Alcatraz tix through the National Park Service are often sold out months in advance, so we found this way to get tickets. You have to have two days to take full advantage of the package - one for Alcatraz and one 24 hour period for the bus (which can spread over two days). We reserved in advance, picked up our bus tickets at Fisherman's Wharf (stop 1) in early afternoon, and did a full bus circuit that afternoon. There was no time to get off but we wanted to get the city overview. Our general impression was that in a 24 hour period, there is not time to get off at more than two stops by the time you do your "wandering" and then wait to get back on. The buses are often full and they don't get moving right away. In fact, we had to wait an hour to get on at Stop 1 and saw people along the way who were "stuck". The next day we met the Chinatown tour at Union Sq, walked back and got on a Big Bus at Union Sq, rode to Haight, and then did a lot of walking. Then the NEXT day, we did our Alcatraz tour. The bus is a nice intro, but don't expect to get on and off at a lot of places and get the full run of San Francisco in 24 hours. The Alcatraz tour, which is totally independent of Big Bus except for them getting the block of tickets, is FABULOUS.
Réponse de l'hôte
Aug 2019
Hi there Janie, thanks for the review of BIG BUS San Francisco, I'm glad you enjoyed your Premium Alcatraz package booked with us. Thanks for choosing to tour with us, I'm glad you enjoyed your tour around SF.