Tour Alcatraz Island From San Francisco With Ferry
Visit Alcatraz prison cells with ferry rides and a 45-minute audio tour
Duration
Approximately 3 hours
Includes
Ferry, admission, audio tour
Highlights
Ride the ferry from Pier 33 to Alcatraz Island and explore the historic Cellhouse at your own pace. Your ticket includes admission plus a 45-minute audio tour offered in multiple languages.
- Depart from Pier 33 (Alcatraz Landing) in Fisherman's Wharf
- Choose a daytime departure: 9:10am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, or 2pm
- Explore inside the Alcatraz prison cells and Cellhouse exhibits
- Listen to the 45-minute audio tour in multiple languages
- Return by ferry to Pier 33 after your visit
What's Included
- Round-trip ferry from Pier 33 to Alcatraz Island
- Alcatraz Island admission
- Short docent introduction on Alcatraz Island
- Cellhouse admission
- 45-minute audio tour in multiple languages
Cancellation Policy
No refund or cancellation on Alcatraz tour ticket/Alcatraz tour package. All sales are final.
FAQs
You receive your Alcatraz tour ticket by email after your booking is complete. Your confirmation is not your ticket—your tour tickets are sent in a separate email as soon as they are ready.
Yes. You can request up to three departure times at checkout (9:10am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, or 2pm). Your booking is assigned the first available option based on availability.
You can stay on Alcatraz Island as long as you like, but allow at least 3 hours for the ferry ride, the 45-minute Cellhouse audio tour, exploring the island exhibits, and the return ferry.
More about Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island sits just over a mile off the San Francisco shoreline, a rocky outcrop that has loomed in the city's imagination for more than a century. Once home to the most notorious federal penitentiary in the United States, Alcatraz Island held inmates like Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert "Birdman" Stroud within its cold concrete walls. Today the island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and a visit blends maximum-security history with windswept gardens, seabird colonies, and some of the most striking views of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge you can find anywhere in the Bay.
The day tour begins with a short ferry ride across the bay, the silhouette of the cellhouse growing closer with every minute. Once you step ashore on Alcatraz Island, the award-winning cellhouse audio tour guides you through the main prison block, narrated by former guards and inmates who actually lived there. You will walk past the tight rows of cells, peer into solitary confinement in D-Block, and stand in the dining hall where tensions once simmered three times a day. Outside, the wind carries the cry of gulls, wildflowers spill across the slopes in spring, and every turn opens onto another sweeping view of the city, Angel Island, and the open Pacific.
This experience is ideal for history buffs, true-crime fans, families with curious kids, and first-time visitors to San Francisco who want a deeper sense of place. Photographers will love the textures of peeling paint and rusted bars set against the bay, while anyone who simply enjoys a good story will be drawn in by the legendary escape attempts and daily routines that defined life here. Spend a few unforgettable hours on Alcatraz Island and you will leave with a richer understanding of one of America's most haunting and beautiful landmarks.
