The 15 Best San Francisco Tours & Bay Trips

Muir Woods and Sausalito (Return by Bus or Ferry) - Ninety minutes among ancient redwoods

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 5,098 reviews · 5 to 8 hours (approx.) · from $91Our pick

Visit Muir Woods, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, explore Sausalito, and choose a bus or ferry return on this flexible San Francisco half-day tour.

“The overall tour itself was fine. The only issue was that the van (small bus) we spent a few hours in driving up and back did not seem to have working AC, making that part of the experience rather miserable for everyone. Under that specific circumstance I would not recommend it to anyone obviously.”

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Big Bus SF: Hop-on Hop-off Tour with 17 Stops and Sunset Option

2.Big Bus SF: Hop-on Hop-off Tour with 17 Stops and Sunset Option

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 4,539 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $56

See San Francisco from an open-top bus with 17 stops, Golden Gate Bridge views, live tracking, and optional Chinatown, sunset, or wine tours.

“I got to say, this was not how I expected. Maybe I should have done more research but I only had one day in San Francisco due to Layover and I thought that to see the most of the city this was a good idea because the bus makes stops in most of the tourist places and that way I could save money in Transportation and see the most if it but it wasn't like that at all. One down side of buying this through Viator is that the driver does not tell you about the Bus's audio tour and headphones so that you can hear the history while on…”

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Napa and Sonoma Wine Country Full-Day Tour from San Francisco

3.Napa and Sonoma Wine Country Full-Day Tour from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 4,455 reviews · 8 to 9 hours (approx.) · from $165

Review of Gray Line’s Napa and Sonoma wine tour from San Francisco, covering wineries, transport, price, timing, lunch, and practical drawbacks.

“This wine tour was phenomenal from start to finish! We went as a group to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and it exceeded every expectation. The three wineries were excellent, with generous tastings and beautiful experiences at each stop. Our tour guide, Thomas, was outstanding—professional, engaging, and incredibly knowledgeable about the wineries and their history. Everything was perfectly organized. This tour is an absolute must-do and worth every minute. Highly recommend! 🍷✨”

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Small Group Yosemite and Giant Sequoias Day Trip from San Francisco

4.Small Group Yosemite and Giant Sequoias Day Trip from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3,671 reviews · 14 hours (approx.) · from $239Top rated

See Yosemite and Tuolumne Grove from San Francisco on a 14-hour small-group tour with hotel pickup, major viewpoints, and free valley time.

“Tour guide was amazing, the whole trip from start to finish was fantastic The other passengers were so fun to have with us”

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San Francisco: Golden Gate Bay Cruise

5.Golden Gate Bay Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 3,644 reviews · 1 hour · from $38Best value

Cruise San Francisco Bay for an hour beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, past Alcatraz, with multilingual audio and skyline views for $38.

“Setting sail during sunset was amazing. Loved cruising around Alcatraz island and going under the Golden Gate Bridge during golden hour was so perfect.”

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San Francisco: Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour with 17 Stops

6.Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour with 17 Stops

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3,600 reviews · 1 - 2 days · from $56

See San Francisco’s top sights from an open-top bus, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and hop off at 17 stops on a flexible 24 or 48-hour pass.

“Perfect way for me to explore the most interesting places in the city with a short amount of time before going to the airport.”

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Yosemite Highlights & Giant Sequoias Day Tour from San Francisco

7.Yosemite Highlights & Giant Sequoias Day Tour from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3,455 reviews · 14 to 15 hours (approx.) · from $219

See Yosemite Valley, Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, El Capitan, and giant sequoias on a long but rewarding day tour from San Francisco.

“I would highly recommend this experience. Glenda was very kind and attentive to everyone’s needs. This is a very long day trip from San Francisco, but totally worth it if you only one day to visit Yosemite.”

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San Francisco Super Saver: Muir Woods & Wine Country w/ optional Gourmet Lunch

8.San Francisco Super Saver: Muir Woods & Wine Country w/ optional Gourmet Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3,352 reviews · 11 hours (approx.) · from $179

Review of San Francisco’s Muir Woods and Napa-Sonoma wine tour, with three tastings, Golden Gate views, transport, and optional lunch.

