On this San Francisco tour, drive down the very steep and crooked Lombard Street, and around neighborhoods such as the Mission. Dubai This self-guided tour starts by first visiting the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center in Richmond, CA. Our San Francisco exploration begins at one of the city's most iconic stops: the Painted Ladies! This San Francisco city tour begins with the Painted Ladies, one of the citys top attractions. Mission: The Mission is home to our largest concentration of street art and murals. This is a walk through the past and future of San Francisco. Ive been on tours where I was just bored listening to the guide. Should You Go on a Driving Tour of San Francisco? We definitely came away with much more of an appreciation for Castro and the Mission (love Dolores Park!) The price is about $275 per person and does not include wine. Next, our SF tour brings us to the famous Lombard Street. POIPU AND KOLOA DRIVING TOUR $29.99. You can stop for photos, take detours, grab a coffee or break for lunch. We provide a map with each stop listed on our self-guided tour of North Beach to ensure that you wont get lost and itll be easy to spot each attraction. Haight Ashbury got its name from the corner of its two major streets, Haight and Ashbury. You can buy these together or separately through Amazon. For example, you could easily drive past Tessie Walls infamous brothel without knowing about it! Chinatown is like a piece of China on the steep slopes of San Francisco. This is the end stop where two cable car lines, the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines turn back, so just set yourself in the queue and wait for the next cable car to come. We offer Escorted Motorcoach Tours, Self Drive Tours, Cruises and Vacation Packages in North America. Expedia, Inc. is not responsible for content on external Web sites. To make driving easier, the most curved section of Lombard Street was made a one-way street (only down), and there is a strict speed limit (5 mph, 8km/hour). The trail is marked with gold medallions embedded within the sidewalks. >> Learn more about things to see and do in Japantown. He gave us lots of fun facts along the way and the whole experience was very interesting. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We entered San Francisco from the freeway from the downtown exit (Fremont Street). If you want to travel, simply pay the conductor. The app was super easy to use, and the content was really fun! And very soon we got used to driving up and down San Francisco hills. Our San Francisco self drive tour offers you complete flexibility and convenience. Fishermans Wharf was and still is a fishing harbor, but its new main focus has changed from fishing industry to tourism industry. While a lot of people are happy just to see this beautiful bridge or even cross the historic structure, there is a lot more to see in the area which we cover on our self-guided tour. This is a self-guided experience and not an entrance ticket. Plus, meet Claude the alligator, hang out with the African penguin colony and the 38,000 other live animals. Want to work with us? Read more. This comprehensive self-guided driving tour of San Francisco covers everything from the Painted Ladies to the Embarcadero. However, in some way we did manage to get up California Street (and all other streets)! Such an interesting deep dive into the Castro and Mission neighborhoods, for which we had an incredibly sunny warm summer day. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); For first-time visitors discovering the lay of the land or those who cant leave until theyve seen it all, the 49-Mile scenic drive is a fantastic way to get acquainted with all of San Francisco. By 17 Mile Day Trips. You just need to buy a day ticket at a kiosk (something like USD 20) and having that you are free to use buses, streetcars and old San Francisco cable cars for a day. We learnt tons about SF. It started when wealthy families started building their houses up on the hill after the cable car line was opened. Drive to the summit of Russian Hill and you will find the street said to be the crookedest street in the world: Lombard Street is the steepest street in San Francisco. Our self-guided San Francisco walking tour is 6 miles long and spans 8 unique San Francisco neighborhoods: Hit the road whenever you're ready, stop as often as you'd like, and just enjoy the journey! Our Fave Spots, Zero Ads. You will find there are no definitive lines between these Colonias and Fraccionamientos. This tour doesnt include entrance to attractions along the route. Are you ready to turn your phone into a personal tour guide? California Street is so steep that it was almost too exiting for us to drive behind a cable car, stopping each time it stopped and starting uphill again each time it started. