charlotte

Just a note to anyone planning a trip to San Francisco. We just returned from a lovely weekend trip, with nice, but cool weather.
Everything was great, except for the city tour that we took.
I"d been to SanFrancisco before, but this time I was taking my daughter and wanted her to see everything I'd enjoyed the last time.
I decided to book a tour through allsanfranciscotours.com because of a post I'd read here. I can't really say it was awful, because the tour guide was nice enough, but we really didn't see anything. The best part was he took us to Marin Co. and let us off the bus to take pictures. Otherwise, we drove past the Presidio with a cursury.."over there is the Presidio" and we couldn't see much because of the wall. My previous tour had us right up next to the buildings with an entire talk on what they were all about, doing the same with the Coit Tower, Twin Peaks, and Cliff House. This "city tour", never included either of the last two and just pointed out the Coit Tower way up on the hill. Even Lombard street was a point in the direction and we missed seeing it. My daughter and I eventually ended up walking back to the street so she could see it.
Like I said the man was nice, but the tour was less than exciting or informative. He did stop at the "Painted Ladies" so we could get a picture, but that was the highlight.
Just thought I'd mention it, since it was rather expensive and not up to the standards of my previous tours.

Sabrina

Charlotte, What tour did you take before that was much better. Even though I have been to San Francisco several times, I thought I might enjoy a bus tour of the city. If all San Francisco tours was not good, what would you recommend?

Meesthare

I did a Gray Line tour in San Francisco with a friend of mine a few years ago and we were, basically, horrified. After chuckling a bit at the incompetence of the driver ("The Golden Gate Bridge isn't golden, it's orange. You're probably wondering why that is. It's because there is orange paint on it.") we actually got upset when we drove through the Castro district and were treated to a barrage of homophobic remarks supposedly intended to amuse the tourists. Since the friend I was travelling with was a gay man, I was extremely uncomfortable and wrote a letter to Gray Line's head office before we even left the city. To give them credit, they sent me a response immediately, indicating that the driver had been removed from the route and "retrained."

Leona

I think that, with all due respect, it must be very challenging to keep a tour interesting plus include every sight in a city within a reasonable length of time. I never expect very much more than an overview. Then I return to the place(s) that really interest me for a more in-depth look. (It's quite possible that the driver who described the G.G. bridge was trying to be humorous, which is something sorely needed on a 1/2 or full day tour.

Molly2

A failed attempt at humor can certainly be overlooked (it sounds like the tour was so bad, that Meesthare was initially amused}, but that this man made homophobic comments was inexcusable. I applaud Meesthare for not letting the incident go. It must have made for an uncomfortable tour, to say the least!