San Francisco tours

Hi, My husband and I will be in San Francisco in early October 2015 on an overnight stop. Arriving at 2pm on a Monday and leaving the next day at 6pm. We try to avoid the cruise line tours since we normally find them too crowded. Can anyone recommend a smaller independent tour company? We are planning on taking the ferry to Alcatraz ourselves (is this a good idea ?). We know we want to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf and Muir Woods. Any suggestions on this plan or other must sees? Would we be better off trying to find a taxi to take us around or would that be too expensive?

Alcatraz is going to take several hours, and you need to book in advance. The tickets go pretty quickly, so buy them when they are available.

We were in San Francisco last Monday on a Crown Princess cruise. We booked an independent tour through All Tours/Grayline. The tour took us to Muir Woods and Sausolito, and then dropped us off at the pier for the Alcatraz tour. Our tour guide was really good and we were pleased with the price. You don't have to do the Alcatraz tour through them - it was an add-on, but they dropped us off right at the pier and the price was the same for Alcatraz as it would be to get tickets on your own. From Pier 27 it was about a 20-25 minute walk to meet the tour - very easy to find at 2627 Taylor St. Hope this information helps.

We have done the Grayline HOHO tour which we found excellent. They also used to offer a trolley type excursion which was also very good but I don't see it listed anymore.

Thanks. I'll check them out.

I did the Alcatraz Night Tour and I would highly recommend it. I booked it several months ahead of our cruise on http://www.alcatrazcruises.com The day I boarded the tickets were sold out several days in advance. The visit was one of the highlights of the cruise!

We have been trying to decide between the day and night Alcatraz tours. Were you able to go to all the same places, or were some off limits at night?