The San Francisco CityPass
San Francisco CityPass focuses on San Francisco attractions and transportation
San Francisco CityPass get you free admission to six San Francisco attractions and also includes a pass good for unlimited use of the Cable Cars and Muni (city buses and trolleys) for getting around the city. CityPass is a 7 day pass priced at $59 for adults (children's tickets are less expensive).
All of the CityPass attractions are inside of San Francisco and the Cable Car and Muni pass makes it easy to get around town. This makes CityPass a very strong choice for people who are interested in focusing their vacation on the city and not so much on the greater Bay Area.
- For information oh how to pick between CityPass and the Go San Francisco Card, click here.
- For information on the Go San Francisco Card, click here.
This page has information on:
- What you get with a CityPass
- The most important thing to know when you buying a CityPass for San Francisco
- A map of the CityPass attractions.
- Pro's and Con's of CityPass
- How CityPass compares to our Top Ten San Francisco Attractions
- Some general notes on CityPass for San Francisco
What Do You Get With CityPass?
The CityPass® concept is simple: A booklet – thinner than an iPod and sized to fit in a pocket – contains admission to attractions and landmarks at a 50% savings. Inside the booklet are actual tickets with attraction information, transportation directions, best times to visit, a map, and details from the pages of National Geographic Traveler. With a CityPass, you will not have to wait in queues at most attractions.
San Francisco CityPass is valid for nine days from day of first use. One admission to each of the following attractions is included:
- Muni & Cable Car 7-Day Passport
- California Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Aquarium of the Bay
- SF Museum of Modern Art
- Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure
- The Exploratorium OR the de Young and Legion of Honor art museums
- Important: if you use a CityPass before 27 September 2008, your options are slightly different. You add the Asian Art Museum as an option and lose the California Academy of Arts and Sciences, which doesn't reopen until 27 September 2008.
San Francisco CityPass also has a selection of discounts and offers:
- A discount coupon for either a guided bicycle tour that departs from San Francisco, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and returns via ferry from Sausalito OR A GoCars tour, in a tiny yellow vehicles with GPS
- Bloomingdale’s discount
- See’s Candies
- Boudin Museum and Bakery Tour (Fisherman’s Wharf)
- Bistro Boudin free appetizer with purchased entrée
- Pier 39 Fun Pack
- 2-for1 admission to AT&T Park tour, home of the San Francisco Giants
Adults, $59 (a savings of $53), Youth 5-17, $44 (a savings of $37)
The Most Important Advice for Using San Francisco CityPass
My highest recommendation for visitors is to go see Alcatraz (see my Top Ten Tourist Tips list). A tour of Alcatraz is included with CityPass, but in order to get this you must order your CityPass from Alcatraz Cruises and you must set up your Alcatraz tour in advance. Please see the CityPass Web Site for details. If you want to do the alternate Bay Cruise option, which will take you around Alcatraz and also tour the bay, you can order the CityPass from any of the CityPass banners and links on this site.
Map of City Pass Attractions
View Larger Map
This is a public Google Map. You can search for CityPass From www.SanFranciscoSelfGuidedTour.com on Google Maps or you can just click here to be taken to it.
Remember that CityPass also includes a Cable Car and Muni pass and discounts for GoCar tours and biking across the Golden Gate Bridge into the North Bay. Because these things don't have a specific location, they are not on the map.
The Pros and Cons of San Francisco CityPass
Pro's:
- The CityPass attractions are concentrated in the more tourist friendly parts of San Francisco. This, combined with the Muni Passport, means that you won't need a rental car at all and you really won't even need to take taxis around.
- Between the CityPass Attractions and the Muni Passport, it is easy to get to the Top Ten San Francisco Tourist Spots (scroll down for more information on this).
- Since the CityPass attractions are all indoors, except for the Bay Cruise / Alcatraz, CityPass isn't really affected much by bad weather. By the way: you can, and should, do Alcatraz even if it's raining.
- Provides a good weekend or long weekend's worth of activities.
Con's:
- You could do all of the six 'core' CityPass attractions in two days and then do the GoCar and Bike Rental in one more. If you're only in the city for three days, this obviously isn't a problem, but if you have a longer vacation you will need to plan more things. Note that the Muni passport is good for seven days.
- Four of the six attractions are museums and another one is an aquarium. If you don't like museums, or come from an area that already has a strong base of museums, you may want to think about whether its the best way to spend your San Francisco time.
