Painted Ladies San Francisco City Tour
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
San Francisco, USA
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Take a journey around San Francisco's top sights in a retro way with this small-group tour by vintage Volkswagen bus, decorated with long eyelashes so you can't miss your tour vehicle. You'll pass by neighborhoods like Chinatown, Union Square, Pacific Heights, North Beach, Haight-Ashbury, the Marina, and Hayes Valley, plus see the Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Civic Center, and more.
- Enjoy access to San Francisco highlights larger buses can't reach
- Stop for photo ops at the Golden Gate Bridge Painted Ladies and Palace of Fine Arts
- Hear about the city while listening to songs from the 1960s and '70s
- BYOB (Bring your own Beer)
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
Vintage VW buses seat just eight people, making this a fun and intimate experience.
What's Included
- Small group tour
- Professional Tour Guide
- Snacks
- Bottled water
- Access to local vintage points where large buses are banned from
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Haight-Ashbury (Pass By)
Union Square (Pass By)
Civic Center (Pass By)
1
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Painted Ladies
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Golden Gate Bridge
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Lombard Street (Pass By)
Chinatown (Pass By)
Golden Gate Park (Pass By)
Presidio of San Francisco (Pass By)
North Beach (Pass By)
Lower Haight (Pass By)
Hayes Valley (Pass By)
Western Addition (Pass By)
Marina District (Pass By)
Mrs Doubtfire House (Pass By)
Princess Diaries High School (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Minimum number of 3 people applies. There is a possibility of cancellation or rebooking to another time after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
- Stroller accessible
- Portable wheelchair ok
- Service animals allowed
- Booster seats are available on request if advised at time of booking
- Near public transportation
- Recommended tip amount :$15-$20 per passenger. (Did you know that tips make up a large amount of our tour guide income in the US?)
- Note that each vehicle seats up to 7 people total. We can still accommodate larger groups seated in separate vehicles.
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- Everyone in your group needs to complete our digital waiver.
- Anyone showing symptoms of COVID 19, including fever, cough or shortness of breath won’t be able to participate.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 2,133 reviews
Robin_V, Apr 2026
Loved riding in the retro VW van. Our driver Clay was awesome and very knowledgeable of the area. Got to see several key points of the city.
Jennifer_T, Apr 2026
A fantastic 2 hour tour that hits all the highlights of San Francisco. Our driver Caio was absolutely wonderful— educational, funny, a safe driver and an awesome tour guide! Would highly recommend this tour!
Jodie_G, Mar 2026
Our driver Josh was very knowledgeable about the area and was able to tailor the route for an extra sight we wanted to see.
Amy_C, Mar 2026
Our tour guide Jim made the whole experience a fun morning! Very informative about the city showing us a lot of historic places. Lots of opportunities for pictures too. Highly recommend!!
Margaret_C, Mar 2026
Fun and intimate. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable. It was so much better than waiting for people to hop on, hop off.
Jennifer_W, Mar 2026
John was an excellent host! He was funny and personable. He made the tour interesting and gave us a lot of dining recommendations that were spot on.
James_S, Mar 2026
We travelled with Jim in the amazing bus “Pearl”. Jim was very knowledgeable about all of San Francisco. My partner is disabled and he was skillfully accommodating. One of the highlights for me was how well he handled Pearl through the streets. Kudos!
Jodi_B, Mar 2026
We loved our VW Bus tour with Jim! Amazing custom playlist. Awesome facts along the route. Everything we hoped it would be! Can’t believe he can drive like that and hold a conversation.
Julia_A, Mar 2026
Caio was great! Lots of cool information about neighborhoods, history, famous people who lived or do live in homes, entertaining, fun music to match neighborhoods, extra surprises of whale sightings in bay and Lombardo street… Born to be wild. Must do experience!!
Shannon_T, Mar 2026
Our experience was absolutely amazing. Jack was out guide today. He knew so much about the city & it felt like we hit it all. The kids said that the tour was fun & Jack was really nice. My husband loved his playlist, as well as I. 10 out of 10!
connie_f, Mar 2026
On time start. Cute VW van. Great music. Lots of interesting facts. Great way to see all the neighborhoods in San Francisco. Would have liked the tour to be a little more interactive.
Esther_R, Mar 2026
Jack was a great tour guide! Very knowledgeable and shared his love for the city at every turn. He made sure everyone was all set.
