Stopping over in San Francisco on your way to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji or Hawaii? Then you might want to take a hop on hop off bus to get a quick overview of San Francisco. We did the Hop On Hop Off Tour blue bus tour from Alcatraz Excursions (40 USD, valid for two days) where we did the following route of popular sights in San Francisco:
- Fisherman’s Wharf – North Point St. & Taylor St.
- Lombard Street – Lombard St. & Steiner St.
- Palace of Fine Arts – Lombard St. & Ruger St.
- Disney Museum – Montgomery St. & Lincoln St.
- Presidio – Mason St. at Crissy Field
- Golden Gate Bridge – South Vista Point
- Golden Gate Park / California Acedemy of Science
- Golden Gate Park / Conservatory of Flowers
- Haight Ashbury – Haight St. and Stanyan St.
- Civic Center Plaza – Fulton at Pioneer Monument
- Civic Center Station – 8th St. and Market St.
- Moscone Center / South of Market – Mission St. and 3rd St.
- Union Square – Powell St. and Geary St.
- Chinatown – Grant St. and Bush St.
- Barbary Coast – Kearny St. between Clay and Washington
- North Beach – Powell St. and Filbert
- Alcatraz Landing – Bus loading zone at Pier 33
- Pier 39 – Bus loading zone in front of Pier 39
- Fisherman’s Wharf – Beach St. (between Powell and Mason)
The buses operate hourly/half hourly in peak season starting from the stops mentioned above. You can get off the bus at every stop but this is quite tough if you have only one day in San Francisco. Our tip: stay on the bus for the first entire route to orientate and decide at which points you want to take some time to explore.
A walk from Palace of Fine Arts to Golden Gate Bridge very nice if it’s sunny but you should plan enough time as it is quite a walk.
San Francisco Palace of fine arts
Get off at the Golden Gate Bridge and walk across the bridge. In the sunshine you’ll have a beautiful view of the skyline of San Francisco and prison island Alcatraz. Want to go to the view point at the Sausalitos’ end of the bridge? Take the pedestrian walk on the left side of the bridge. If you like to see sunset at the view point keep in mind that the bridge will be closed for pedestrians at about 5.30 pm.
Golden Gate Bridge Park
The Painted Ladies – some old victorian houses that became famous by the US series “Full House” – aren’t a stop on the route. Although, the buses pass the houses quite slowly so you can take a picture of these famous houses.
Painted Ladies - known from the US series "Full House"
If you’ve got some spare time you should take the cable car which is also very famous for San Francisco. It operates between Fisherman’s Wharf and Union Square (6 USD per person) and is a nice variation crossing the hilly streets of San Francisco.
Close to Union Square where you can shop til you drop there’s another stop “Civic Center Plaza” where City Hall, the big and beautiful city hall of San Francisco, is located.
San Francisco City Hall city hall
Get off at Fisherman’s Wharf Pier 33 to cross the river and visit Alcatraz. The ferries operate half hourly from the pier but it is recommended to buy tickets at least 3 days in advance as tickets are sold out quickly. Day tickets are about 26 USD per person, night tickets are about 33 USD per person including a scary atmosphere and an extraordinary view of San Francisco at night.
