Early Access to Alcatraz and Cable Car Sightseeing Tour

1 day
Popular
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Alcatraz Island, Pier 33 B201 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94122

Start your day checking in for your ferry ride over to Alcatraz Island.
Alcatraz Island is located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles offshore of San Francisco. The National Historic Landmark was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a federal prison from 1934 until 1963.

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Pass By: Pier 39, Beach Street & The Embarcadero Parking area, San Francisco, CA 94133

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Pass By: Fisherman's Wharf, Jefferson Street Between Hyde and Powell Streets, San Francisco, CA 94133

A neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf gets its name and neighborhood characteristics from the city's early days of the mid to later 1800s when Italian immigrant fishermen came to the city by the bay to take advantage of the influx of population due to the gold rush.

Pass By: Golden Gate Bridge, US-101, San Francisco, CA 94129

Drive over the bridge in our open-aired vehicle. The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

Pass By: Ghirardelli Square, 900 N Point St At Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-1192

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Stop At: Fort Point National Historic Site, Long Ave & Marine Dr Building 999, San Francisco, CA 94129

Walk around with your guide or explore on your own. Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It offers one of a kind views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Duration: 15 minutes

Pass By: Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123-1002

The iconic Palace of Fine Arts, one of the few surviving structure from the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, is one of the most photographed sites in the City, featured in numerous film and TV productions.

Stop At: Vista Point, Us-101 Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, CA 94965

Step off of the vehicle, and be led by one of our great tour guides or take 20 minutes of free time to explore Golden Gate Bridge North Vista. See the entire city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge in one setting. One of the best ways to view the Golden Gate Bridge.

Duration: 15 minutes

Pass By: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, 499 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94109-1314

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is a park that includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility.

Pass By: Golden Gate Ferry Terminal, 1 Sausalito - San Francisco Ferry Bldg, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA

See the ferries and other vessels coming and going from Sausalito to San Francisco, and back.

Pass By: Sea Lion Center, The Embarcadero at Beach Street c/o Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco, CA 94133

Docks off Pier 39 that are a favorite hangout of hundreds of sunbathing, barking sea lions.

Pass By: San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, CA

Take in an assortment of San Francisco Bay views. A shallow estuary that is surrounded by the Bay Area's largest cities: San Francisco San Jose and Oakland.

Pass By: Pier 43 Ferry Arch, San Francisco, CA 94133

The Pier 43 Ferry Arch and its headhouse, a decorated hoisting tower for loading and unloading rail cars on and off ferries, was originally built in 1914 to serve the Belt Railroad.

Pass By: Boudin at the Wharf, 160 Jefferson St Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133-1202

Famed for sourdough since 1849, this California bakery/cafe chain also offers light American bites.

Pass By: Musee Mecanique, Pier 45, Fishermen's Wharf foot of Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94133

The Musée Mécanique is a for-profit interactive museum consisting of 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. The museum owns over 300 mechanical machines, and is one of the largest privately owned collection of such games in the world.

Pass By: SS Jeremiah O'Brien, Pier 45, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133

SS Jeremiah O'Brien is a Liberty ship built during World War II and named for American Revolutionary War ship captain Jeremiah O'Brien. Now based in San Francisco, she is a rare survivor of the 6,939-ship armada that stormed Normandy on D-Day, 1944.

Pass By: USS Pampanito, Pier 45 @ Fisherman Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133

USS Pampanito, a Balao-class submarine, was a United States Navy ship, the third one named for the pompano fish. She completed six war patrols from 1944 to 1945 and served as a Naval Reserve Training ship from 1960 to 1971.

Pass By: Madame Tussauds San Francisco, 145 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133-1223

Madame Tussauds San Francisco is a wax museum located in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco in California. The attraction opened on June 26, 2014 and became the 17th Madame Tussauds museum to open worldwide. The attraction features wax figures of famous figures from movies, music, politics, popular culture and sport.

Pass By: Ripley s Believe It or Not! San Francisco, 175 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133-1201

Museum with kitschy oddities on display, including shrunken human heads & rare animal skeletons.

Pass By: Scoma's Restaurant, 1965 Al Scoma Way, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA

Spacious waterfront restaurant serving seafood pulled straight off the boat.