“We enjoyed a wonderful tour on Sunday with Ben. We started with a relaxing serene walk through the beautiful Muir Woods. A small grove of redwoods just outside the city. It's a great place to get your zen on!! I wish it had been a smaller group but Ben did a very good job while staying on schedule, entertaining, and keeping track with 29 guest. It nice when everyone stays on his schedule. Ben was informative and fun! Each winery was interesting and very different...from family operated to large commercial. Our favorite was the Jacuzzi Vineyard. It was absolutely beautiful!! We enjoyed the delicious lunch option in Sonoma. The meals…”

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San Francisco Love Tour

9.San Francisco Love Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2,830 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $85

Ride a vintage VW bus through San Francisco’s music districts, Chinatown, the Mission, and Golden Gate Bridge with a lively local guide.

“This is a great tour as you get to SFA. You will Learn so much and can help you plan places to go back to see! Our guide , Ky was great and even ask our personal interest and then gave recommendations to each of us! Well worth the cost and time. Speaking of time, due to traffic, our 2 hour tour turned out to be 3 hours. Saw so much! Would do the tour again on our next visit.”

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San Francisco: Alcatraz Ticket, Ferry, & Self-Guided App

10.Alcatraz Ticket, Ferry, & Self-Guided App

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 2,460 reviews · 3 hours · from $79

Visit Alcatraz by ferry, explore its prison blocks with a self-guided audio app, and enjoy Bay views, flexible island time, and practical tips.

“Superb attraction. A live parks department guide first gave us an historic perspective of the island and the facility - she was full of facts and enthusiasm. The prison itself - the cells, the common areas - was exhibited with great authenticity - and was richly described by a super audio tour. The book store was great too. Highly recommended, not to be missed. The only fly in the ointment were the flies - if you know you know.”

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San Francisco: Alcatraz Island & 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Tour

11.Alcatraz Island & 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 2,245 reviews · 2 days · from $120

Review of San Francisco's Alcatraz, 48-hour Big Bus pass, Chinatown walk, sunset tour, sights, logistics, and value at $120.

“Fantastic highly recommend! So pleased i did this as a solo traveller!”

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Combo Tour: Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Grand City Tour

12.Combo Tour: Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Grand City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 2,228 reviews · 6 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $149

See San Francisco’s top sights, ride to Alcatraz, and tour its cell block in one six-and-a-half-hour city-and-island experience.

“The weather was great perfect day. The Alcstraz tour was very good. The bus was good but the bathroom was filthy. Driver even told me so before I had to use it, not acceptable. Driver did not know route and tour guide, Michelle, was constantly having to tell him where to turn, etc. Tour guide very knowledgeable, but really redundant. We probably heard a dozen times or more how great the weather was and how lucky we were to be on the tour.”

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Monterey, Carmel and 17-Mile Drive: Full Day Tour from SF

13.Monterey, Carmel and 17-Mile Drive: Full Day Tour from SF

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 2,187 reviews · 11 hours (approx.) · from $125

Review of the 11-hour Monterey, Carmel, and 17-Mile Drive tour from San Francisco, with itinerary details, value, tips, and honest drawbacks.

“There are beautiful views and the Monterey Aquarium is worth seeing. The heavy, stop-and-go traffic and the numerous short stops at point of little interest made it a very long day. I recommend just 2 short stops where there are decent bathrooms and light food as well as pretty views. 7:30 am - 8 pm is too long for the few points of interest. Even Hwy 101 was slow. How about trip to aquarium and back by freeway and alternate coastline tour?”

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Painted Ladies San Francisco City Tour

14.Painted Ladies San Francisco City Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2,081 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $82

Review of San Francisco’s Painted Ladies VW bus tour, with Golden Gate views, neighborhood stops, practical tips, pricing, and honest pros and cons.

“Caio had a wealth of knowledge of a wide range of San Francisco information and was able to personalize the tour for everyone in the group, from children to people in their 70s. His personable nature absolutely made the tour...would absolutely recommend!”

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San Francisco: California Sunset Cruise (2-hours)

15.California Sunset Cruise (2-hours)

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,949 reviews · from $58

Watch San Francisco Bay turn gold, then glow at night on a two-hour cruise past Alcatraz and beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Trip was well organised and instructions were very clear It wasn’t too busy, so had room to move about. Lovely trip, we luckily had nice weather and calm waters. Beautiful views. Only downside was the music on board. Would have preferred just peaceful background music of any.”

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