Alcatraz Island Tours:

Tickets for Alcatraz Prison

Visiting Alcatraz Island is one of the coolest things you can do in San Francisco.  This is a very memorable experience, but by buying Alcatraz tickets in advance for your tour, you can have a great time in this San Francisco island notorious former prison and avoid ticketing hassles. 

Alcatraz Island - Prison Tours and Tickets

• If possible, you should plan Alcatraz tour tickets in advance and purchase tickets to get the date and time you want to visit the island.  You can buy tickets via phone, in advance at 415-981-7625 or more efficiently via the various tours on this page.  There is a service charge for each ticket purchased via telephone.  This will save you a lot of hassle.  The tickets are then available at a "will-call" at the Alcatraz ticket booth. 

• If you can't get onto the Alcatraz Island tour, the Blue and Gold Ferry San Francisco Bay Cruise is a great alternative to see the island from the boat. 

• The total time door-to-door for an Alcatraz tour is around half a day. 

• If you try to just show up and take the trip, it can often be sold out and you will be stuck at Fisherman's Wharf for several hours waiting for the trip.  

• You will need to navigate Fisherman's Wharf's tourist melees to get to Alcatraz. 

Alcatraz Tour Schedule from Pier 33 (as of March 2008):

• On the island, you will be walking up a quarter mile, 12% grade (somewhat steep) hill to reach the prison. 

•  The Alcatraz Night Tour is a program designed specifically for locals. It includes special programs and activities offered only at night as well as spectacular sunset and nighttime views of San Francisco. Attendance on the Night Tour is also strictly limited to just few hundred visitors each night, ensuring a much more intimate experience than during the day. Best of all, the Night Tour is a fundraiser for restoration and preservation projects on Alcatraz, which is a unit of the National Park Service. The Night Tour operates year-round and offers different specialty programs each night. Tickets with audio are $31.50 for adults, less for seniors $29.25 /juniors $30.50/children $18.75. Ticket price includes roundtrip transportation, live narration on boat, Cellhouse audio tour, and a variety of special programs and presentations throughout the evening. Buy tickets in advance, dress warmly, and wear comfortable walking shoes. Boats leave from Pier 33 every night except for Tuesday and Wednesday.

• You can also get a great and more relaxing view of Alcatraz from private boat charters that average around $30 per person (no minimum in group).   These boats take out a limited group and tour the bay.

Alcatraz Ticket Prices as of March 2008 (Day Tours):

You can buy tickets in advance at 415-981-7625 or online more efficiently via the various tours on this page.  There is a service charge on each ticket bought via telephone.  Buying advance will get you the date / times that you want and save time when you arrive at the ferry dock.

What does "Audio" mean here? 

You will receive a tape player / walkman to listen to a self-guided tour of the prison.  About 90% of visitors buy this tour, which is kind of a cool feature to hear about each point in the prison as you pass it.  However, the tour guides you to specific points where you stop and listen to the tape.  At these "guide-points", clusters of tape-listeners tend to bunch up and stare. 

Alcatraz Virtual Tour