Tours ​of "Everybody's Favorite City," San Francisco

Explore the culturally diverse, vibrant city of San Francisco and let us show you why justifiably it's still called "Everybody's Favorite City." Our tour incorporates both the city's best attractions and  secret delights known only to hip locals. For an itinerary that spends more time in the most unique San Francisco neighborhoods--Chinatown, The Castro, The Mission, The Haight, Japantown--consider our San Francisco Neighborhoods Tour.
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We visit the sites most other San Francisco tour companies cover, but also take you where some of your favorite movies were filmed, tell you how the city rebuilt after our Great Earthquake and Fire, and show you impressive vistas seldom visited by tourists. Cf. "Full or Half Day Tour?" 

 Why take our San Francisco Tour?

• We take you up close. Ride down the Crookedest Street instead of just glimpsing it from a distance.
• You get personal attention. We put tour sites into their historical context, and you go where you want to go.
• We can go anywhere. Our comfortable minivan goes into neighborhoods and wineries that discourage (or outright prohibit) big buses and limos.
• Our tour is interactive. Have a questions? We'll take time to answer it. Want more time in the redwoods and less in the fog at the Cliff House? No problem.
• Someone else does the driving. You pay attention to the sights and sounds, instead of fighting traffic/scooters/skateboarders...one-way streets and steep hills, searching for elusive and expensive! places to park.
• We offer both full- and half-day San Francisco tours. However, for those who choose a half-day (usually 4 hours) version, everything isn't squeezed into a smaller time frame...you select from our extensive menu which attractions interest you most. 
• Beware of Lists!  Our competitors are fond of long lists of things you assume you'll see (and appreciate) while riding by. They're not going to stop at many of them, and if you're not on the lucky side of the bus you may not see them at all!  Their narrative talks about "strolling" and "relaxing" when their pace actually permits neither. You start and end where it's convenient for them, gulp down their picnic/lunch, wonder if there's going to be a restroom stop soon enough. Come with us, A Friend in Town, to experience the City at your pace.

• Our guides are trained historians.

There are many more reasons why we're your best choice! 

Tour Highlights

• The majestic and beautiful Golden Gate Bridge
• Muir Woods: an ancient redwood forest featuring some of the tallest trees in the world
• Colorfully decorated, over a century old Victorian houses known as "Painted Ladies"
• Golden Gate Park: the tranquil Japanese Tea Garden (1894), the ultramodern DeYoung art museum, the Conservatory of Flowers (greenhouse that looks like a wedding cake), the rebuilt California Academy of Sciences with its living rainforest, living coral reef and "living roof"
• Haight-Ashbury: find out where you can get your tattoo, hipster clothes or Jerry Garcia T-shirt
• North Beach: Old San Francisco with an Italian flavor
• Pacific Heights: the city's most prestigious address…dozens of elegant mansions with panoramic Bay views
• Sausalito: 'Mediterranean' hillside town looking out to the city skyline and Alcatraz
• Chinatown: a residential neighborhood (as well as tourist attraction) of open-air markets, herb and tea shops...perhaps a stop where they make fortune cookies or at a hidden temple

Hang Gliders at Fort Funston, San Francisco

Testimonials

 "We had three generations in your van, and each and every one of us were engrossed in your amusing anecdotes and inside stories of the city. …We would definitely recommend your tour to all of our family and friends, and we know that we have "A Friend in Town" that we can call when we arrive.”
– Dan, Sondra, Alvin, Phyllis & Barry (San Antonio, Texas)

“It was our first visit to the San Francisco area and we could not have chosen a better tour guide. Jesse's encyclopaedic knowledge of the Bay area was superb and his mixture of information and anecdote was very entertaining. We walked through parks, had coffee in local cafes, ate in some wonderful scenic and colourful restaurants and Jesse's willingness to tailor the day to our wishes really made our visit a wonderful experience.”
– Ronnie M. (Glasgow, Scotland)

​"We were the envy of our group on the cruise ship.”“Seeing the city through your eyes, hearing its wonderful history, and seeing its absolute beauty (tv and film does NOT do it justice) makes me want to revisit again and again… I could have spent days sightseeing with you and regretted we only had one, but what a one it was. We saw more in one day than I expected and learned so much about what a historical, cosmopolitan, dynamic and diverse city San Francisco is. …We were the envy of our group on the cruise ship as they only got a small taste of what we got. They could not believe what an adventure we had had all in one day. …I feel like I "left my heart in San Francisco" when our ship sailed.”
– Claudia W. (North Port, Florida)