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. My tours are one full day in each district. Local insider narration and special guest interviews. Do you love venturing out on your own? A self guided driving tour we did with our friends.. read more Andrew H 10/26/2019. I've created one for each of our most popular districts. Stop and take some photos. Like Pacific Heights and Nob Hill, Haight Ashbury consists of large Victorian houses but thats the only similarity. Fantastic how people keep up their traditions! You can start and end anywhere along the way. After that walk through Chinatown, which has some of the best food in the city, making it the perfect spot for lunch. Changing travel date? Take a deep dive into everything Haight-Ashbury and the Castro District have to offer. Be sure to check your email before you begin to download the Action Tour Guide app, enter your unique password, and access your tour. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit the Golden Gate Park, home to museums and attractions including the Academy of Sciences, the DeYoung Museum, and the friendly Bison. Tour Types; Tours by Region; Tours by Activity; About; Contact; USA Guide; . Book your Aquarium of the Bay Tickets now and learn about the 200 species and over 28,000 animals native to the San Francisco Bay and California coast. Email, phone, and chat support are available if needed. See reviews and photos of the San Francisco City Self-Guided Audio Tour Through Golden Gate Bridge. If you are craving a burrito, be sure to visit La Taqueria or Papalote. Past members include luminaries like Imogen Cunningham and Ruth Asawa. This is an excellent alternative if you prefer to interact with a professional guide rather than an app on your phone. From there, youll hear about the citys unique history and how it became one of the most progressive cities around. Note, this is a self-guided driving tour : You will need to arrange your own means of transportation; Nob Hill and the next hill, Russian Hill, have splendid views to the city and to the bay area: A San Francisco city tour on Russian Hill. There are apps and websites with up to date information on parking spaces and rates. Dont have the time or money to book one of our guided tours? This tour starts at Union Square, visits Chinatown, Grace Cathedral, the Cable Car Barn and Museum, North Beach (the Little Italy part of San Francisco), Lombard Street, Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. You can find new. Perfect for photographers, the bridge offers stunning views of the city, even if the evening fog has already rolled in. Classic Car Tours. Bring your walking shoes we started at 10 am and finished at 6 pm, I highly recommend you do this tour. San Francisco spreads out over 47 miles, so it's best to stick to one area at a time on your self-guided tour. Be aware of this as you start the drive. Although we dont have a self-guided tour yet, we do provide a GPS-enabled audio tour of the Castro District. This means only a small number of sea lions stay here throughout the year. It is located about 20 miles (30 km) northeast of San Francisco , and approximately a half-hour drive (without traffic) from San Francisco. Call 619-236-1242 for recorded information or to leave a voice message. Learn more about both options on the museum's dedicated Barbary Coast Website. Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots and learn more about San Francisco Audio Tour Guide. It stops at the top of the curved block and you can walk down the stairs and see the cars. This map is interactive. Paris Our North Beach tour is close to stops in both Chinatown and Fishermans Wharf, so it might make sense to enjoy more than one outing at the same time. Despite the bridges theres still a lot of ferry traffic on the bay. Rome Explore California Academy of Sciences entrance tickets. It is full of bright-colored homes, mosaic glass artwork, sex toy stores, and all the rainbow references you could ever ask for. To make driving easier, the most curved section of Lombard Street was made a one-way street (only down), and there is a strict speed limit (5 mph, 8km/hour). Our next San Francisco sight: the hippie suburb Haight Ashbury. You will be taken through parts of the city that arent always all that pretty before you get back on route. My tours offer you a step-by-step route to make it easy to get around. Required fields are marked *. 17-Mile Drive entrance fee. While youre up there, youll learn to identify some of the most famous structures which make up Friscos skyline. We also offer a new favorite spots map of San Franciscos downtown core. Lombard Street twists down past green bushes and flower beds. New York City And why not? Then youll swing by the City Hall, which you might feel like you recognize because you probably do! The tour works offline which means you do not need your phone network to enjoy the tour. 3. This is where most department stores are, making the San Francisco Market Street one of the main shopping streets of the city. Your tour will conclude here, but that isnt where the fun ends! (See privacy policy), Find additional self-guided tours plus some multi-day itineraries, Learn more about things to see and do in Japantown, You can buy these together or separately through Amazon. We spent a sunny Saturday driving around Central San Francisco and on Sunday we explored the Golden Gate area. FREE TOURS BY FOOT IS THE ORIGINAL PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE WALKING TOUR. You will also receive a full color map of the