gray Line that I had phoned too early and to phone them 72 hours prior to the tour. I then received a call 2 days prior to my departure and 4 days prior to my tour to enquire if we could delay our tour by 2 days, I advised that we could not as we were leaving San Francisco that day, Gray Line advised that it was not a problem and that we would receive another email with our tour tickets attached to print accordingly. I received no such email and then phoned Gray Line from the UK the night before my flight to enquire into the email/tickets, I was advised that they were still trying to sort out the issue and I would receive an email in the next 24 hours. Again no such email arrived, so on arrival in San Francisco we phoned Gray Line again and this was told to go to their office 7.30am the next morning to pick up our tickets for our tour the following day. When we got to the ticket office we were told our tickets were not there, that they had overbooked but that they would get our tickets to the office by 6.00pm, we went back to the office at 6.00pm and was told the tickets were with their manager who was in a meeting in their head office at that time but would drop them off at the ticket office for us to collect 1st thing the following morning. We went to the ticket office again at 7.30am for our tickets for our tour that day that was due to start at 9.00am, again our tickets were not there, so the person at Gray Line rang their manager who advised that the tickets would be there at 11.00am for an afternoon tour of Alcatraz. We then returned again at 11.00 to be told that there were no tickets available that day for Alcatraz, they then rang their contact for these tickets, who came down to speak to us, she said she had 2 tickets for that daywe were a party of 3 including a 9 yr old and one Alcatraz ticket for the following day, which was not really any use to us, however she then advised she had been given a contact number of another guy who may be able to source some tickets i.e. ticket tout and that she was waiting on a call from him and should have a reply by 12.30pm, at 12.30 she came out to see us to say her contact had got 3 tickets but she had to go and collect them, she returned 30mins later with 3 tickets. We then proceeded to the Alcatraz launch area office to start boarding and were asked for ID, the lady then asked why were the names on the tickets different to ours, we had not checked this, also it was very small writing, we just assumed it was correct tickets for us, however the ticket office allowed to continue with our tour of Alcatraz. The following day we did the hop on hop off bus tour. Alcatraz itself was great and was really worthwhile, however we lost a lot of our holiday time due to Gray Line and this has left a negative impression on us of San Francisco and also over 20 worth of calls to Gray Line, not impressed. Book at your own peril via Viator or Gray Line.
Review by: sheena.ellis, March 2018
Loved the Alcatraz visit, fascinating tour and really professional audio guide. _br/_ Hop on hop off was great until we went on the Sausalito transfer. Took ages for a bus to pick us up in Sausalito far longer than we were told and when the bus arrived the driver left us for 20mins in the teaming rain on the open sided bus. Who knows where he went, he didnt tell us nor did he apologise on his return.
Review by: po, March 2018
Thought it was a bit early to start at a tour but highly recommended as Alcatraz becomes very busy in the afternoon hop on buses where frequent and enjoyable but the highlight was Alcatraz amazing
Review by: David C, January 2018
The Alcatraz tour was great, the self guided audio is excellent, very clear and moves at a good pace. They give you facts about the prison but also have audio from former inmates and guards that personalise the experience. The views from the island even were amazing. We didn't get to see much form the boat on the way there or back as we had some fog and rain and were on the first trip of the day. The boats are in good condition and comfortable and keep you dry if the weather is a bit gloomy. _br/_ The HOP on Hop off Bus was good, be careful to make sure you are clear where you want to get off, as our driver didn't stop at each stop. As there was light rain we chose to sit downstairs at first, but with the rain the windows were fogging and they had some sort of spotted tint on the window that made it difficult to see. We ended up going upstairs which was covered but a lot colder and wetter. We took advantage of the cable car ride over The Golden Gate Bridge which was cold and wet and the bridge was shrouded in fog and mist but it was so much fun! We even braved the weather and sat upstairs on the way back. Thank goodness for rain ponchos!
Review by: Martin T, December 2017
We love San Francisco ! It is a beautiful city with so many sights to see. Yes, we really enjoyed our hop-on-hop-off experience but probably didn't make the most of it and only went on one route but that was excellent with the ear-plugs to give touristy details. We would have liked to have seen the Redwood trees but time was against us. Alcatraz was most interesting , going from another interesting area at Fisherman's Wharf. We enjoyed hearing about the prisoners and some of the very well known ones such as Al Capone we also learned about an escape and how it was done and did they get away ? This was a fabulous day! We hope we can return one day to see the sights we missed. From Danny and Yvonne
Review by: Janet S, December 2017
We only did the Alcatraz Tour and it was great!
Review by: parkca, December 2017
Alcatraz audio tour best there is, the only downside to the Alcatraz tour was the amount of flies on the boat, get rid of these and it would have been 5 stars. Hop-on Hop-off also very good
Review by: gary w, October 2017
well organised tour, the only problem was that it was fleet week and a huge amount of visitors in town which meant at a lot of times the streets were closed and we had to walk long distances but all in all we enjoyed the trip.
