San Francisco Tourist Bus

Routes and stops

The San Francisco Tourist Bus has more than 20 different stops located near the city's most important sights, on a route lasting around two hours (red line). Throughout your journey, you'll benefit from recorded audio commentary explaining everything you need to know about the places you'll pass.

Some of the most fascinating stops on the tour are Fisherman's Wharf, home to some of the city's most delicious seafood restaurants; the incredibly steep Lombard Street, claimed to be "the crookedest street in the world"; Alamo Square with its famous "Painted Ladies" houses, Union Square, and - of course - North Vista Point, the best viewpoint from which to see the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

See the routes and all the stops on a map of San Francisco via the following link:

• Routes and list of stops on the San Francisco Big Bus tour

Options

Choose from any of the following options and tailor your Big Bus tour to your needs:

• 1 day ticket: includes unlimited access to Big Bus tourist buses for one day, plus a guided tour of Chinatown.
• 1 day ticket + tour: as well as unlimited use of Big Bus tourist buses for one day, you can choose an additional tour: with a trolley tour of Sausalito and a tour of Chinatown.
• 2 day ticket: includes unlimited travel with Big Busf Tours for two days, a night tour by open-top bus plus a trolley tour of Sausalito and entry to Madame Tussauds.

How does it work?

Your Tourist Bus ticket will be valid for the length of time selected (1 or 2 consecutive days) from the time of first use. During this time, you can get on and off the buses as many times as you'd like to further explore San Francisco's famous sights.

Although you must select a date when booking, your ticket will be valid for 12 months following this date. When you book we'll send you a voucher by email which you'll need to redeem on the first day at Pier 41 on Fisherman's Wharf.

Timetable and frequency

• Red Line (Panoramic city tour): daily departures between 9 am and 5 pm, every 10-15 minutes from April to October and every 20-30 minutes from November to March. The total duration of the route is two and a half hours.
• Green Line (Trolley bus tour of Sausalito): daily departures between 10:15 am and 4:30 pm, every 20-30 minutes. The total duration of the route is one hour.
• Blue Line (Night tour): daily departures at 6:30 and 7 pm from November to March, and at 6:30, 7 and 7:30 pm from April to October. This hour-and-a-half tour will not make stops.

Temporary timetable & closures

Until further notice, only the red and blue lines of the San Francisco Tourist Bus will operate, with the following schedules:

• Red line: daily departures from 10 am to 5 pm, every 30 minutes.
• Blue line: daily departures at 6:30 pm.

Night tour

If you'd prefer to just see the city at night and enjoy panoramic views of its iconic monuments illuminated, why not reserve our open-top night bus tour of San Francisco?

Visit Alcatraz

You can also book the San Francisco Tourist Bus with entry to Alcatraz.