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San Francisco City Tour: Explore in a Vintage VW Van
5.0
62 Ratings
San Francisco
Experience San Francisco like never before on a private vintage Volkswagen van tour. Explore 14 districts, iconic landmarks, and hear fascinating stories from a local guide. Book now!
Experience San Francisco like never before on a private vintage Volkswagen van tour. Explore 14 districts, iconic landmarks, and hear fascinating stories from a local guide. Book now!
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Vantigo Tours - Private tours allow you to see what you want at your own pace. These tours are completely customizable and Vantigo will work with you to coordinate the perfect experience. One ticket books the whole 7 passenger bus!
- Union Square - Drive through
- Fisherman’s Wharf - drive through
- Chinatown - drive through
- **Coit…
- Vantigo Tours - Private tours allow you to see what you want at your own pace. These tours are completely customizable and Vantigo will work with you to coordinate the perfect experience. One ticket books the whole 7 passenger bus!
- Union Square - Drive through
- Fisherman’s Wharf - drive through
- Chinatown - drive through
- Coit Tower - Photo stop
- North Beach - drive through
- Marina District - drive through
- Palace of Fine Arts Theatre - photo stop
- Golden Gate Bridge - photo stop at Fort Point
- Legion of Honor - drive through
- Golden Gate Park - drive through
- Sutro Baths - photo/rest stop
- Ocean Beach - drive through
- Haight-Ashbury - drive through
- Twin Peaks - photo stop
- Alamo Square - photo stop
- Civic Center - drive through
What's Included
- Access to districts the large buses cannot go
- Bottled water
- Professional guide
- Custom pickup and drop-off within San Francisco City Limits
- Snacks
- Beer and Wine are available
- Access to districts the large buses cannot go
- Bottled water
- Professional guide
- Custom pickup and drop-off within San Francisco City Limits
- Snacks
- Beer and Wine are available
What's Not Included
- This tour does not include Muir Woods as an option
- This tour does not include Muir Woods as an option
Additional Information
Are you in search of an entirely unique way to explore San Francisco? Swap the common tour bus for a classic Volkswagen van that effortlessly cruises through the city’s less frequented lanes. Vantigo’s San Francisco City Tour escorts you through 14 renowned districts, pausing at particular spots with spectacular views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate…
Are you in search of an entirely unique way to explore San Francisco? Swap the common tour bus for a classic Volkswagen van that effortlessly cruises through the city’s less frequented lanes. Vantigo’s San Francisco City Tour escorts you through 14 renowned districts, pausing at particular spots with spectacular views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and plenty of other iconic landmarks. As your journey unfolds, we’ll weave in narratives about the earthquakes that formed the city’s topography, the transformation from the era of the 1849 Gold Rush to Silicon Valley’s emergence, the 1960s counterculture, and many more intriguing facts only a native could share. Snacks, beverages, beer, and wine are all included!
Whether you are a first-time visitor to San Francisco or have been a resident for years, this tour will present the city to you in a fresh light. Reserve your spot today and prepare for an entertaining ride!
- Recommended tip amount: $20 per passenger (tips make up a large chunk of tour guide income in the U.S!)
Location
Vantigo Tours
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(62 Ratings)
5 stars
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Sven-papa
Mar 12, 2024
SF tour in a Bulli;-) - It’s a fantastic tour with Chad, he is showing us everything, taking photos and time is flying
Best tour ever, thanks Chad!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
944wilfridl
Feb 25, 2024
Go with Vantigo SF ? A big YES !!! 👍 - An excellent, fun & cultural introduction to SF and its personalities. Chad and Harvey share their incredible enthousiasme with adapted music to the surroundings. Everybody sing and laugh all along that epic travel in the city. So nice, so cool, so unforgettable experience ! Many thanks Chad for that gift.
Highly recommended from France !
