Organized Tours

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive

The self-guided, 49-mile drive is an easy way to orient yourself and to grasp the beauty of San Francisco and its extraordinary location. It's also a flat-out stunning and very worthy excursion. Beginning in the city, it follows a rough circle around the bay and passes virtually all the best-known sights, from Chinatown to the Golden Gate Bridge, Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, Golden Gate Park, and Twin Peaks. Originally designed for the benefit of visitors to San Francisco's 1939 and 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, the route is marked by blue-and-white sea gull signs. Although it makes an excellent half-day tour, this mini-excursion can easily take longer if you decide, for example, to stop to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge or to have tea in Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden.

The San Francisco Visitor Information Center, at Powell and Market streets, distributes free route maps, which are handy since a few of the Scenic Drive marker signs are missing. Try to avoid the downtown area during the weekday rush hours from 7 to 9am and 4 to 6pm.

A BART Tour

One of the world's best commuter systems, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) runs along 104 miles of rail, linking 43 stations between San Francisco, Millbrae, and the East Bay. Under the bay, BART runs through one of the longest underwater transit tubes in the world. This link opened in September 1972, 2 years behind schedule and 6 months after the general manager resigned under fire. The train cars are 70 feet long and were designed to represent the latest word in public transport luxury. More than 3 decades later, they no longer seem futuristic, but they're still attractively modern, with carpeted floors, tinted picture windows, air-conditioning, and recessed lighting. The trains can hit a top speed of 80 mph; a computerized control system monitors and adjusts their speed.

The people who run BART think so highly of their trains and stations that they sell a $5.20 "Excursion Ticket," which allows you, in effect, to "sightsee" the BART system, or basically ride it. "Tour" the entire system as much as you like for up to 3 hours; you must exit at the station where you entered. (If you get out anywhere else along the line, the gate instantly computes the normal fare.) For more information, call tel. 415/989-BART (2278) or visit www.bart.gov, where you can also download trip plans directly to your iPod, PDA, or wireless.

Boat Tours

One of the best ways to look at San Francisco is from a boat bobbing on the bay. There are several cruises to choose from, and many of them start from Fisherman's Wharf.

Blue & Gold Fleet, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf (tel. 415/705-8200; www.blueandgoldfleet.com), tours the bay year-round in a sleek, 350-passenger sightseeing boat, complete with food and beverage facilities. The fully narrated, 1-hour cruise passes beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and comes within yards of Alcatraz Island. Don a jacket, bring the camera, and make sure it's a clear day for the best bay cruise. Frequent daily departures from Pier 39's West Marina begin at 10:45am daily during winter and 10am daily during summer. Tickets cost $24 for adults, $20 for seniors 63 and over and juniors 12 to 18, and $16 for children 5 to 11; children 4 and under are admitted free. There's a $2.25 charge for ordering tickets by phone; discounts are available on their website.

The Red & White Fleet, Pier 43 1/2 (tel. 415/673-2900; www.redandwhite.com), offers daily Bay Cruises tours that leave from Pier 43 1/2. The tour boats cruise along the city waterfront, beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, past Angel Island, and around Alcatraz and are narrated in eight languages. Prices are $24 for adults, $16 for seniors and children 5 to 17. Discounts are available through online purchase.

Bus Tours

Gray Line (tel. 888/428-6937 or 415/434-8687; www.sanfranciscosightseeing.com) is San Francisco's largest bus-tour operator. It offers numerous itineraries daily (far too many to list here). Free pickup and return are available between centrally located hotels and departure locations. Advance reservations are required for all tours except motorized cable car and trolley tours. Day and evening tours depart from Pier 43 1/2 at Fisherman's Wharf; motorized cable car tours depart from Pier 39 and Pier 41.

Air Tours

For those of you seeking a little thrill and adventure during your vacation, consider booking a flight with San Francisco Seaplane Tours, the Bay Area's only seaplane tour company. For more than 60 years, this locally owned outfit has provided its customers a bird's-eye view of the city, flying directly over San Francisco at an altitude of about 1,500 feet. Sights you'll see during the narrated excursions include the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, Alcatraz, Tiburon, and Sausalito. Half the fun, however, is taking off and landing on the water (which is surprisingly smooth). Trips depart from Sausalito, and they offer complimentary shuttle pickup at Pier 39. Prices range from $149 per person for the 20-minute Golden Gate Tour to $195 for the 30-minute Champagne Sunset Flight, which includes a bottle of bubbly and a cozy backseat for two. Children's rates are also available, and cameras are welcome. (On calm days, the pilot will even roll the window down.) For more information or reservations, log onto www.seaplane.com or call tel. 415/332-4843.

