Top San Francisco City Tours - page 8

This tour was nothing short of amazing. Chad is an absolute delight — a local who genuinely knows and loves his city. As a New Orleans native myself, I know how hard it is to convey the rich history of a place to newcomers; you want people to leave as inspired by it as you are, and that only happens when a guide is sincerely passionate about their home. I was the first pickup and Chad was so polite and engaging from the jump that I didn’t even feel the need for my regular morning coffee. As a solo traveler on my first-ever trip to the West Coast, this tour was invaluable for getting my bearings. Landing in a totally unfamiliar terrain is disorienting enough, and I was staying in a hostel in the Tenderloin, which made for a somewhat rough introduction to the city. Doing this tour early in my trip gave me a real sense of SF's layout — so much so that a few days later, when I couldn't figure out a bus route back to my hostel, I was able to navigate an alternative route using waypoints Chad had pointed out. I'm writing this review two months after the fact, not because Viator reminded me (they gave up on reminders after 2 weeks), but because I felt genuinely obligated to put people onto this tour — it was one of the highlights of my trip. My only real "complaint" is that for the rest of my week in SF, I found myself longing to get back in that VW bus and cruise the hills of San Francisco again. Unparalleled experience — bravo! P.S. If you're a solo traveler, don't be too shy to ask your guide to take a few photos of you at sights or with the bus. And remember to bring some cash to tip. <3 P.S.S. If you have time, grab a cup of coffee and some beans at Lady Falcon in Alamo Square (the Painted Ladies stop).