Robert_E, Mar 2026
Fun way to learn about the city and it's history. Small group is nice and great guide. Not too "touristy."
Joanne_C, Feb 2026
What a fab experience, Clay our guide for the morning, was very knowledgeable , and took us on a journey through the city, saw some great views of Golden Gate Bridge, much better than on previous tours. Also the drive down Lombard street was fantastic. Thank you so much
Lynn_H, Feb 2026
Dominic made this excursion so much fun for the three of us on our "girl trip" to San Francisco! Daisy, our 1973 VW bus, was our transportation for the tour. Dominic, a local, shared info and great stories about each neighborhood district. Even though we had each been to SF before, we saw many places we hadn't seen! Great views from Daisy and fun photo stops along the way! Lots of great music and a wild ride down Lombard street to end our epic tour! Thanks Dominic!!
Jeremy_K, Feb 2026
Jack was our tour guide on the painted ladies tour. And in all honesty it was one of the best tours we've ever had. He did an incredible job in every way. Ty guys and we won't forget it
Cliff_E, Feb 2026
Interesting and informative tour around sites of San Francisco goes where the big buses can’t on the steep hills around the city.
Rebecca_D, Jan 2026
Fabulous tour of San Francisco. Our tour guide Jim is a Superstar! He had great stories and history to share at a variety of city sites. I wish that I had taken this tour at the beginning of my trip. Then I would return to several places to spend more time. Definitely a must do tour. Cheers.
Mahael_M, Jan 2026
The trip was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it to everyone. The bus was nice and comfortable, and the tour guide was kind, helpful, and friendly. Make sure to bring some cash for tipping.
Liz_K, Jan 2026
..we were lucky and only the both of us … just do it if you are interested in the city & Culture & a very nice person!
Manan_C, Jan 2026
Highly recommend this tour. Jack was an excellent guide with deep local knowledge and a great way of explaining the history behind the Painted Ladies and the surrounding neighborhood. The tour was informative, fun, and well organized. Definitely worth doing.
Lorie_J, Dec 2025
Jim was phenomenal, he really knows his stuff about the City from being local for so many years, we had such a great time! Only thing I’d have done different is bought one extra ticket so we had a little more room and that’s just because I’m a bit claustrophobic. Truly loved the experience and vibe, ask for Jim if they let you!
Ashley_S, Dec 2025
Caio had a wealth of knowledge of a wide range of San Francisco information and was able to personalize the tour for everyone in the group, from children to people in their 70s. His personable nature absolutely made the tour...would absolutely recommend!
Jeff_S, Dec 2025
Jack was fantastic - knew everything, shared his love of the city. Took very good care of us! We would love to do it again, but not during the power outage/waymo crisis on December 20th! Jack handled it with ease, and a smile!
Doug_P, Dec 2025
We had a blast riding in the VW (a flashback for us old guys). Our guide was great. Tons of great facts and insights into an amazing city).
PaulJ_W, Dec 2025
You'll likely learn things you never knew about the City even though you thought you'd seen and heard it all. Kial did a great job and clearly enjoys his work. Great music, great selection of what the guests likely want to see and all in a short two hours. We very much enjoyed it and recommend this tour to others.
Lowell_F, Dec 2025
The tour covered so many interesting facets of San Fran. Clay and Josh added personal notes which enhanced the entire experience. They were very friendly and complimented each other well as tour guides. We enjoyed the way the tour covered different neighborhoods of San Fran and highlighted the unique aspects of each. Honestly, the best city tour I've ever been on.
Mrs_L, Dec 2025
A great two hours in the city. Jack is a fun and knowledgeable guide who loves his city and you’ll likely fall in love with San Francisco too.
Denise_C, Dec 2025
The hippie van tour is a good experience ..delightful ..unique ..van tour through SF hippies...would enjoy an additional trip
Briana_N, Nov 2025
We were in a VW van named Daisy with Caio as our driver/tour guide. We drove through many of the neighborhoods and famous houses from movies/tv shows. There were 3 stops (5-7 minutes each) for photos: Painted Ladies, Palace of the Fine Arts and the parking lot outside of the yacht club with amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The playlist also added to the vibe.
You can use the tour to determine what areas you want to explore in more detail.
I would recommend.
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