Wil&Pat.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sneakersurfer
Jan 4, 2024
Brithday Bonanza - I wanted to do something special for my husband's birthday & to celebrate my sister's first visit to San Francisco, this was it!! We travelled in the bus Lily with Chad the owner of the company & story teller extraordinaire! It was a wonderful tour full of facts, stories & great stop off points which aren't all on the tourist track. We had a selection of thoughtful drinks & snacks provided plus toilet breaks which if you have kids is great! The VW is an immaculate air cooled beauty if you're into that oh & I the kids played bingo while we drove around too and won prizes which they still cherish. Just so you know we also had a 15yo girl on the trio who is not easy to please & she thought it was fun and obviously Instagram fab!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daydream27038203960
Oct 29, 2023
The best way to get a tour of San Francisco - If I could rate this tour 100/10 I would. I was lucky enough that this was my second time on this tour. I did it back in 2016 with my family and took my friend this year in 2023. We opted to do the tour on our second day of the trip and it’s the perfect way to get an overview to then decide what you want to come back and visit in more detail. The tour feels personal as it’s in a much smaller group than the commercial tour buses. Also most tour buses aren’t allowed in a large portion of the city so through supporting this small tour business you also get access to places in the city others don’t.
Chad was our tour guide this time and he was amazing!!! Super personable and passionate about what he does. Always happy to take lots of cool and cringe tourist pictures for you!!! The best kind of pictures!! I want to thank him for making the experience extra special! You also don’t notice that a few hours have passed by, which to me is a great sign!!
I couldn’t recommend doing a tour with this company any more, if I return to San Francisco a third time you can bet I will be doing this tour again!!
(I have attached two pictures, one from 2016 and one from 2023)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apattiem
Jul 9, 2023
Fun time in vintage VW bus! - We had a wonderful time on this tour. We only had a day in San Francisco, and this was a great way to see all the highlights. Chad is an excellent tour guide, fun and engaging, and we learned so much about the city. Our kids (17,20,22yo) loved the tour. The 1971 VW bus, manual transmission going up the San Fran hills, made the tour that much more fun. We saw the whole city and Chad even had some snacks and drinks for us. Very much recommend this tour!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Noahwl2549el
May 8, 2023
Best experience ever! - We did a private tour with Chad for my gf 25th birthday and it was worth every dollar. From the cool vintage vw bus, to the beautiful scenery, Chad provide d a tour service to be reckoned with.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christopher_o
Nov 22, 2022
Private Tour with Chad and Lily - We had a blast on our private tour with Chad and his partner Lily, the little red VW bus. Chad was very knowledgeable about the city and we learned so much about the history of the landmarks and neighborhoods. Lily was able to get us into places and make stops that a bigger bus would not be able to make. We had several stops and had all the time we needed to look around and take pics.
He had snacks, drinks, all the right music, jokes, and clean bathroom stops. Lily was clean, well maintained, and her classic good looks turned heads all over town. The flower painted VW buses look cute, but this was much more our style.
We were picked up at our hotel and Chad dropped us off in Chinatown with an amazing lunch recommendation, and a list of several special stops we needed to make after lunch.
The private tour was perfect for us, as we tend to close up in groups of strangers and feel like we are missing opportunities to ask questions or talk. We enjoyed the conversation with Chad and he was very easy to spend 4 hours with.
Review provided by Viator
Camsojan
Oct 13, 2022
Vantigo is the go! - Chad is an excellent tour guide (and driver). He tailored the tour to the interests of my two teenage daughters. They had a ball.
Of course, the experience of driving around San Francisco in a 1971 VW Combi van was THE highlight for me (as well as the indefatigable San Francisco fog which obscured the view of the Golden Gate and the Bay). Despite the fog, and impeded view, Chad ensured that our experience was interesting, diverse and engaging.
I would fully recommend Vantigo to anyone that is seeking a broad experience of San Francisco in half a day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rossbn9918wg
Aug 15, 2022
Vantigo San Francisco Tour - Fantastic tour of the city.
Loved the VW van. Chad had great knowledge of the city and seemed to hit the key spots. We were also impressed with his knowledge of the history of the city and surrounding area. Since we went with a private tour, Chad was able to be flexible and hit some specific sights we wanted to see. He seemed to make an extra effort for us to see many of the views despite being a foggy morning. At the end of the tour, he offered to drop us off at a restaurant in China Town where we wanted to eat.
The van was clean and had plenty of room. I was very impressed with Chad’s ability to use a standard transmission in this extremely hilly area.
The tour was well worth the price and we would do it again. It was the highlight of our visit to San Francisco.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Julgod
Jul 31, 2022
Amazing tour - Everything was perfect! Thanks again to Chad, fantastic guide, professional, kind. We loved the tour and really discovered San Francisco. In addition with our last child of 7 years old, Chad knew how to occupy him, captivate him with games. Gourmet breaks, beer or wine snacking ! It was great.
20/20 continue like that
We recommend to all and also to families !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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