San Francisco is conveniently toured via Bus. How else could you get to all the best places, cross the Golden Gate Bride, and learn about the city? During my trip to San Francisco, I took a trip on the city’s top-rated tourist bus, Big Bus Tours.
What it is: The Big Bus Tour is a ride through the city in – you guessed it – a huge bus. The open top of the bus’s second story lets you sit high above the crowd and enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. The bus has 25 different stops, including Union Square, Treasure Island, and Chinatown. During the tour, funny and informative Cali natives explain the surroundings, while non-English speakers can listen to a recorded tour.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants to see San Francisco!
Where and when: First bus leaves Fisherman’s Wharf at 9:00, and buses stop every 10-20 minutes after that. You can join a tour from any of the various stops around the city.
Where it goes: The Big Bus has many stops. Here are some of the highlights:
- Painted Ladies: A lovely row of old Victorian houses that epitomize the old streets of the city.
- Pier 39: This is where you see all the cool stuff. If you’re a shopper, you can hit the stores, but if you want to take in the sights, you can snap some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from here. As a bonus, this is a popular spot for street performers.
- Fisherman’s Wharf: No longer primarily a docking site for fisherman, this tourist favorite is full of street performers—including a family of sea lions lounging by the ocean.
- North Bay and Little Italy: Find your inner rebel in this historically counter-cultural section of the city. Or, just go for some pasta.
- Union Square: Once a gathering place for Civil War Unionists, this plaza is now a fantastic shopping district.
- Civic Center: This area is a testament to California’s tenacity. After a major earthquake destroyed this section of the city, the Civic Center was created to rebuild and beautify the area.
- Haight Ashbury: Although it’s a little too commercialized, the city’s rebel headquarters still contains some interesting hole-in-the-wall places. Be sure to check them out!
- Golden Gate Park: This park is a gem. Not only does it contain the nation’s oldest public Japanese garden and a century-old art museum, but you can sometimes see a buffalo or two wandering around in Bison Paddock!
- Golden Gate Bridge: This is the most magnificent part of the tour. You can take the bus across or use one of the bicycles to bike across! Are you brave enough?
- Chinatown: This is the biggest Chinese community outside of China! There is a lot of history and culture here. The best part? The fortune cookie factory.
- Embarcadero Ferry Building: This building is over a hundred years old, and amazingly it’s survived all the earthquakes. It’s very pretty and worth seeing.
- Place of Fine Arts is a MUST STOP
What is costs:
- One-day pass: $40.50 for adults, $22.50 for kids. Includes walking tours and bike rental.
- Two-day pass: $49.50 for adults, $31.50 for kids. Includes walking tours, bike rental, night tour, 7-D movie, and trip across Golden Gate Bridge.
- Three-day pass: $63 for adults, $45 for kids. Includes walking tours, bike rental, night tour, 7-D movie, trip across Golden Gate Bridge, Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, and Aquarium of the Bay.
- Night Tour: $30 for adults, $20 for kids. My recommendation!
There is a lot to love about the tour, but my favorite part was going across the Golden Gate Bridge to Treasure Island. You can stop and see the bridge during sunset. At night, you can look across the water to the city and see the skyline lit up from all the lights. I also loved the tour guides. It’s great that they had live guides instead of recordings! The guides were pretty funny, and I learned a lot. Besides, I fall asleep so easily in vehicles, so I need something to keep me awake during bus tours.
Here are a couple tips: Be sure to bring a jacket, because it is super cold on top of the bus, especially when crossing bridges. Also, Big Bus has a iPhone app! Download it to help you plan your trip. Most importantly, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
That sounds like so much fun! I have always wanted to go to San Fran.
I totally think that is the way to go to see the most you can around San Fran and learn the history in the process.
-Jessica
The Windy City is it? I am falling in love with San Fran from your post and definitely taking the Big Bus Tour will be on my Bucket list when I visit! Thank you!
What a great way to explore the city. I enjoy a good bus tour.
I love San Francisco and have used this service great option to check the city in a easy way
I love that there’s so much to see and enjoy in this tour, they have a lot of destinations included plus you can enjoy a tour at night as well. It will definitely maximize your stay in San Francisco! This is awesome!
I totally want to do this if we ever make it to San Francisco!
This is really looks fun, I want to have a tour in San Francisco.
We haven’t done San Francisco, but we did the Big Bus tour of Washington DC, and it was fabulous! Now I look for them when we travel!
Whoo Hoo! I love taking bus tours and tram tours when visiting a city. This one looks quite fun.
I really need to try it out at some point. It would make seeing everything so much easier.