Equally thrilling (and perhaps more so if you've never been in a helicopter) is a tour of San Francisco and the bay via San Francisco Helicopters. The $160 Vista package includes free shuttle pickup from your hotel or Pier 39, and a 20-minute tour that takes you under -- yes, under -- the Golden Gate Bridge, over the city, and past the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz Island. After takeoff, the pilot gives a narrated tour and answers questions while the background music adds a bit of Disney-ride quality to the experience. (Tip: The view from the front seat is the best.) Picnic lunch and sunset dinner packages are available as well. For more information or reservations, log onto www.sfhelicopters.com or call tel. 800/400-2404 or 650/635-4500.

But the bird's-eye experience that trumps all other air tours in (and of) the Bay Area is a trip with Airship Ventures, which rolled out its operation starting in November 2008. Airship Ventures' massive white zeppelin floats low and slow enough for passengers to truly absorb Northern California's natural beauty, like the intricate system of veinlike channels and mud flats that fringe the Bay. In fact, prior to your ride, you'll likely see it from the ground as you comb the city streets; the airship hovers so low it appears to just graze the tops of the skyscrapers. The 246-foot zeppelin is the world's largest airship and stretches 15 feet longer than a 747. It holds 12 passengers and offers tours from its base at Moffett Field, near Mountain View, as well as from Oakland. Tour options range from 45-minute experiences to a full 2-hour loop around the Bay. On this grand adventure, expect to see Coit Tower, Golden Gate Park, the Transamerica Pyramid, Alcatraz, the Pacific Coastline, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Mount Diablo, the Marin Headlands, and, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge. South Bay routes showcasing Silicon Valley are also offered. Tickets start at $375 for a 45-minute flight. One-hour tours are $495 per person and 2-hour flights run $950 per person. In addition to individual tours, custom charters, daylong airship cruises along the California coastline, and a 2-day pilot experience are also available. For more information or for tour times and reservations, log onto www.airshipventures.com or call tel. 650/969-8100 weekdays from 9am to 5pm or weekends from 9am to 3pm.

Walking Tours

Cruisin' the Castro (tel. 415/255-1821; www.cruisinthecastro.com) is an informative historical tour of San Francisco's most famous gay quarter, which will give you new insight into the contribution of the gay community to the city's political maturity, growth, and beauty. This fun and easy walking tour is for all ages, highlighting gay and lesbian history from 1849 to present. Stops include America's only Pink Triangle Park and Memorial, the original site of the AIDS Quilt Name Project, Harvey Milk's residence and photo shop, the Castro Theatre, and the Human Rights Campaign and Action Center. Tours run Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to noon and meet at the Rainbow Flag at the Harvey Milk Plaza on the corner of Castro and Market streets above the Castro Muni station. Reservations are required. The tour, with lunch, costs $35 per adult, $25 for children 3 to 12. A Harvey Milk Tour is offered Wednesday, at the same cost.

On the Haight-Ashbury Flower Power Walking Tour (tel. 415/863-1621), you explore hippie haunts with Pam and Bruce Brennan (the "Hippy Gourmet"). You'll revisit the Grateful Dead's crash pad, Janis Joplin's house, and other reminders of the Summer of Love in 2 1/2 short hours. Tours begin at 9:30am on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Fridays at 11am. The cost is $20 per person (cash only). Reservations are required. You can purchase tickets online at www.hippygourmet.com. (Click on the "Walking Tour" link at the bottom left of the website.)