route. The self guided treks are 3.8 miles long and take you through several SF neighborhoods including Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. Interested in creating custom self-guided tours for your customers? HOLLYWOOD AND VINE TOUR. As we make our way to the waterfront, we'll dive into San Francisco's maritime history and it's (literal) gold-digging past. Twin Peaks are also typically less crowded than the Coit Tower, which is always a plus. $85.00. tours at your own pace and literally at any time of the day! Since 2012. This is based on an audio guide I did . You can get a free, printable, detailed map of the San Francisco 49 Mile Drive right here for your trip. $ 65 $ 50. It should say Powell-Hyde (it has a brown sign). Enjoy Santa Barbara's quintessential downtown and then continue down to Ventura and Malibu. To get to the end of the pier where the sea lions are you will need to walk all the way through the tourist zone, souvenir shops and carousels. Check COVID guidelines and opening hours before your visit. The Full San Francisco Walking Tour Self-Guided Route Details Full Walking Tour Part 1 - Knob Hill to Fisherman's Wharf (3 miles, 1:05) This San Francisco walk starts at the Powell Street Station, more or less at the top of Knob Hill.Time permitting, you would consider crossing Market Street to see the museums and check out Folsom Street.Instead, you pop over to take some iconic shots of . from. Brooklyn Bike Tour. Simply download the free TourCentric app, purchase your San . With TourCentric, youll arrive as a tourist and leave as a local. After driving down from the freeway we got into a deep gorge with super high skyscrapers on both sides. On my self-guided walking tour, you will see where history was made for the LGBTQ community. This is a self-guided tour; no guide will accompany you. Of course fog can obscure the views youre seeking from the drive. Most San Francisco seals travel south in summer to give birth to their pups and to be back here for winter. These beautiful, colorful homes exemplify Friscos funky culture and are a great way to start your journey. Most stops along the tour have animated videos allowing you to visualize what you cannot see, such as snapshots from different centuries or interior rooms. The onsite gallery hosts monthly exhibitions, as well as permanent work by current and past members. Frommer's also has a second audio tour that covers the San Francisco Waterfront. Traffic. You only need to book one tour per vehicle, not per person. If your time in San Francisco is limited, taking a driving tour of the city could be a good option for you. Even when the Americans insist on driving up and down the steep 44 San Francisco hills, one street turned out too steep even to them. The sun heats the air and the seals have their dear friends and neighbors around them :). The Castro District is a great place to visit on a driving tour, as it offers a little bit of everything that makes San Francisco the charming, quirky city that it is. Each one covers many of the top attractions and points out the hidden gems you would have missed by walking the neighborhood on your own. This picturesque, winding road has been another Hollywood staple for ages, but experiencing it for yourself is a whole different ball game. . Opening hours: Fri 12:00am-11:59pm. Later the 1906 earthquake took much of Nob Hill after which the wealthy house owners moved west to Pacific Heights and built their homes there. Easy to tell that this is an exclusive neighborhood. After booking, you can check your email before downloading the Action Tour Guide app, enter your unique password, and access your tour. SAN FRANCISCO TO LA SELF DRIVE MOTORCYCLE TOUR. Hop in your car and enjoy this self-guided audio tour along the Pacific Coast Highway. With its famous golden doors, beautiful stained glass windows, and gorgeous icons, youll be amazed. The ultimate audio tour of San Francisco, this self-guided, app-based driving tour covers the city's most iconic attractionsfrom the Painted Ladies of Steiner Street to the Golden Gate Bridge. Castro: This colorful district is one you do not want to miss. We provide customizable self guided driving vacations throughout United States, including car rentals, GPS, and hotel accommodations. Points of Interest along the San Francisco:-. Discover the iconic locations from Lombard Street and the Golden Gate Bridge to Pier 39. . San Francisco City Self-Guided Driving Tour Through Golden Gate Bridge. Discover the hidden treasures of Central Park during this 2 hour guided tour. This one hour and sixteen minute tour can be done at your own pace. Zion; Bryce; Capitol Reef; Arches . So you need to watch up when walking here. I had the most amazing time, as a solo traveller doing a small group tour is perfect. All rights reserved. We loved it as it had been our first time visiting. This is not at all like the typical guided tour. Simplify your planning process to this neighborhood by taking a guided tour. This tour has been developed by local guides, curated by creative writers, and narrated by professional voice artists. The best of San Francisco isn't found in the typical tourist destinations. That post