San Francisco

Vantigo - The Original San Francisco VW Bus Tour

Name: Vantigo - The Original San Francisco VW Bus Tour
Brand: Vantigo
SKU: 6149P2
Price: 95.00 USD
Rating: 5.0 (492 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceSan Francisco, USA

Likely to Sell Out

From $95.00

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

3 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Hop aboard a vintage Volkswagen bus for a San Francisco city tour to remember. Travel down streets a typical tour bus can't access while your guide fills you in on the history of the City by the Bay, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley. Get views of landmarks such as Twin Peaks, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Painted Ladies as you travel through distinct city districts, and see more of the city than you could if exploring independently.

Travel in a vintage Volkswagen bus
Stops for photos and explore several popular districts
A small group size ensures a personalized experience
Choice of morning or afternoon departure

What's Included

Professional guide
Access to districts the large buses cannot go
Bottled water

Children 0 to 4 require you to book a private tour
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting points

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End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Union Square (Pass By)

Fisherman's Wharf (Pass By)

Chinatown (Pass By)

Coit Tower

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

North Beach (Pass By)

Marina District (Pass By)

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Golden Gate Bridge

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Golden Gate Park (Pass By)

Twin Peaks

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Painted Ladies

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Civic Center (Pass By)

Haight-Ashbury (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Recommended tip amount: $15-20 per passenger (tips make up a large chunk of tour guide income in the U.S!)

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 7 travelers

Operated by Vantigo

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

492 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 492 reviews

Book This If You Want a Perfect Tour Experience

Sarah_J, Apr 2024

This is hands down the most amazing tour I’ve ever taken of a city by a local!!! I can’t recommend this enough!!! Chad is an absolutely FANTASTIC tour guide!! He’s very knowledgeable, funny, and passionate about San Francisco and its history. When you’re on this tour you’ll feel like a local - Chad knows everyone and everything you need to do while in the city. And traveling in the VW van is such an iconic experience!! He can go places regular tour buses can’t and finds the best paths to show us the entire city. I was only able to stay in San Fran for a weekend and after this tour I felt like I’d experienced the entire city!! He also knew all the best photo spots and humored me in my multiple jump photos. I always like to book a walking or driving tour at every place I’ve been to and this was by far the best, most detailed, and most thoughtful one I’ve been on in my 9+ years of traveling!!! 100000/10 would recommend!!!

A very fun 3 hour tour of San Francisco.

Larry_G, Apr 2024

Chad was a great tour guide. Very informative and pleasant. We saw many of the iconic sites in San Francisco.

Living the soul of SF with Chad

Doga_C, Apr 2024

Chad is an amazing guide. His energy and passion for the city made this tour memorable. I fully recommend this tour to everyone who wants to experIence the best of San Francisco in half a day

Simply Perfect!!!

Kevin_H, Apr 2024

Perfect experience / tour of San Francisco. Chad was an expert by all account. His knowledge of the city and his ability to reach picture perfect views was simply amazing!

Its a MUST

Arina_H, Mar 2024

Don't go to SFO without this tour. This is a must. My 1st week long California trip would be nothing without it. I dont even know what to start complimating first, tour guy, communication before the trip, positivity, Playlist that was one that gave different vibe of each party of this beautiful city, even complimentary Ghirardelli to top it off. If you want to have a great time this is worth every penny.

Highly Recommended Tour of San Francisco

Monica_O, Mar 2024

Our afternoon with Chad was great! He was so personable and full of knowledge! The ride in the van (“Lillie”) was perfect…got into so many areas where tour buses wouldn’t have been allowed. We saw so many sites in the few short hours on the tour; some of which locals didn’t even know about! Chad was full of stories and songs. Big smiles the whole duration of the tour! He really loves giving these tours. He’s well researched and so prepared to share, with passion. This tour was a fantastic way to see parts of San Francisco that we otherwise wouldn’t have had time / opportunity to see. In my humble opinion, this tour is a must-do if you want to see the sites of San Francisco from someone who has a passion to share his love for the city.

