San Francisco Holiday Lights: Festive Tour

17 Ratings

San Francisco

Save

View All (5)

Experience the enchanting holiday lights of San Francisco on a 2-hour tour. Ride in a vintage Volkswagen bus, visit iconic landmarks, and sing along to festive songs. Fun for the whole family!

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Kick off your holiday lights tour of San Francisco with a pickup at Fisherman’s Wharf, close to Aquatic Park. Hop aboard one of two 6-passenger VW buses—the ‘Love Bus’ and ‘Sunshine Bus’—both fully refurbished with shag carpets, beaded curtains, and hand-painted murals.

Start your 2-hour guided tour by cruising along the waterfront to see how the city celebrates Christmas. Marvel at the Christmas tree at Pier 39, then head towards the Palace of Fine Arts, the Embarcadero, Union Street, Lombard Street, Chinatown, and North Beach. Stop at Union Square to admire the annual Christmas tree in this shopping paradise.

Don your Santa hat to capture unique holiday photos at scheduled stops along the route.

Points of Interest

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
Lombard Street
Fisherman’s Wharf
San Francisco City Hall
The Castro
San Francisco Love Tours

What's Included

Driver/guide
Live commentary on board
Blanket while on tour
Santa hat

What's Not Included

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Additional Information

Experience the enchantment of San Francisco in the festive Christmas period on a 2-hour tour of holiday illuminations. You’ll journey in a classic ‘70s Volkswagen bus to observe the light spectacles and join in singing holiday-themed tunes while getting exceptional photo opportunities at Lombard Street, Union Square, and the Golden Gate Bridge. This activity suitable for all families includes Santa hats for everyone.

A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Max of 6 guests per VW, we can take larger groups in multiple VW’s
While not wheelchair accessible, we are totally happy in helping out with folding a wheelchair so that everyone can join in the fun!

Location

2899 Hyde St

Hyde Street

Fisherman's Wharf, near the Argonaut Hotel

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.0

(17 Ratings)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Pjberndt

Jan 2, 2024

Christmas in San Francisco 2023 - This tour was so much fun. We had Dave. I highly recommend this. He brought us to areas that we would've never known about. We got to see a castle made of sugar, HUGH gingerbread house, all of the lights around town. We sang with the windows down while going through Union Square and stopped at some of the best photo spots. This was definitely one of the highlights of our vacation.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Paula_b

Dec 28, 2023

Made our Christmas Eve special - This tour was a highlight on our trip. Dave was so much fun. He really brought everyone on the tour together, we felt like old friends. I can't say enough about this tour, you really need to experience it. Every street we went down there were people taking pictures of the van. Dave really made this tour, ask for him.

Review provided by Viator

Excursion799784

Dec 19, 2023

Fun, unique experience - don't miss it! - Super fun night and a great way to see the city at any time - including the holidays. Our driver, Dave, was great and navigated the crazy roads amazingly well. Keep in mind that this a unique, quirky way of seeing SF. So if you want a limo this isn't the tour for you, but if you are looking for something different and fun, this is on that list!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Allanbolte

Dec 16, 2023

Fantastic! - Ky was amazing guide friendly knowledgeable; VW bus awesome! Wonderful tour highly recommended! Went on the new big wheel at Fishermans Wharf after; do it!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Bill_h

Dec 5, 2022

Ride review - Amazing trip , our driver/ Tour guide David was amazing Highly recommend Try it for Holiday Lighting

Review provided by Viator

Ragnar_v

Dec 10, 2021

Loved the Bus! - Super fun! Judith was a great guide to SF and to it's awesome Xmas lights. So festive to zip around in the Love Bus during the holiday season

Review provided by Viator

Julie_s

Nov 28, 2021

Fun family Holiday Lights Nights - Friday night, 11/26/21, we did the San Francisco holiday lights tour - we had SO MUCH FUN!! We spent about 90 minutes in this cute little VW bug decked out for the holidays, listening to Holiday music. Our driver and tour guide, Judith, was absolutely amazing (we love you Judith!) We spent so much time laughing that our sides and bellies hurt for the rest of the night. The views were fantastic, and even while decorations in the city are not back to pre-Covid times, extra treats like being able to stop at the Fairmont and see the worlds largest gingerbread house, and being there for the tree lighting ceremony at Ghirardelli Square, easily made up for it. As did Judith and her stories! I highly recommend this tour. Great family night and fun out. Plus we had an early dinner at Scomas before hand, which was ahhmazing. The tour picks up in Fiaherman's Warf and there are a ton of restaurants and shops within walking distance. Thanks for the fun night, Judith- hugs from, Julie, Chris, Paulette and Lita!! ❤️🎄

Review provided by Viator

Robin_p

Dec 16, 2021

The one Christmas lit... - The one Christmas lit house on the tour. The rest of the tour was not a Christmas light tour but a general SF tour.

Review provided by Viator

Sheila_b

Dec 18, 2022

A Huge Disappointment - This tour should not have been advertised as a “holiday lights tour” but rather a night time city tour. It started out with great potential. The VW bus was well decorated, we were provided light up Santa hats, and took pictures. However once we were actually on our way was when the disappointment set it. We didn’t see any light displays. While our driver was nice there was no set route or plan of specific light displays we were to visit. We ended up in North Beach stuck in traffic for a big part of the tour and it ended before the full hour and a half. Our driver kept mentioning that there are not a lot of light displays around town and ones we asked about were too far away. If you are looking to see holiday lights in the city do not take this tour. You too will be disappointed.

Review provided by Viator

Monica_r

Dec 22, 2021

San Francisco Love Tours=Big Disappointment - We bought 7 tickets to do this fun experience. One of the tickets was for a very excited 9-year-old. We were so looking forward to seeing the Christmas lights. We got to our pick up location early, only to be told by the company that they only were showing 4 passengers not 7. There was another party of only 2 adults. Instead of accommodating us and our young child who was very eager to ride in this VW bus, the company chose the other two patrons. This experience ruined Christmas and left all of us disappointed. I would not recommend this company. Their solution was less than desirable, and it was not fair for us. We had bought the tickets back on November 16, 2021. San Francisco Love Tours is nothing about love. Do not book your tour with them unless you want to be left out without any plans.

Review provided by Viator

From $85

Select Date and Tickets

up to 7 guests