San Francisco videos - GGB, USS Pampanito, Alcatraz, Muir Woods N.M. & Sausalito

From a West Coast driving holiday in July 2016 with 3 nights based on the outskirts of San Francisco:

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Arriving from the extreme heat of Las Vegas, Death Valley and Yosemite NP we were shocked at the dramatic drop in temperature. Every day began with cool coastal fog but it soon lifted to reveal the Golden Gate Bridge in all its goldenness - or international orange if you prefer. ;)

A tour of WWII submarine USS Pampanito is very easy from San Francisco. We did it before for trip to Alcatraz. The guided tour takes around 30 minutes and is absolutely fascinating. Our guide was wonderful too (and I really do love Missourians :)).

We bought our tickets through Groupon which more than halved the normal walk-up cost of $20. pp Highly recommended if you are interested in WWII history - or even if you're not. When this tour is over it's a very short walk to Pier 33 and the Alcatraz ferry departure point.

As Alcatraz is San Francisco's No 1 tourist attraction we booked it over 3 months in advance (with Alcatraz Cruises), choosing the 11.00 sailing and standard Day Tour. It takes just under 15 minutes to get there.

You can stay as long as you like. We spent about 90 minutes just looking round the cell house and its environs. It was one of the most interesting things I have ever done, and the self-guiding audio tour ensures you won't miss a thing.

The return ferry departs every half hour and to be sure you can get on at peak times I would get back to the dock 10 minutes before it leaves. But if you miss your intended trip there is a souvenir shop to while away the time until the next one, as well as plenty of benches to sit on.

Muir Woods ($10 pp) was a total delight but we had a great stroke of luck in being able to park in one of the few disabled parking bays. My mother is not disabled but had turned her ankle over 2 days before, so we hired a lightweight wheelchair which was good enough to get us a permit ! Had they insisted on more official documentation we would have given up as the main car park (a fair distance away) was full with at least 6 cars waiting for a vacant space. You could spend a long time there exploring the various trails, we walked around for about an hour.

As for Sausalito, it's a very pretty San Francisco Bay suburb. Had we not had our own car and been working with single cruise day hours we would not have bothered to go, given the other attractions of San Francisco but for somewhere scenic to stop for a drink on our way back to the city it was very pleasant. All the best, Tony

Thanks for this excellent introduction to the area. I'll be there in April on the Star Princess, so this was a very welcome post!

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Enjoyed your videos.

Keith