The Big Bus Tour looks awesome! We stayed down at the Fisherman’s Wharf on our honeymoon! We did a wine tasting bus tour through napa valley, but I really wanted to do one through the city too!
Your pictures are amazing! We have never been to San Francisco but I do want to roadtrip over there eventually, looks like fun!
Oh wow, what a fun bus tour. I’ve always wanted to go to San Francisco and after seeing your photos, I’m moving it up higher on my bucket list.
What an amazing tour! San Francisco is such a beautiful city. P.S. Your picture of the row houses already has the theme song to Full House stuck in my head.
Both the day and night tours sound amazing. I would love to take this tour someday.
As ‘touristy’ as it is, I love these types of tours. It’s a great way to see the city and not have to drive!
I’d love the option of not having to drive as well. I never feel like I’m being a real tourist if I’m doing the driving and can’t enjoy the scenery.
If I ever get to San Francisco this would be a great way to check it out. I’ve always wanted to go it looks so beautiful there.
What a fun adventure. I have never been to SF. I would love to go one day.
I would love to take a bus tour of San Francisco. It’s such a gorgeous city, and there is so much to see there.
There’s just so much to see in San Fransisco. Great pictures! I want to go back there sometime!
Those are such gorgeous photos! I have never been to San Francisco, but I’ve always wanted to go. It looks like a wonderful place to visit.
This looks like a great tour. I have been to San Francisco once and I would love to go back.
These pictures are beautiful! I love the houses but my favorite is all the books. I would be in heaven! Thanks for sharing.
This looks like a great place to visit, I have not ever been to San Francisco. Love that you were able to share so much about the location.
Look at all of these great places. Now I know why everyone wants to go to or move to San Francisco!
What a fun way to explore the city! I would love to visit SF someday!
You’ve got so lovely pictures there and I wish I could go there soon. I’m sure that I’ll get to that San Francisco big bus, that will bring convenient and so much fun!
There is so much art in San Fran, you could live there and not see it all. I love that they buses resemble street cars.
Thanks for the great information here.
This destination is on our to-visit list and I bookmarked this info for the future.
There is just so much to see. I’ll make sure to take this bus tour when I go to SF.
Oh by the way, I’d like to add that your post is so informative and you look like having so much adventure at SF!
I loved San Francisco when i got to visit. I would love to go back and do more exploring.
My niece is moving to San Francisco in just a few weeks! I’m so excited to have her a little bit closer, but also in another awesome town to travel!
I would love to explore out there! This is one place that we have not been to yet! I love to travel so I am going to add this to my travel list.
I see the Big Bus all the time whenever I visit SF and was always curious about it! Thanks for sharing your own adventure! Maybe I’ll try it out with my family even though we are locals to the area 🙂
Every time I have been to San Fran I have loved the city so much. It is beautiful and there is so much to do and see. A night tour sounds incredible.
I bet you enjoyed your big bus tour. I wish I can go to SF someday. Thanks for sharing dear.
I LOVE San Fran! These pics are amazing! It’s such a fun city!
What fun. I’d love to see San Francisco this way. I did it in NYC and it was truly awesome.
Looks like a fun place for a family holiday.
Bike across? I would love to try that! This sounds like a fun tour.
That is absolutely so fun, I would love to go in San Francisco someday
Seriously a great way to tour. I’d love to go visit San Francisco.
This looks like such a great way to see the city sights and is really affordable! This makes me really want to visit San Francisco!
i would love to do big bus tour when i will be there.hopefully soon.its so much fun
I really want to visit San Franciso and see what all it has to offer! This tour looks to be one great part of the adventure!
Inggit! I almost never thinking about visiting the US but when I do, San Francisco is one of the few cities that I dream of visiting. New Orleans and New York are the other two! I just love how vibrant and chill San Fran seems from a distance. It looks rich with a culture of its own!
Dani, trying to visit New Orleans too but will definitely go to NYC 🙂 Go this year? I can see you
I haven’t been to SFO in such a long time! You’ve made me want to come back!! Loved your pictures!
I must do this the next time I’m in San Fran. I love that place, so much fun!
This looks like an awesome trip! I’ve always wanted to travel to San Fran for awhile now, I almost had a trip out west for July, but it didn’t happen like I planned. I love finding little hole in the wall places.
San Fran is definitely on my travel bucket list. A bus tour sounds like a great way to see the highlights
Oooo what an awesome your!!!!! I will definitely be doing this next time I’m in San Fran!
I would love to take some good photos on the famous san francisco bridge!
I love tour busses, it will bring you to places and entice your imagination with the culture.
I have always wanted to explore San Francisco. Looks like a great place!