Review by: Lalith D, October 2017
It was such a hassle. We were asked to collect tickets for the bus tour at 8.30 am. Although we collected the tickets sharp on time there were long queues for the bus. Dropped us off at middle of nowhere and we had to walk more than 6 miles to collect the Alcatraz tour ticket. We were given different times to report for the Alcatraz tour, which was only scheduled at 5.30 pm. Even one of the bus drivers discouraged us from getting into a hop on hop off site seeing tour, because we would be late to be at the pier to board for the Alcatraz tour. On our return, we didn't even have a shuttle bus although they promised the last bus would be around 7.00 pm. the service personnel at the ticket counters were not even willing to listen to us. They brushed us off. We paid so much money and booked the tours months ahead but it was so disappointing. There were other tourists who were inconvenienced. We had such an awesome experience on our previous viator tours. we have toured on hop on hop off red bus tours in Amsterdam and other European countries, but never let down so badly.
Review by: Jerry B, October 2017
This was a great way to see a lot in a short time.
Review by: Sandra Grace A, September 2017
Marvelous!!! Our hop on hop off bus tour guide Christian was a Blast... A mine of information...
Review by: CERI G, August 2017
The visit to Alcatraz was great , however I felt there was a lot of queuing up to get tickets / times etc with Grey Line. I also felt some of the buses were old and not very nice and we had to wait ages for the Grey Line ones compared to the Big Bus ones. I would go Big Bus next time
Review by: Melissa S, August 2017
The tour was good but bus needed a clean! _br/_ Staff at Gray Line Tours where we had to collect the Alcatraz voucher, were unhelpful - didn't seem to know what was going on! We weren't told we needed ID to get the Alcatraz tickets - surely a v. important part of the trip? Alcatraz made it 4 stars not 3!
Review by: Nancy S, August 2017
When we called to confirm our tour 48 hours in advance as instructed, we were told our Alcatraz tour would take place at 2 PM on the assigned date, but when we went to pick up our tickets we were told the tour was at 4 PM. Since we had planned our day around the 2 PM tour, it changed one of our few vacation days. Furthermore, the 4 PM was the last tour of the day, and we had to catch the ferry back by 6:30 PM so we didn't have as much time as we would have liked. Was very disappointed in the misinformation given - would have planned differently if we had been given the correct time to begin with. When I complained to the ticket window staffed they shrugged and said there was nothing they could do about it. Recommend avoiding booking through here and book directly through Alcatraz.
Review by: james moore, August 2017
Please be advised the booking process is easy, the tours are worthwhile, however Grayline - the agent used by Viator are basically dishonest. _br/_ The product offered of Viator includes various different inclusions: _br/_ Bike Hire, Bay Cruise, Alcatraz Cruise, Hop on Hop, Cable Car off Bus ETC... _br/_ When you actually try and redeem the vouchers from the Agent Gray Line, Grey line will try and renege on these inclusions. For example, initially only our hop on hop off bus voucher was printed with one other voucher, we were then told when we get on the bus everything else will be explained not correct. Missing were the expensive parts of the experience, parts that greyline contracted out to other companies, they don't print the ticket, you don't go, they keep the money. In my case, the Harbour Cruise, Bike Hire, and Alcatraz, Cable Car. When eventually you work it out, you have wasted half of your day and are running out of time to do everything. _br/_ Even worst, you go to one office to be told you need to collect other vouchers from another office at the other end of the city, I believe all part of the charade to prevent you using your inclusions. _br/_ In the example of our Alcatraz tour tickets, Greyline lost our booking, along with 2 other groups that was 12 people in total, all pre-paid weeks to months before on Viator. We were all Viator clients. Greyline act stupid like it never happens, but it was obvious it does. _br/_ All in all - San Francisco - what a great city - Greyline - incompetent or simply dishonest. _br/_ So itemising issues _br/_ Told to go to incorrect offices when called to confirm tickets._br/_ Told we could redeem tickets on hop on hop off bus by Greyline office - not correct. _br/_ Told could get additional tickets on Bus - not correct._br/_ Bike tickets not printed, told they were not included Did not bother arguing was over it. _br/_ Harbour Cruise Tickets not Printed - Told it was not part of the inclusions Argued this and they were then given_br/_ Cable Car Tickets not Printed, had to ask for these_br/_ Alcatraz Tickets Not Printed, told could not collect from main office_br/_ Alcatraz Tickets Not held - told nothing they could do.
Review by: Gavin W, July 2017
Do not book with Grey Line. Long wait for buses, unhelpful staff, was a nightmare and a half a day fight to get our Alcatraz tickets. Book with any of the other companies, they have more buses and the lines at the pick up spots are much shorter. There was a 2-3 bus wait at Golden Gate Bridge.
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