San Francisco LGBTQ Walking Tour with Local Guide

Overview

Cruisin' the Castro Walking tours celebrates 30 years of Pride and as San Francisco's first and ONLY Legacy Business Tour Company! This prestigious award recognizes Cruisin' the Castro as a longstanding, community-servicing business and a valuable cultural asset to the City & County of San Francisco.

Tours are fun, fascinating and offers twice as many tour stops that not only include the colorful sites of the largest LGBTQ community in the world, but explores the spectrum of sexual and gender diversity and the struggle with achieving equal rights in America. No other tour offer this rare and educational opportunity!

Tours are conducted by a local resident, professional tour guide and a civil rights activist.

City: San Francisco

Sat 16 Nov

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $30.96

Make a reservation

Sat 16 Nov

Starting at $30.96

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Local guide

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Tours operate rain or shine
Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there is not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund

What To Expect

The Castro

Come cruise the Castro on this fun and comprehensive 2-hour tour! Celebrating 30 years of walking with PRIDE, Cruisin' the Castro Walking Tour is San Francisco's premier tour company! Learn about LGBTQ culture, diversity and the lack of civil rights in America. Explore the many historical sights that has shaped a community as well as, a world wide culture. No other tour offers over 20 historical sites that span from the Gold Rush, World War II, civil rights leader, Harvey Milk, the AIDS epidemic, the Rainbow Honor Walk and beyond! Cruisin' the Castro Walking Tours is conducted by a long time local resident, historian and community activist. Recognized as a TripAdvisor "Hall of Fame" member since 2011!

Harvey Milk Plaza

Learn how Harvey Milk arrived and became the 1st openly gay male politician to serve public office in United States and a Civil Rights Activist. Find out how the rainbow flag was created!

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (552)

Chaucer

Apr 2012

Initially I booked and paid online for a 3pm Saturday tour. It turned out that our flight from LA was delayed two hours and there was no way we could make the 3pm deadline. After arriving in San Fran airport, I called Kathy who offered to put us on other tours - none of which suited our schedule. I expected her to say, "Bad luck, I've got your money now," but to my surprise she asked when were we actually available and held the tour for the two of us on Sunday afternoon. Now that's service! Kathy's enthusiasm for the Castro district was palpable! We had a great afternoon.

CharlieWoolf27

Apr 2012

Castro Historical Tour I would highly, highly recommend this tour. Wandering ‘round the Castro on your own is a lot of fun but nothing can compare to Kathy showing you her neighbourhood. Her combination of knowledge, insightfulness and complete love for her beautiful city especially the Castro was amazing and we had a wonderful morning. There wasn’t a question she couldn’t answer! We began in Harvey Milk Plaza and a lot of the tour relates to Harvey Milk which I loved as he’s one of my heroes. However, there was a lot of tour that dealt with the history of the Castro and LGBT history generally (seeing the Pink Triangle Memorial Park remembering homosexuals persecuted in WWII was very moving). We learned about the massive effect of AIDS in San Francisco and found out more from murals. I also learned about Leonard Matlovich who I’d previously never heard of. We visited the place the AIDS Memorial Quilt original site and Kathy told us about the Rainbow Honor Walk that will celebrate LGBT people throughout history. I can’t wait to travel back to the city to see it! Though some of the LGBT history is dark, the tour is not depressing at all. And if you were feeling overwhelmed by the horrendousness of it the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy will help – it’s one of the most amazing, inspiring, happy places in the world. It’s an elementary school that teaches children to celebrate diversity, be non-violent, include people and be tolerant; in short, not to be sexist, racist homophobes. Why can’t all schools do this?! Their murals outside are inspiring and beautiful. It’s a really special place. The tour ends at the site of the Castro Camera and even though Harvey isn’t there any more you may just catch him looking out of the window onto the Castro – truly one of the best places in the world! You should go and you should let Kathy show you ‘round. This is one of the best if not the best thing we did in San Francisco. The other tour offered is great and is also entirely different to this one. I was concerned there may have been some crossover but there wasn’t. They’re both absolutely wonderful and you could do them in any order. After your tour why not have lunch at Harvey’s and you should definitely visit the GLBT Historical Society! A brilliant tour and amazing value for money! City Hall Tour If I’d not been going on this tour I would probably not have considered going to Civic Center. Because in Britain government buildings are (usually!) not particularly interesting. However, this area of San Francisco was incredible. It’s lovely to walk around looking at the magnificent buildings and the City Hall was designed to be a palace of the people. So it looks palatial and very grand. It’s free to get in and wander about and there’s quite a bit to see but I’d recommend you do the tour with Kathy as she knows the building, its history and the history of San Francisco. I think I saw about five weddings while I was there which is always lovely to see. It would have been even lovelier to see a same sex marriage while I was there but that fight continues. I was genuinely worried this tour would be too upsetting – learning about the murder of one of my heroes – and of course it was sad but it was very worthwhile and not at all grisly. We talked about the corrupt legal system that led to Dan White’s absurd defence and ridiculously short sentence. It was great to see the busts of Milk and Moscone (and other politicians) and get a sense of where he worked. Rather than thinking of him being shot in his office I shall forever think of him dancing up the steps – making an entrance and being his effulgent self. A brilliant tour and amazing value for money!

Dannyd3

Apr 2012

As a high school teacher, I am very careful about who to trust on field trips: I hate wasting my kid's time. When I contacted Kathy, I knew from friends she was a professional and someone who would allow my students to see a part of SF that they rarely see or hear about. After watching the film "Milk" and reading about the Castro in class, this tour was an amazing follow up that not only "connected the dots" historically for the kids but brought to life in a very real and emotional way the legacy of Harvey Milk. Thanks to Kathy, my students gained an experience of a lifetime, something that will never forget. Thanks Kathy!