We have been to San Francisco many times, and since our son moved there with his wife, we try to go as often as possible.
I still don’t understand the reason for YVR to LAX having much lower prices than from YVR to SFO. Of course it’s related to supply and demand, but it’s painful to pay double price for a flight that is 50% shorter!
This time we went to Alcatraz. We have never been there before! Our son invited us and booked the tour.
Departing by boat
Beautiful views of San Francisco along the route
Getting close to Alcatraz
The boat circles the island before docking
Alcatraz:
I recommend you go on the tour by the end of the afternoon / beginning of evening in order to watch the beautiful sunset.
The tour is “self explained” and the audio guide is excellent. Make use of it.
There are several places to explore outside the main building. Don’t miss them!
I don’t remember seeing a cafeteria selling food / drinks, although they may exist. We all carried our bottles of water and after we returned to mainland we went out for dinner at Ryoko’s Japanese Restaurant.
Even without being a prisoner the arrival made my legs shake. Imagine being locked at this place? OMG!
Alcatraz entrance. The sign is from the “old times”, when it was a prison.
A regular cell.
My dear family
The love of my life
everyone with the audio guides and enjoying several scenic overlooks outside the main building.
The big advantage of going late afternoon: You will be able to enjoy this killing sunset!
Excellent Place to have dinner in San Francisco:
Ryoko’s Japanese Restaurant has fresh seafood, great service, live atmosphere and is reasonably priced.
Sausalito
It’s a relatively interesting place although I don’t see reasons for all the “fuss” about Sausalito. We have been there several times, but I regard our visits as “let’s try to find something to do” more than loving the destination in itself.
Probably Sausalito was an interesting place in the past, with the hippies around, musical festivals, “Peace and Love” movement and so on. Nowadays it’s just a stretch of touristy and pricey shops and restaurants with none of them, that I know of, offering really wonderful meals. There’s also an ice cream store offering “regular ice creams” (nothing specially delicious), that is pretty expensive and usually has long lines.
If you have never been there and will be visiting San Francisco for several days, you can go on a day trip and mark “checked” on your travel map. Otherwise, you can easily skip it and will not be loosing anything “special”, in my humble opinion.
San Francisco viewed from Sausalito
Santa Cruz:
Like Alcatraz, Santa Cruz is another place where we haven’t been before. We went there on a day trip from San Francisco and found the city not pretty.
The “main attraction” looks to be the train
Santa Cruz. Picture taken from the Pier.
We had a very good meal at Riva Fish House , located at Santa Cruz pier, but other than that we found the city ugly and lacking scenic views / attractions.
Riva Fish House in Santa Cruz
The road to Santa Cruz, along the beach has some overlooks along the way. We parked in a couple of them, but in my opinion, there is “nothing special” there. I wouldn’t include Santa Cruz as a place that you “must go” / “must visit” , if you are visiting California.
My son and my daughter-in-law making the view prettier! 🙂
Along the route between San Francisco and Santa Cruz
Vancouver by Locals - Our travels 