If CityPass doesn't have the right attractions or doesn't have enough attractions for you, check out the Go San Francisco Card and see if it has what you are looking for.
CityPass vs. the Top Ten San Francisco Attractions
| Attraction | CityPass Notes |
|---|---|
| Alcatraz | CityPass includes a ferry to and tour of Alcatraz but only if you buy the CityPass through the Alcatraz people.
|
| Cable Car | CityPass includes unlimited Cable Car rides |
| Chinatown | Chinatown is easy to get to from anywhere in the city using Muni or the Cable Cars (which are included in CityPass). |
| Coit Tower | Also easy to get to. It's also nice to either walk up the Filbert steps to the tower or, even better, walk down the steps straight into Levi Plaza.
|
| Fisherman's Wharf | Easy to get to. CityPass also provides discounts on Pier 39 attractions, including admission to the Aquarium by the Bay.
The Boudin Bakery, Museum and Bistro are
down there too.
|
| Golden Gate Bridge | Easy to get to on public transportation. You should also have a good photo op from the Bay on the ferry to Alcatraz. Another way to do it is to rent bikes, ride across the bridge into the North Bay, and then take the ferry back from Sausalito or Tiburon (CityPass provides a free ferry ticket for this). If you have good weather and you're a good cyclist, this last one is a great option.
|
| Golden Gate Park | CityPass provides admission to the de Young museum, in the heart of the park. The Muni pass makes it easy to get to the park and to pick up public transportation from wherever in the park you happen to get to.
|
| Lombard Street | Easy to get to. One good option is to take the Powell-Hyde Cable Car, get off at the top of Lombard and then just walk down Lombard St. into North Beach.
This is another great photo op.
|
| North Beach | Easy to get to and the Muni pass is very handy after a day or night shopping and partying along Columbus Avenue.
|
| Palace of Fine Arts | Easy to get to and right next to The Exploratorium, which CityPass covers admission for.
Alternatively, if you are biking from the Ferry Building or Fisherman's Wharf to go over the Golden Gate Bridge, you will bike very near to the Palace of Fine Arts and it will be a short detour.
|
The bottom line: the Cable Car and Muni Pass that you get with CityPass make it easy to get around San Francisco to almost anywhere you would want to go, though it can be time consuming to get there. CityPass also helps out, but doesn't cover everything, for a nice bike ride to the North Bay and a GoCar tour (see below for more on the GoCar).
Notes on Using CityPass
- CityPass lets you go to either the Asian Art Museum or The Exploratorium. If you have kids with you or if you would rather go to a science museum than an art museum, The Exploratorium is probably the better bet.
- If you want to see both the de Young museum and the Legion of Honor (another art museum), you must see them on the same day. Going to the de Young gets you free entrance into the Legion of Honor, but only on the same day.
- If you go to the Legion of Honor and you like to walk, you can walk around Land's End to Point Lobos and then on to the ruins of the old Sutro Baths. If you get to the Sutro Baths site, there is a pretty good diner right there or you can walk over to the Cliff House, a San Francisco institution for oceanside drinks and dining
- I recommend at least one ferry ride while you are in San Francisco, especially if the weather is nice. CityPass includes a ferry ride back from Sausalito or Tiburon, if you bike over, and either a ferry ride around Alcatraz or a ferry ride to Alcatraz. Any one of these options will get you your ferry ride and good photo opportunities for Alcatraz, the city, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Taking a tour of the city isn't for everyone, but it is a good way to look around and I recommend it, especially if you don't have much time in the city. CityPass does not include a regular tour but does get you a discount on using the GoCar tours. These are little, three wheeled scooters that seat two and take you on a tour using GPS directions and audio information about the city. You will probably think this is either great fun or something that makes you look like an idiot or maybe both. Watch the Video below if you're curious.
The Completely Gratuitous GoCar Video
GoCar Note: Most people seem to really enjoy the GoCars but there are two things to watch out for.
- Check your GoCar and make sure the GPS is operational and set for the correct language. If you have problems, return the GoCar immediately and be very insistent that you need a fully functional car or you want all of your money back.
- Be careful about trying to take a GoCar up a steep hill, especially if you have two adults in it. The older GoCars in particular can have problems with hills and people have had to get out and push on some of San Francisco's steeper hills.