At the start of the day you will be picked up from your downtown San Francisco or Fisherman’s Wharf hotel by your driver/guide. This is a semi-private tour, which means you’ll be traveling in a smaller group. You’ll have more leg-room in the mini-bus and more freedom in choosing where to go.
At around 09:00am you will cross the Golden Gate Bridge and stop for a photo opportunity if the weather allows it before heading north to the wine region.
California has approximately 1400 wineries. Nearly half are in Napa and Sonoma counties, within 100 miles from San Francisco. Nature and history have blessed this region with a variety of soil types, terrains, micro-climates, and an influx of European wine-making talent to create a world-class wine-producing industry. There are about 650 wineries in Napa and Sonoma, representing some of the most famous brands in the U.S., and even the world. This constitutes what many people call 'The Wine Country'.
Your guide will spend time in the first hour discussing the options and taking suggestions. The group can decide to go to both Sonoma and Napa Valleys, or concentrate on just one 'neighborhood'. On the rest of the drive north, your guide will fill you in on the colorful history of California and wine-making in the state. And the short drives between wineries afford time to talk about the science and art of wine making, and wine tasting, and other fascinating topics.
Depending on the group decision, you could visit wineries from various Napa regions such as Los Carneros, Rutherford, Oakville, St. Helena, Yountville or Stags Leap, and/or the Sonoma Valley region. (A list of wineries often visited on the tour is given under Additional Information on this website.)
You will enjoy tastings at four to six boutique wineries. Some wineries offer complimentary tastings, but most charge a fee ranging from $5 to $20 (or it could be more). (Wine tasting fees are not included in the tour price.) Your guide will use experience and knowledge to help the group decide where to go within the southern portions of both famous valleys to maximize the enjoyment while keeping tasting costs down.
The wineries range in size from small and homey to large and grand but all offer visual appeal, friendly atmosphere, attractive presentation, and good value. You will be able to purchase wines at the places you visit and have them shipped to your address. Most wineries provide exclusive deeply discounted rates for guests on this tour.
There will be time to grab a tasty lunch (payable direct) in between the tastings, or maybe at one of the wineries!
On the way back to San Francisco you have the option of stopping at scenic Sausalito, home of thousands of sailboats, hundreds of floating houses, and a beautiful view of the Bay. You could also opt to leave the tour at this point and take a ferry (fare not included) back to San Francisco, landing in either Fisherman's Wharf or at the Ferry Building (and find your own way back to your hotel). If you stay with the tour, your guide will take you back to the Golden Gate and stop to let you take pictures high above the Bridge, if it was not possible to do so in the morning.
At the end of the tour, sometime between 05:00pm and 06:00pm, you will be dropped back at your San Francisco hotel.
You will be informed of the time of your departure to Alcatraz on Day 2 when you are sent your confirmatory email. You should meet your Alcatraz tour at Radisson Fisherman's Wharf Hotel on 250 Beach Street (This hotel is 10min walk from Alcatraz and located directly behind the Pier 39 parking lot) and ride the ferry across the Bay to Alcatraz Island.
Alcatraz has a checkered history, which makes it fascinating to visit. At various times it has served as a lighthouse, a fortress and an infamous prison. It is now part of a National Park.
The grim reputation of the island comes from its 29 years as a federal penitentiary. Isolated by cold and dangerous currents, it was pretty much escape-proof, although many prisoners tried. Notorious inmates included Al Capone and Robert Franklin Stroud, the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’.
The ferry ride from San Francisco to Alcatraz takes approximately 10-15 minutes. There are no formal guided tours of Alcatraz as such – visiting the island is primarily a self-guided experience which you can do at your own pace. Once you arrive on the island, a brief presentation of the island's history and advice on touring the prison are given. You will enjoy a gripping audio presentation, ‘Doing Time: The Alcatraz Cell house Tour’, featuring recordings of former inmates, prison guards and prison wardens.
It takes roughly 2 to 2 ½ hours to do the full tour of Alcatraz (including the audio tour). Apart from the prison, other features of interest on Alcatraz include the historic lighthouse, early fortifications and visible reminders of the American Indian occupation that began after the prison closed. You will also see stupendous panoramas of the coastline.
The Island, now cared for by the National Park Service, also boasts a rich wildlife including rare plants, marine animals and thousands of roosting and nesting sea birds (mostly western gulls, cormorants, and egrets).
You can spend as long as you wish on the Island. Ferries back to San Francisco leave around every 30 minutes. Your tour ends back Radisson Fisherman's Wharf Hotel.