Pass By: Cioppino's, 400 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA

Bustling checkered-tablecloth eatery serving Italian seafood staples on Fisherman's Wharf.

Pass By: Hyde street pier, 2905 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94109-1225

The Hyde Street Pier, at 2905 Hyde Street, is a historic ferry pier located on the northern waterfront of San Francisco, California, amidst the tourist zone of Fisherman's Wharf. Wikipedia

Pass By: Aquatic Park, 499 Jefferson St San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, San Francisco, CA 94109-1314

Waterfront area with complexes for museums and artists.

Pass By: San Francisco Maritime Museum/Aquatic Park Bathhouse Building, 900 Beach St San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, San Francisco, CA 94109-1002

The building is a showcase for art created during the 1930s by Sargent Johnson and Hilaire Hiler. Dazzling murals cover the interior walls.

Pass By: Square-Rigged Sailing Ship Balclutha, Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, CA

Balclutha, also known as Star of Alaska, Pacific Queen, or Sailing Ship Balclutha, is a steel-hulled full rigged ship that was built in 1886. She is the only square rigged ship left in the San Francisco Bay area and is representative of several different commercial ventures, including lumber, salmon, and grain.

Included
  • Transport and sightseeing tour by motorized cable car
  • Admission to Alcatraz Island (Valued at $39.90) and Alcatraz audio tour
  • Lunch choices: Choice of sandwich (Turkey/Provolone or Ham/Cheddar) or salad (Mixed greens with goat cheese crumbles, dried orchard fruit, toasted sunflower seeds with a blood orange shallot vinaigrette), all lunches include the following:
  • Chips Cookie Fruit Water Bottle Mayonnaise + Mustard packets + napkin Your lunch bag and everything in it is biodegradable! Lunch orders will be taken the day of the tour at time of check in, not any sooner!
  • Professional guide
  • Mixed refreshments
  • Entry/Admission - Alcatraz Island
Not included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Gratuities
Additional
  • Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
  • All traveler names are required at time of booking. Failure to provide this information will result in cancellation of your tour. Please provide all passengers' full names. Provide first name (lower case letters) and last name (upper case letters) as it appears on each passenger's identification. All passengers 18 and older must present ID to take the ferry to Alcatraz.
  • Cable cars are wheeled and not on rails to provide maximum flexibility for city sightseeing
  • Dress in layers as temperatures can be quite cold on the water or on the open-air cable car
  • If vegetarian lunch is required, please note in Special Requirements box at check-out
  • Please note: On days when traffic is exceptionally heavy or visibility is bad due to fog on the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable car will go to the bridge's viewing parking to but not cross it
  • Tour Itinerary 8:00 AM – Check in with your tour guide in front of Pier 33 next to the lamppost across from the information booth. (Please see our Contact Us page for more information.) Your tour guide will be wearing an orange jacket and holding a flag, both adorned with the Hornblower Classic Cable Cars logo! Your tour guide will take your lunch order, give a quick run-down of the day, and provide you with all your Alcatraz tickets. You will board one of the first ferries to Alcatraz. 9:00 AM - Arrive at Alcatraz Island. Take advantage of more than 2 hours to explore the island, including the award-winning audio tour. 11:40 AM – Boarding begins for the 11:55 AM ferry back to San Francisco. You must be on the the 11:55 AM ferry back to San Francisco to continue the tour! 11:55 AM – Ferry departs back to San Francisco! 12:15 PM – Disembark ferry and meet your tour guide at the check-in location. Your tour guide will provide you with your lunches. You will have 30 minutes to explore Pier 33's spectacular grounds and gift shop. 12:50PM – Meet your tour guide at the check-in location, where you will be escorted to your Cable Car. 1:00 PM - Enjoy your professionally guided, premier Cable Car tour of San Francisco, where you will stop at the Palace of Fine Arts, ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, and stop at Fort Point. 3:15 PM – Arrive back at Alcatraz Landing, the end of your adventure! Thank you for riding with us!
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Infants must sit on laps
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 26 travelers
Features
Tourism
95% Cultural
85%
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