I've heard on the gooseberry vine that you're best off booking any days trips to alcatraz you want before you get there due to being fully booked every day.

Is this true? If so, which sites are best for doing this?

Thanks

DB :thumbsup:

These are the people who do the ferries/tours:

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/alcatraz

I guess it depends on when u go to San Fran to be honest.

We booked it when we got there and went for an evening trip - lots of fun, but chilly and a tad spooky / eerie.

San Fran is absolutely gorgeous - I would suggest the walk from fisherman's wharf to and over the Golden Gate - its a long one but worth it.

I'm dead jealous ure going - u'll have a fabulous time.

Originally posted by cgksheff
These are the people who do the ferries/tours:

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/alcatraz
I found these too: https://www.alcatraztrips.com/index2.asp

I just took the link from the National Parks Service page here (http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/welcome.html)

May be more than one operator or may find out that it is just a different agent for the same tours.

Good luck.

I went in December a few years ago, still had to wait a day to get a space on the tour. Book in advance to be sure!

Just make sure you get a return ticket !!!

Wouldn't want you stranded over there !!

:P

;)

Originally posted by DaBouncer
I've heard on the gooseberry vine that you're best off booking any days trips to alcatraz you want before you get there due to being fully booked every day.

Is this true? If so, which sites are best for doing this?

Thanks

DB :thumbsup:

I went in December and just turned up and got on it no problems. To be fair though the rest of the time I lived there I often saw long queus and tried to go straight on in May and couldnt get on. So we did the tour of the whole bay instead - which was fantastic!

Thanks for your advice.
Just booked the tickets online - so I'm all set :D

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Thanks for your advice.
Just booked the tickets online - so I'm all set :D

Cool, but you shouldn't have had a problem.

We hit SF on one of it's busiest weekends - Labor Day w/e.
We booked tickets from the Wharf box office for the evening trip the day before Labor Monday - no problem.

My g/f has now done both the day and night trips, and she preferred the night trip. More 'atmospheric'. Plus you get a great view of the sun setting behind the GG bridge.

Make sure you go up to Twin Peaks for a near 360 degree view of the city.

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Thanks for your advice.
Just booked the tickets online - so I'm all set :D

When you off??

Originally posted by ncrossland
When you off??
June :D

Originally posted by DaBouncer
June :D
ah, thought I'd see you there (going next week!)

Originally posted by ncrossland
ah, thought I'd see you there (going next week!)
How long you going for? I it a fly drive you doin or just a straight holiday to San Fran?

flying, in sfo for 3 days, then driving all around california. can't wait! back on topic, we've booked our Alcatraz tix through the blue and gold fleet, which is apparently the only way of getting there, so other sites must just be agents.

Originally posted by ncrossland
flying, in sfo for 3 days, then driving all around california. can't wait! back on topic, we've booked our Alcatraz tix through the blue and gold fleet, which is apparently the only way of getting there, so other sites must just be agents.
I'm doing same trip :D Except I'm starting in NYC and ending in LA.

I booked mine through same website... $10 cheaper ;)

nice one, have a good time!!

Hey, I'll be there in June!!!! Doing three days there then off to drive around Yosemite.

Originally posted by ncrossland
flying, in sfo for 3 days, then driving all around california. can't wait!
Originally posted by DaBouncer
I'm doing same trip :D Except I'm starting in NYC and ending in LA....

Dude. I hope this doesn't come as a nasty surprise but NYC ain't no where near California. :wink: :P

We did LA -> SF -> LV -> LA last year. Loved every minute of it.

Can't wait to go back and do it again.

Have a great time.

Originally posted by Ginner


Dude. I hope this doesn't come as a nasty surprise but NYC ain't no where near California. :wink: :P

We did LA -> SF -> LV -> LA last year. Loved every minute of it.

Can't wait to go back and do it again.

Have a great time.
It's no surprise.... we have an internal flight from NYC to Phoenix ;)

hey just wondered if anyone could tell me where they hired cars from and how much it ends up costing?
(if this is what you did - i might have got the wrong end of the stick)

We're hiring from Airline Network (google for it!) which had the best price. We found it through a price comparison site, which may or may not have been Kelkoo or Money Supermarket!

thats great, cheers!

If you can spare the time while you're on the west coast try and get over to Catalina, it is superb.

Back from the trip - fantastic trip, so many experiences and sights. Saw snow blizzards and deserts in the same day.

Brought back some info for you'all:

Alcatraz - almost as if the prisoners moved out yesterday. There is only one company (the Blue and Gold) that goes there, the rest just sail past. Book ahead - we were there on a Friday afternoon in April and it was sold out, there were people queuing up on 'standby'. Wear a hat - I got sunburned on the boat going out, and another bloke got shat on by a seagull, which can't tell the difference between fishing boats and tourist boats.

Car rental - the pictures on the rental web site bear no relation to what you hire. The one we booked looked like a Mondeo size car, turned out to be a massive great 3.5L estate built like a tank, and using as much petrol! Their idea of a compact is our idea of big. Also, don't pay for extras on the UK website - they wanted to charge us an extra £150 for a driver under 25 - got there, asked at the counter and they did it for free. If you haven't driven an automatic before, use the same foot for stop and go, let your left foot have a rest. I started off using both at the same time, and was jerk jerk jerk all the way through San Franciscos busiest streets!

Oh, and don't be afraid to share meals, its the only way if you want to a) finish b) have a dessert!

Nick,

Just returned from my USA trip too and I'm glad you had the same food problems we did.
It took me and the wife a week or so to begin asking the waitress if starters were big enough to share.
We were leaving each restaurant feeling like we were about to blow like St Helens.

Alcatraz was amazing (snaps to follow) and the audio tour was very well worth the extra $5 per person.
San Fransisco did have busy streets but compaired to NYC they're a doddle to drive on... I'd rather drive in San Francisco blind folded than risk NYC again.

Thanks to Sierra for the advice on driving around LA and to stay OFF the I-110. There had been 3 shootings resulting in death since March 2005 on that highway :o

Thanks to Applegrim for the Niagara hotel recommendation (another thread)... the Marriott was superb.

Nick... hope you had as much fun as we did mate :thumbsup:

Glad you had a good time, can't wait to go back... once the credit card's paid off :cry:

san francisco is lovely and alcatraz is amazing......make sure you go.

I was there a few years ago and flew on a sea plane over the golden gate, which cost then about 90 $

well worth the flight. the plane went from fisherman's walf

enjoy