San Francisco's Chinatown is always fascinating, but for many visitors with limited time it's hard to know where to search out the "nontouristy" shops, restaurants, and historical spots in this microcosm of Chinese culture. Wok Wiz Chinatown Walking Tours & Cooking Center, 250 King St., Ste. 268 (tel. 650/355-9657; www.wokwiz.com), founded over 2 decades ago by the late author and cooking instructor Shirley Fong-Torres, is the answer. The Wok Wiz tours take you into Chinatown's nooks and crannies. Guides are Chinatown natives, speak fluent Cantonese, and are intimately acquainted with the neighborhood's alleys and small enterprises, as well as Chinatown's history, folklore, culture, and food. Tours are conducted daily from 10am to 1pm and include a seven-course dim sum lunch (a Chinese meal made up of many small plates of food). There's also a less expensive tour that does not include lunch. The walk is easy, as well as fun and fascinating. Groups are generally held to a maximum of 15, and reservations are essential. Prices (including lunch) are $50 for adults and $35 for children 10 and under; without lunch, prices are $35 and $25, respectively. Tickets can be purchased online at www.wokwiz.com, or by calling tel. 212/209-3370. Wok Wiz also operates an I Can't Believe I Ate My Way Through Chinatown tour. It starts with breakfast, moves to a wok shop, and stops for nibbles at a vegetarian restaurant, dim sum place, and a marketplace, before taking a break for a sumptuous authentic Cantonese luncheon. It's offered on most Saturdays and costs $90 per person, food included. The city mourns the loss of Shirley, who passed away in 2011.

Jay Gifford, founder of the Victorian Homes Historical Walking Tour (tel. 415/252-9485; www.victorianwalk.com) and a San Francisco resident for more than 2 decades, communicates his enthusiasm and love for San Francisco throughout this highly entertaining walking tour. The 2 1/2-hour tour, set at a leisurely pace, starts at the corner of Powell and Post streets at Union Square and incorporates a wealth of knowledge about San Francisco's Victorian architecture and the city's history -- particularly the periods just before and after the great earthquake and fire of 1906. You'll stroll through Japantown, Pacific Heights, and Cow Hollow. In the process, you'll see more than 200 meticulously restored Victorians, including the sites where Mrs. Doubtfire and Party of Five were filmed. Jay's guests often find that they are the only ones on the quiet neighborhood streets, where tour buses are forbidden. The tour ends in Cow Hollow, where you can have lunch on your own, or return via bus to Union Square, passing through North Beach and Chinatown. Tours run daily and start at 11am rain or shine; cost is $25 per person (cash only).

The best bargain in town, however, is the 30 or so walking tours conducted by San Francisco City Guides (tel. 415/557-4266; www.sfcityguides.org), a group of 200 trained volunteers who lead free history and architectural walking tours all over San Francisco. Sponsored by the public library, tours range from City Scapes & Public Places to Ghosts, Sinners, & Secret Places, and last 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

San Francisco Segway Tours

Segways are those weird-looking upright scooters you've probably seen on TV. The two-wheeled "human transporter" is an ingenious electric-powered transportation device that uses gyroscopes to emulate human balance. After the free 40-minute lesson, riding a Segway becomes intuitive: lean forward, go forward; lean back, go back; stand upright, stop. Simple. The San Francisco Electric Tour Company offers Segway-powered narrated 2-hour tours of the San Francisco waterfront daily, starting from Fisherman's Wharf and heading out all the way to the Marina Green. For $70 it's not a bad deal, and it's the closest you'll come to being a celebrity (everyone checks you out). Note: You have to be at least 12 years old to join the tour. For more information log onto www.sfelectrictour.com or call tel. 415/474-3130.

GoCar Tours of San Francisco

If the thought of walking up and down San Francisco's brutally steep streets has you sweating already, considering renting a talking GoCar instead. The tiny yellow three-wheeled convertible cars are easy and fun to drive -- every time I see one of these things the people riding in them are grinning from ear to ear -- and they're cleverly guided by a talking GPS (Global Positioning System), which means that the car always knows where you are, even if you don't. The most popular computer-guided tour is a 2-hour loop around the Fisherman's Wharf area, out to the Marina District, through Golden Gate Park, and down Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world." As you drive, the talking car tells you where to turn and what landmarks you're passing. Even if you stop to check something out, as soon as you turn your GoCar back on, the tour picks up where it left off. Or you can just cruise around wherever you want (but not across the Golden Gate Bridge). There's a lockable trunk for your things, and the small size makes parking a breeze. Keep in mind, this isn't a Ferrari -- two adults on a long, steep hill may involve one of you walking (or pushing). You can rent a GoCar from 1 hour (about $49) to a full day. You'll have to wear a helmet, and you must be a licensed driver of at least 18 years of age. The GoCar rental shop is at 2715 Hyde St., between Beach and North Point streets at Fisherman's Wharf. For more information call tel. 800/91-GOCAR (46227) or 415/441-5695, or log onto their website at www.gocarsf.com.