We would like to see Yosemite but do not want to drive ourselves. Will be landing in SFO but would like to pick up rental car only after the tour. Has anyone ever taken these tours and are they worth it to let someone else do the driving?

no info on tours,but ive done the drive a number of times, and its a pretty straight shot all the way, not much to see till you get close to the park.If youre planning on renting a car anyway,why not drive.If you dont have a portable GPS, you can rent a car with one in it

I haven't taken any of the tours but friends who have say that extranomical is pretty good.

http://www.extranomical.com/HTML_PAGES/YOSEMITE.htm

The seem to have a lot of foreign tourists which in my experience is common at Yosemite.

If oyu have a few days Amtrak does a nice tour.
http://www.amtrakvacations.com/index.php?dest_id=136


We've driven there many times from SF and I have to say I can't blame you for not wanting to drive.

I would not do a 1 day van/bus tour since it's a 4-5hr drive from SF each way. A 2 day tour would be ok especially if you can stay in the valley.

I can definitely understand not wanting to drive it -- IF you weren't planning on renting a car at all. (And a couple of Fodorites have done Amtrak tours to Yosemite - do a search and you should find their info)

But since you ARE renting a car, is there a reason you don't think it is a good idea to drive it yourselves?

It is not a difficult drive -- and depending on the rest of your itinerary - could very likely be the most practical option.

One-day tour gives you very limited time in Yosemite, if you can stay overnight using their free shuttles, it's much better to see different areas of the park.

Do you want to take a tour from the city, of from SFO? I don't know if there is anything going from the airport. From the city you can look into Amtrak train/bus combo, and make hotel reservation yourself.