is about driving around Central San Francisco, but now: time for the Golden Gate area . Then well guide you all around, making sure you see everything this historic place has to offer! New Orleans As distances are long in San Francisco, driving is by far the best way to explore the city. You will also find others that offer either audio or a map to get you from point to point. This way, you always know what SF attraction you are visiting next. Its full of shabby-chic vintage stores, tattoo parlors, and beautiful Victorian houses for you to check out. They have a fixed menu that changes daily of 2 nine-course meals. In particular there are certain areas of the city that are not very car-friendly, such as pedestrian-rich. Table of contents. No self-respecting local would be caught dead at Pier 39 (except to visit the resident seals), or the "visitor's center" at the Golden Gate Bridge, or Alcatraz ( many of us have never bothered to tour Alcatraz). 49 Miles of Pure San Francisco. In the evening when the sun shines on the painted ladies from the west it makes them shine. The Mission District. The San Andreas Fault has unleashed a shockwave felt from Los Angeles to Oregon, with the epicenter just off the coast of San Francisco. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Refund Policy. They are much easier to use than an audio tour if there is more than one person in your group. Check availability. Stop to enjoy the view, take pics, eat, walk, etc! Philadelphia You cant come to San Francisco and not set foot on the Golden Gate Bridge! Explore all that SF has to offer with this ultimate self-guided experience! An audio guide, map, and tour book all in one! But the whole experience was amazing and well worth the trip from San Francisco! Start in San Francisco or LA, and simply follow the GPS guide to explore one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal road in the world. See an interesting view? A main street facade in Chinatown San Francisco. The great thing about this drive is that it takes you through so much of the city that nearly any hotel youre staying in within city limits is going to be close to a portion of the drive. Or, if you are in the mood for ice cream, the Bi-Rite Creamery salted caramelice cream is worth waiting in line for. This post provides a list of free self-guided tours of San Francisco that you can enjoy anytime, day or night, every day of the week. Copyright with All Rights Reserved 1996-2017. We designed our self-guided walking tour of San Francisco to include several examples of that quirky San Francisco charm. You can read about San Francisco sights in my previous blog post San Francisco Sightseeing. Now selling 4-5 bed, 3-4 bath homes starting at $786990. During your walking tour, you will learn more about 20 of San Francisco's top attractions. Finish your self-guided tour at the beautiful Ferry Building, ideally with an ice-cream, or beer, as you take in the city skyline and Bay. You will also see where some of the most famous people of the 60s lived including the Grateful Dead and Charles Manson. Stroll along the Rainbow Walk of Fame, check out Harvey Milk's old camera shop, and learn more about the history of this district at the GLBT Museum. All rights reserved. As the ground convulses, buildings disintegrate and fires are ignited. This tour covers some of the most interesting sites in the historic Chinatown district of San Francisco. This tour is also available as a PDF that you can download onto your smartphone, allowing you to save some money on data or even avoid using data at all! Not bad, both tourists and locals like this. Alcatraz tickets with 2-day hop-on hop-off San Francisco bus pass. Get your Go City San Francisco All-Inclusive Pass, save up to 50% and take advantage of unlimited access to 25+ top attractions and a downloadable guide. To get the best views of the painted ladies come here in the evening and look at them from the Alamo Square Park. Parking, however, may cause problems, but we found good solutions for that which I will share. However, a driving tour may not be for everyone. The Financial District of San Francisco has changed a lot since the Gold Rush when this place already was a base for trade functions. Scenery. The city has a lot of it and it is not always predictable. Welcome to the GPS-enabled offline driving tour of San Francisco, California by Action Tour Guide! I could start and stop the tour whenever I wanted to break and resume. Know more. Enjoy an immersive walk with amazing views and riveting stories of San Francisco and visit the notorious Alcatraz prison during this guided tour! Check out our favorite local recommendations listed in the app and stop for a bite. Wil and Erin at Ride Free organised our whole trip along route 66 then the coast road to San Francisco. English. Subscribe to our newsletter below. I wanted to package my love of San Francisco into a Self-Guided Free Walking Tour and this is the result. Activated by your GPS location, you'll hear about gold rush founders such as the scandalous Samuel . 