Alcatraz: The Rock - Unforgettable Prison Island Tour

It's a very popular tour so it's a process. I recommend securing a time and reservation at least two weeks in advance and arriving about 30 minutes before the tour begins to get in line. There's plenty of parking nearby and if you come early enough you can park in the office building lots to save a little $$$. Once loaded up it's about 30 minutes out to the island. If you get a seat near the edge, a dolphin sighting is very possible. Once on the island I did the basic tour which is about an hour long and very informative. It was an awful place and too many People there shouldn't have been there as you'll hopefully learn. After I wondered the grounds for about another 45 minutes and got in line to get a boat back which was easy. About a 3 hour tour all together. A Must Visit.

Very informative and educational. Very interesting to know the history of the prison and the island.

Great trip to Alcatraz. Very informative. The hop on hop off bus trip around city was brilliant with ride over Golden Gate Bridge to top it off.

Everything was great. Better signage needed for exiting. Headsets great! Interesting side exhibits !!

Overall a great experience. Waiting for the ferry to head to the island was fine but waiting for the one back to San Francisco wasn’t ideal. You might be standing for half an hour in full sun as there is no shade. The island is quite untidy sadly, but highlight is the audio tour!

Jennifer made everything so easy. The trip was amazing we really enjoyed ourselves. Not too crowded and we were able to take our time through the whole place

We took the Behind the Scenes Tour which kept us on the island until dark. Our National Park guide was Angel and he did an amazing job of interpreting the sights, history and stories of this famous location. Starting out as a fort to protect SF Bay during the Civil War, then expanding and becoming a prison for military criminals and prisoners of war from the Confederacy, eventually becoming a Federal Prison for prisoners who were so bad the other prisons wanted to get rid of them, the occupation by Native People's and not being a part of the largest urban National Park Seashore in the world. Our tour took us underground to the dungeons and bunkers from the original fort. We climbed steep ladders and stood on the gun gallery where guards patrolled and could shoot down any of the cell blocks, the old laundry works for prison industry, dining hall, saw the escape holes and cells of the few people who did escape. We were treated to a Ranger actually working the cell opening and closing mechanisms- so we witnessed the sights and sounds of the cells slamming closed. There was also time to wander a bit before catching the boat back to the dock in SF. Unfortunately, our tour was the last due to the Government shutdown. Hopefully, that can be resolved and tours can resume again. I highly recommend any visit to Alcatraz, but especially the Behind the Scenes Tour.

This tour included admission to Alcatraz (& ferry) and a separate boat tour going under the Golden Gate Bridge. It went very smoothly! Loved it!

This was really interesting - I have always wanted to see Alcatraz and was not disappointed. Only run by the National Parks service - so I would buy my tickets from them direct at the wharf - lots other groups sell tickets with a significant markup the audio self guided tour (which comes in a variety of languages) is really good, and guides you around the prison really well with plenty of time to look around yourself. Ferries go about every 1/2hr so you never have to wait too long. Definitely one to do - good got everyone / solo, couples, families, old and young.

Was everything I expected! You can’t go to San Francisco and not go! We were lucky great sunny day and great boat ride over