Discover San Francisco Walking Tours

I am a perpetual tourist. Every time I move to or visit a new city, I scope out the walking tours. I am a natural born walker and walking tours have always been one of my favorite ways to discover a city. I'm also a sucker for learning everything I can about a city; ghost stories, famous scandals, architectural mysteries, etc...To back up slightly, I lived in San Francisco in the eighties and no matter where in the world I may have hung my Giants cap over the past few decades, San Francisco has remained one of my favorite travel destinations. Some cities are perfect 'walking cities'; San Francisco is one of them. So when I moved back here in 2012, walking tours were first on my list and Discover Walks San Francisco was where I started. My first tour was the North Beach tour--(come on Joe DiMaggio and Pizza!) And although I know a bit about the city by the bay, this tour was awesome. Our city guide was Evan, and he made us feel like we had access to insider information that most locals would have to dig for. He provided an excellent mix of history, humor and tasty treats--(complimentary fudge), along the way. Do you know where the term Shanghai came from? Do you know who Carol Doda is? And what of the A.P. Hotaling's building? How about the history of that fabulously phallic Coit Tower? You will learn all of this and SO, SO much more. Evan's knowledge of North Beach and its history was fantastic and helps you appreciate this very special place. Being a long time fan of San Francisco, I had an amazing time. It never gets old learning something new about the place I love and having so much fun doing it, was an added bonus. The thing about Discover Walks is, its tip based; which technically means free. But for the sake of comparison; the double Decker buses, which are impersonal and quick, with the added joy of the scratchy, tin-can effect of the narrator--(if said tin-cans actually work)--cost about $40.00 a person. That's the low end of the price spectrum. The bay cruises, Alcatraz, Exploratorium, museums, Aquarium, etc...range from $40.00 and up. Quite frankly, you won't get the great stories, personality, feel the 'globe-granite' underfoot experience that you do on a Discover Walks Tour. So remember, if you dig what you hear and see, dig a little deeper and drop some bucks into the bucket for the photos, the stories, the YouTube video and the experiences that will last long into the future.

#sanfrancisco