6 Your California: San Francisco to Point Reyes tour concludes. . From San Francisco: Highway 1 Self-Drive Audio Tour in English. Next, youll head into the citys tech quarter, where youll spot big-name HQs like Uber and Twitter and get a crash course in how Frisco became the go-to spot for the most cutting-edge tech produced anywhere. Discover San Francisco at your own pace on a self-guided tour available on your smartphone, Choose to pause the tour, spend more time at a location or skip a stop, See the Great Seal of California, learn about its symbols and origins, Cross the Golden Gate Bridge - the most iconic sight in San Francisco, Drive on Lombard street, claimed to be 'the crookedest street in the world, The tour has a fixed price for groups from 1-5 people, you are requested to pay the full price regardless of the number of participants, Note, this is a self-guided driving tour : You will need to arrange your own means of transportation, 24 hours before your tour starts - you will receive an email or text from the tour operator with a link to the app and a unique password to access the tour - within the app, App is available for iOS and Android/Web users on the Apple App Store or Google Play, From there, you can start your self-guided tour at anytime (recommended during daylight hours), simply follow the audio instructions and the route, With the app, you can pause the tour, spend more time at a location or skip a stop, while having all the best information about each stop at your fingertips, Bring a fully charged phone and headphones, Unfortunately, this experience is not wheelchair or stroller accessible. This comprehensive self-guided San Francisco City Tour covers everything from the Painted Ladies to the Golden Gate Bridge. Its super easy, yet its best to visit on a Saturday or Sunday when there is less traffic. And even if you do have more time to spend in the city (or even if you live there) its worth it to take the drive at least once to see all that San Francisco is known for, discovering a few of the gems that people sometimes miss like Mission Dolores. This tour covers some of the most interesting sites in the historic Chinatown district of San Francisco. Simply follow the audio instructions and the route from there. 2023 Routes and Trips. After the booking, you will receive an email with a link to the Action Tour Guide app and a unique password to access the tour within the app. Buy now, travel whenevercoupon code on the next screen. Take your time driving through Monterey Bay, artsy Carmel and more. To start exploring the Victorian quarters, first drive around Lafayette Park that has rows of pretty Victorians on all four sides. The most famous Napa Valley restaurant is The French Laundry in Yountville. Zip around on a Segway tour. Our next post will show you more about San Francisco as we will go and see the Golden Gate Bridge and more Golden Gate area sights. San Francisco by car: driving down the eight turns of Lombard Street. . Here you can see our San Francisco driving itinerary marked on a Google map. North Beach: There is a lot of history in the North Beach district. The thing I love about these walks is that all 50 are printed on their own cards. So, if youd rather have some help seeing the best sites in the area, this is an excellent option. The GoCar takes you to spectacular places few visitors get to see. Our post on walking the Golden Gate Bridge also includes several additional details about where to enjoy the best views of this landmark and things to do in the area. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative result from a recent antigen or molecular test may be required, please check the local requirements before your visit. It was great and I would totally come back and try other routes when theyre up and running! Miami, Orlando, Kennedy Space Center and more American National Parks 20 Day Self Drive Tour Explore San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, The Rocky . As we drive towards Chinatown, we'll pass a strange sight: a huge, glass pyramid. >> Find additional self-guided tours plus some multi-day itineraries. Nob Hill looks like a wealthy area, which it is. Next visit the historic birthplace of San Francisco, then see the burial site of one of the hundred odd ships on which the Financial District is built. San Francisco itself has much to offer the first-time visitor. (B) PIER 39 - see giant sea lions snoring on the docks. Then take Washington Street towards the next park in the west, Alta Plaza. Tour access for the full car, not per person, GPS-connected audio to automatically play as you approach a landmark or location, Additional media content in-app, including photos and images, New York Self Drive Tour-PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, San Francisco: An Expert Local Travel Guide, Public Transit Tours Waiver and Terms & Conditions, Purchase the San Francisco Self Drive Tour (only one purchase is necessary per car), Connect your device to your car speakers and listen to the stories as you follow the route indicated. According to an article on the history of the drive, a few of the annoyances you may encounter during the drive include: If you do the drive from start to finish with just a few stops at the major attractions it should take you three to four hours to complete the drive.