Great experience, a must do if you get the chance

Michael_J, Mar 2024

Our tour was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. Our guide Chad was awesome, very informative, and we got to go to places a bus wouldnt be able to get to. He clearly loves his job, and just wants you to have a great time too. All in a classic , VW campervan, which was great. If there is one thing you should do whilst visiting San Francisco, this is it

Chad & Lily, the San Francisco Dream Team

Laura_E, Mar 2024

Chad snd "Lilly" are amazing. Chad is so funny and knowledgeable. We visited all the best places, including some hidden gems and Chad even gave recommendations of where to visit if we had more time. Lily was fabulous. She got so many admired glances and served us so well. Beautiful. It was honestly one of the best tours I have ever been on.

Incredible way to see the city and learn about the different areas!

Margaret_T, Mar 2024

Our family group consisted of three generations and the VW tour was exactly what we hoped it would be! Our only regret is that we didn’t take the tour at the beginning of our trip as we wanted to return to so many of the hidden gems Chad showed us. Highly recommend this tour as we loved every minute of it!

Loved it!

Christopher_M, Mar 2024

This was an amazing way to see the highlights of San Francisco in a short amount of time! The driver, Chad, was an amazing storyteller and entertainer which made the journey even better. The van was one of the best parts of the ride; the spacious, 1971 van in great condition brought smiles to everyone’s faces. We got so many waves and chuckles from people we were passing by. This experience was great for adults and kids, 100% recommend!

SF discovery tour

Sven_P, Mar 2024

Chad's tour is a must-have! If you want to see San Francisco's highlights and get lots of fun and information: go on a discovery tour with Chad. The 1971 VW Bus is just cool 😎. We had a fantastic time.

Wonderful tour

Susan_S, Feb 2024

Wonderful! Chad was so knowledgeable and so personable. We were able to see so much, learn so much, and make several stops for photos. I recommend this tour for anyone!

Great tour

Sharon_G, Feb 2024

Great experience with Chad and Lily. I would recommend doing the tour at the start of your holiday as an overview of all the sights and experiences available in San Fran.

Beautiful San Francisco

Christine_G, Feb 2024

Beautiful tour of beautiful San Francisco. Learned so much ! Had fun , the tour guide ,Chad was amazing and so much fun .

Book this trip now! Worth every penny!

Amy_S, Dec 2023

If you do nothing else in SF, go on this tour! It’s simply amazing—the perfect blend of incredible sightseeing, laughter, music, and history. If I could give 10 stars, I would happily. The time flew by, and my family and I felt really welcomed and immersed in the city.

Awesome and Fun Tour - highly recommend!

Lilly_B, Dec 2023

Chad was an energetic, friendly, happy and all-around-awesome tour guide and he gave us a terrific tour of so many SF highlights complete with music and lots of interesting & fun facts. We would highly recommend to anyone! Even though it was rainy - we had a great time. Van (Harvey) is cute and runs well too - all around great unique experience.

Amazing!!

Kaila_I, Dec 2023

My husband and I cannot recommend this tour enough. Chad was amazing, super knowledgeable and had a song to go with every location. I highly recommend this tour if you’re keen to see all the beautiful and unique locations around San Francisco. 10/10!!

Amazing time

Gisele_L, Nov 2023

Chad is an amazing tour guide. He gets you into the groove as soon as you embark his authentic vintage VW van. He is very knowledgeable about the different parts of the city and gives you enough time to enjoy the sights. The music played is a nice touch. I strongly recommend Chad for this spectacular venture.

First class tour of ‘Frisco!

Lynn_C, Oct 2023

What a fantastic start to our trip. Could not have enjoyed our SF tour more and would highly recommend Vantigo whether you are short on time or just want to get ‘the lie of the land’ at the beginning of a longer stay in ‘Frisco. Chad was a first rate guide, knowledgeable and entertaining, and we totally fell in love with ‘Harvey’ our vintage VW van. Everything was well organised with great comms in advance of our tour. Definitely a highlight of stay in beautiful San Francisco and would never have seen or learnt so much without Chad’s help. Just loved everything about it!

Learned a lot

Nancy_R, Oct 2023

Chad and his music was great. Chad was also very knowledgeable. Highly recommend this tour. Would definitely do it again!

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