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All 791 San Francisco Attractions »

San Francisco City Guides

100 Larkin Street, SF Public Library - Main Branch, San Francisco, CA 94102
415-557-4266
As featured in San Francisco on a budget
Ranked #25 of 150 tours in San Francisco
5.0 of 5 stars 56 Reviews
Type: Tours
Fee: No
Owner description: City Guides are local volunteers who love the city, lore and legends and they will share it all with you--for free. There is a large selection of... more » Owner description: City Guides are local volunteers who love the city, lore and legends and they will share it all with you--for free. There is a large selection of tours available all over town and lasting 90 minutes to 2 hours. « less
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56 reviews from our community

Visitor rating
    51
    2
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    1
Date Rating
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 28 May 2012 NEW

Over the course of the last two months, I have taken 12 city guide tours, ranging from the Palace Hotel to the Presidio, and they've been fabulous. The tours themselves are well put together, but the real treat is the tour leaders, who adore their city and have often put incredible amounts of time into developing or embellishing their tours.... More

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See 3 more reviews by Ellen S for San Francisco
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 24 May 2012

We were blown away by these dedicated, enthusiastic volunteers who clearly love their city and enjoy showing it off to the world! We got better tours with more information than others who paid $70 apiece for tours... All FREE! They do solicit donations to support their excellent program and we were happy to oblige. We enjoyed the Japanese Tea Garden... More

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See 2 more reviews by Judith M for San Francisco
Alexandria, VA
Top Contributor
50 reviews 50 reviews
Reviews in 27 cities Reviews in 27 cities
73 helpful votes 73 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 May 2012

I don't understand how this group of dedicated volunteers, clearly knowledgeable about, and in love with their city, is not rated higher. In our commercial age it's almost unheard of to actually get something for nothing (other than donations to further the cause). I try to take one of these walks every time I visit the city. My favorite was... More

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See 5 more reviews by fcfrag for San Francisco
Central Coast California
Senior Contributor
33 reviews 33 reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
75 helpful votes 75 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 May 2012
1
person found this review helpful

I found the SF City Guides by Googling walks in SF several years ago. To date I have been on 4 of them: 1)Nob Hill, Path of Gold Market Street, Chinatown and most recently Russian Hill. They are free. They do pass an envelope for a totally non-pressure voluntary donation at the end of the tour. I gladly contribute. The... More

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See 10 more reviews by labonvoyer for San Francisco
Vancouver
Senior Contributor
26 reviews 26 reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
13 helpful votes 13 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 30 April 2012
2
people found this review helpful

We took the SF City Guide tour of Haight-Ashbury and found it to be exceptional. We learned so much about Haight-Ashbury from the 50's right through to the present time. The tours are free and donations are welcome at the end. The tour was suppose to run about an hour but our guide was so enthusiatic that we were two... More

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See 12 more reviews by Travelwithkids95 for San Francisco
New York, New York
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 24 April 2012
2
people found this review helpful

We took 3 different tours - Chinatown, North Beach, Japanese Tea Gardens. Very different, but all excellent tours. Japanese Tea Gardens tour is more academic, but very dramatic at the same time as it includes the history of the Gardens and its creators. The Chinatown and North Beach guide was a young gentlemen who seems to be a history junkie.... More

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See 2 more reviews by trvlrfrmny for San Francisco
Hertfordshire
Senior Contributor
21 reviews 21 reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
8 helpful votes 8 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 22 April 2012
1
person found this review helpful

I looked up walking tours on the internet and was delighted to find that these ones run for free by volunteers. I travelled to SFO for business and had the weekend free on my own, so joining up with a group tour was an appealing option. I ejoyed the first one around North Beach so much that I went on... More

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See 3 more reviews by LEC_LGC for San Francisco
Richmond, VA
1 review
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 April 2012
2
people found this review helpful

Hi, I got to go to SF for a week while my boyfriend attended the technology security conference in Feb-Mar and wanted an affordable way to see the city and figured that I'd go on one tour, Chinatown, the first day and see how it went. Well, after that tour, I went on one or two tours a day! I... More

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Phoenix
Senior Contributor
24 reviews 24 reviews
Reviews in 11 cities Reviews in 11 cities
17 helpful votes 17 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 April 2012
2
people found this review helpful

I discovered City Guides last year, when my husband and I went on two tours (Billionaire Row and Chinatown). This trip we went on three additional tours (Alamo Square, Presidio, and the Palace Hotel). With the exception of the Palace Hotel tour (we couldn't really understand the Asian guide and she went on and on with long stories including 15... More

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See 10 more reviews by PhoenixRobin for San Francisco
Oregon
Contributor
17 reviews 17 reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
18 helpful votes 18 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 31 March 2012
1
person found this review helpful

I recently got a smart phone and put the city guide app on it for San Francisco. I used it A LOT! Whereever we were, I would search where to eat by using "find nearby" and then look at the reviews and I was not let down! I also used it to read about different neighborhoods and what they had... More

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See 2 more reviews by Boys5times for San Francisco

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