Many posts have mentioned to get Alcatraz tickets before leaving for San Francisco. What is the web site? How far in advance should we book? We will be there in Oct.

www.blueandgoldfleet.com. For October you may not need to book early--usually summer sells out. Just remember tickets are NONREFUNDABLE. They will not take back tickets for any reason. Contact Blue & Gold through their website--they should be able to tell you how busy they are in October.

Definitely go for the headset tour. It was well worth it!

STRONG second on the headset tour... and you are going to see and hear more seagulls than you've ever imagined so be prepared

We were there in August a few years back and just booked the day before because we were concerned about the weather. We had no problem getting tickets.

A hearty third for the headset--really enhances the experience.
I have always just lined up for tickets and never had a problem (during non-peak tourist times, of course), but I'd book online now just to save all that standing around--we've waited for over an hour before.

another vote for the headset - can't imagine why you would want to do the tour without it. we got our alcatraz tickets as part of a city tour (late sept).

I would definitely recomend booking about a week ahead. We did the night tour - leaves at 7.15 and returns about 9.30. You get great views of the skyline at night from the island and there were one or two extras included in the tour that you can't do in the day

WE did the night Alcatraz Tour August 11th. Headset come with tour and our tickets were purchased 1 week before we left. Our tour was on a Sunday Night and the tix booth had a sign saying All tix were Sold out till Friday. So if you were not staying in SF for another 4 days, than you were out of luck. Buy ahead of time.

Roscoe, Oct. 6-12 is Fleet Week. If you plan to be here then, be aware that the Bay is VERY crowded. Fri., Sat. and Sun. the Blue Angels fly over the bay. The bay will be a parking lot.

Grasshopper: We're a year off, but will be staying at the Donatello next Oct 3-10. Do you know if the Bay celebration next year will be the week of the 4th or the 11th? If it's the 4th, we will be in the midth of the crowd you describe - can we still do the Alcataz tour ok, do you think?. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Definitely, the headsets. We bought tickets from vendors hanging around in the Wharf. We noticed that prices were negotiable and varied from vendor to vendor.

I liked Alcatraz alot, and I typically avoid the touristy stops like that. We went on Oct. 31st, during the day. It was on a Saturday, and was fairly crowded. I ordered tickets 2 weeks in advance...although when we picked them up, we got in line to board, and the ticket guy said "this ticket is old"...they'd put out tickets for the day I'd ORDERED them, instead of the day I requested. Luckily (don't know HOW they were able to do this given the crowd size), they exchanged them out in time for us to take the trip.

We did the headsets...VERY worth it! It was funny though, they had sound effects like slamming cells and feet thumping along, stupid me got so into it, that when I heard one of these sound effects I looked around to see where the noise was coming from. Derrrrrrr...husband found it funny though I just think the tour would not have been as good without the headsets. Otherwise you end up just looking at a building/some cells...with no info.

Kind of scary that day too, overcast drizzly, so it was pretty dark inside Alcatraz...or maybe it was just that it was Halloween adding to the effect.

P.S. no one warns you of the huge steep hill you walk up to get to the top...I had injured my instep the day before, so this was no picnic...even if I hadn't been a Texan (we're way too used to flat land and never walking anywhere )

lbaboyd, You have reservations for Oct. 2004? Wow, you plan ahead! I'm impressed. I don't even know where I'll be going next weekend.

I seem to recall that Fleet Week is usually the first weekend in Oct. I checked the website and saw that last year it was the 10th-13th, which makes it the second. So I don't know.

If you want to go to Alcatraz during Fleet Week, I would avoid Fri., Sat, or Sun. The other days would be ok. Heck you can probably go on those days too, but like I said... the bay is a total parking lot and you can't even go in certain areas. But you'd have an exciting view of the air show.

I was there for Fleet Week last October and bought my Alcatraz tickets online (with headset walking tour) a few weeks in advance, and it was well worth it. We went over late morning and were on the island and what a view to watch the planes, it was amazing, and the weather was just perfect! They also had a parade by the water, lots of fun! The second day we watched the air show from
Ghirardelli's on the hill, another nice view! Have a wonderful time!

Hi again, Grasshopper. Thanks for your thoughts and input. Yeah, we have a timeshare and everyone said you have to reserve those in SF 1-2 years out. So we did. We celebrate our Oct 8th anniversary somewhere special each year. Right now we getting anxious for our upcoming cruise to St. Thomas where we were married there on the beach of Magen's Bay 5 years ago. We promised ourselves we'd go back there every 5th anniversary - so this is our first time back.
But we are also glad to get the timeshare reservation for SF next year and looking forward to another great celebration while there.
Thanks again. These boards are really so helpful because of folks like you who share.
Had a question if you know the answer: On another topic concerning visiting the redwoods, this board didn't have a place to post a reply. I saw a few topics like that. Does that mean they're not permitting any more replies, or do you know?