10 Best Tours in San Francisco

Let’s Find You A Right Tour To Explore The City By Bay!

Planning a trip to San Francisco but don’t know where to start your excursion? You’ve landed at the perfect place. By taking tours in San Francisco, you'll efficiently uncover the city's top attractions, making the most of your time and exploration. Whether by bus, by bike, by air, by boat, or even through vintage Volkswagen, you can travel in San Francisco wherever you want while enjoying a completely different outlook on the sounds and sights of this small yet bustling city.

To speed up your research, here are the best 10 tours in San Francisco. Whether you are a history buff, food connoisseur, adventure lover, or everything in between, there's something for everyone on the list!

Catch a glimpse of two renowned bridges on this one-and-a-half-hour boat trip via San Francisco Bay. Besides sailing underneath both the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge, tourgoers will catch sight of the Palace of Fine Arts, the city’s skyline, and Alcatraz Island. This tour offers an audio guide in a total of 16 languages, emphasizing the city’s history.

Running throughout 365 days, you can opt for a morning and afternoon tour, departing from Fisherman’s Wharf. Plus these San Francisco boat tours also provide an hour-long Golden Gate Bay Cruise.

Make a beeline for San Francisco Bay to take in a few whales dancing, passing through immaculate waters with Whale Watching San Francisco tours. You may spot gray whales, dolphins, seabirds, humpbacks, harbor seals, and porpoises on this two-and-a-half-hour cruise. Moreover, you will also catch jaw-dropping glimpses of the majestic Golden Gate Bridge. This tour company provides tours once or twice daily from spring till early fall.

Gray Line is one of the best San Francisco bus tours that last for almost 5 hours and takes you to the Muir Woods National Monument, offering close-up redwood views. The tour will carry on to Sausalito, you will have a choice to return to the city via ferry at an additional charge. Moreover, Gray Line San Francisco also provides day trips from San Francisco, encompassing Napa Valley, Monterey, and Sonoma.

After you’ve sailed across the bay waters and strolled through the city, you should try a San Francisco helicopter tour. You will fly above the downtown and over Angel Island and Alcatraz before settling down in Sausalito’s Richardson Bay on this 15-minute to 20-minute flight from Seaplane Adventures. The tour departs in the afternoon on Friday till Monday. Plus, this air tour offers a few more air tours that include a 45-minute tour of the Greater Bay Area.

If a traditional bus tour isn’t your cup of tea, then opt for Vantigo which accommodates up to 7 passengers in a vintage-styled Volkswagen to enjoy everything the city has to offer. On this 3-hour tour, you will catch sight of 15 points of interest with a great deal of photo opportunities as well as breathtaking views of North Beach, Haight Ashbury, Twin, and the list goes on. Plus, you can get on either Union Square or Fisherman’s Wharf. This tour operates once or twice daily on Thursday to Saturday and Monday. Combo San Francisco Alcatraz tour is provided as well as brewery tours

Enjoy a drive around the city in a vintage Volkswagen Bohemian bus during this 120-minute tour. As you travel through sites such as Golden Gate Park and Lombard Street, your ears will witness the enchanting San Francisco’s history and listen to music. For some Insta-worthy shots, you will stop at 2 stops to snap the city’ skyline and Golden Gate Bridge. This tour starts from 8:30 daily and 11 PM as well as 2 PM and 5 PM. This bus allows a tour of not more than 7 passengers while it also operates a night tour.

Food lovers and history enthusiasts will love getting on this tour, where experienced guides are great storytellers. You will get to discover ten blocks of Little Italy known as North Beach on this 3-hour long tour. Enjoy tasting the neighborhood’s delicious pastries, pizza, chocolates, coffee, and more, all included in the tour cost. On selected days, the tour is unavailable; operates around 10:30 AM.

If exploring the city’s grandiose attractions conveniently is more of your thing, this hop-on-hop-off tour is a perfect fit for you. This Big Bus runs every half an hour and explores 20-plus locations, including the Embarcadero, the Presidio, and Chinatown, also a ride above the Golden Gate Bridge. This hop on hop off bus San Francisco continues for over 2 hours with prerecorded commentary in 10 languages. This open-top bus tour also presents night tours.

If you prefer nature over anything, Extranomical Tours is the best fit for you. Trek to one of the matchless natural wonders with a memorable day trip to magical Yosemite National Park. Take in the captivating sights of the giant two-millennia-old sequential trees, then visit top spots such as Bridalveil Fall, EI Captain, and Yosemite Falls.

If some spine-chilling stuff captures your interest, The Haunt Ghost Tours is all set to serve you. Full of spooky and intriguing information, this haunted tour lasts for 90 minutes and uncovers San Francisco history’s darker side, entailing stories related to Chinatown while you search for spirit all along the path with EMF meters. The tour starts from Jackson Square Historic District and includes less than a mile of downtown.

Wrapping up, whether you are craving panoramic Golden Gate Bridge vistas, a spine-chilling haunting adventure, or a dive into a history-rich river, you will find tours in San Francisco just crafted for you. With knowledgeable guides, breathtaking views, refreshing boat tours, and memorable experiences, San Francisco has a bit of everything to offer!