With its long history, distinct neighborhoods, and ever-evolving identity, San Francisco is a destination that you’ll remember for years to come.
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The big question is—how can you actually make sure you find the city’s lesser-known locations, landmarks, and experiences? Like New York City or Chicago, the sheer size and diversity of San Francisco make it a deceptively tricky place to explore.
The good news: You don’t actually need to figure that out yourself. You can offload it to an expert guide.
The bad news: You (probably) won’t have enough time to go on the city’s coolest historical and cultural tours. Even if you plan out your trip carefully, there’s more to explore in SF than most imagine—especially if you’re bundling in Bay Area hotspots like Oakland and Sausalito.
Get a short list of the best tours in San Francisco here. Don’t miss out on these cultural and historical adventures that are led by expert locals.
Historical and cultural tours in San Francisco you don’t want to miss
North Beach Curated Multi-Course Tour
History is alive in North Beach—and you can eat your way through it. This tour includes appetizers, one entrée, and one dessert as you explore the North Beach area, home to Chinese and Italian specialty restaurants.
Chinatown Dim Sum and Tea Tour
Learn the layout of the US’s oldest Chinatown as you munch on dim sum dishes and sip on boba tea, hot tea, and more. Though the tour mostly focuses on Chinese restaurants and dishes, you’ll also learn about history.
Ecotour with Meteorologist
Is climate and weather part of culture? In San Francisco, the weather is a huge part of daily life. One half of the city is often shrouded in mist—the other half, rarely. Learn what makes San Francisco such a wildling when it comes to weather patterns.
Hidden stairways of San Francisco
I know—it sounds dry, if not like a boring workout. But San Francisco’s hilly nature has led to a seriously cool number of hidden, colorful stairways. Plus, this tour takes you to hotspots like the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and downtown San Francisco. Just make sure to wear your walking shoes.
No Diet Club – Food Tour
Want a little comedy and bedside manner with your food tour? This food tour is highly rated thanks to its cheeky, hospitable guides. If you like to go on tours where you make friends with other guests, this looks like one with great energy.
Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour
Get the lowdown on San Francisco’s historic hippie-ville. As you explore the central hub of the city’s long-lost Summer of Love, you’ll learn about architecture, history, and culture. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy a handful of colorful, grand murals.
Love & Haight – Bohemian Past Tour
Want to hear from a local who lived through the city’s Summer of Love in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood? Take this tour—you’ll hear personal tales about what it was like back then. Just know that these stories aren’t suitable for young audiences.
The Surreal San Francisco Tour
Take a walk on the strange side with this storyteller-driven tour of the city. Hear about urban legends, fairytales, and folklore from around the city from a master storyteller. You get to visit The Mission, Castro, and the Duboce Triangle as a modern griot leads the way. As with the bohemian tour listed above, not all parts of this tour are appropriate for children.
Blue Painted Lady House Tour
You probably have heard of San Francisco’s famous Painted Ladies houses, which are Victorian homes that are perfectly uniform aside from their bright colors. This tour takes you inside one of those homes (I’ll let you guess what color it is) to learn about what’s inside those famous Victorian homes, along with the families who live there today.
Mission District Food and History Walking Tour
Get off the beaten path in the Mission District with this small group tour. You’ll get to check out murals, churches, and even famous fire hydrants. Plus, you get to learn about the neighborhood’s most famous eateries before stopping at one for lunch.
Gregangelo Museum
This house-turned-museum has nine installations that will boggle your mind. Described as Alice in Wonderland meets 1001 Arabian Nights, I imagine it’s similar to Meow Wolf’s immersive art museum in Santa Fe. If you like modern art and interactive spectacles, book a ticket. Just plan for a little sensory overload.
Alcatraz Island Prison Tour Package
Check out the country’s most infamous former prison-island: Alcatraz. You won’t be short on tour options to visit Alcatraz—this one comes with a few different options for you to book along with your visit. You can choose a bike rental, a bus pass, or a bay cruise that comes with a three-hour ticket to Alcatraz and an audio tour.
San Francisco Whiskey Cocktail Class: Views and City History
Learn the ropes of how to make famous whiskey cocktails like the Whiskey Sour, Old Fashioned, and more. Along the way, you’ll also get to learn about the history of each whiskey and how it’s crafted. As a perk, the tour’s location, which is hosted by Gold Bar Whiskey Distillery, also has a long history that you’ll delve into.
A Haunted Pub Crawl in San Francisco
The tour name says it all—you get to sip on tasty cocktails between spooky jaunts through SF’s most storied streets. The small group tour visits Jackson Square, the Old Ship Saloon, and more, carefully unfolding the area’s ghostly, dark history and real-life historic facts that served as a backdrop, like the city’s famous Gold Rush era.
San Francisco LGBTQ Walking Tour
San Francisco has a long history associated with the hippie movement of the 1960s—but it also served as a major hub for LGBTQ rights in the 1970s and 80s. This tour takes you through the Castro neighborhood, where you’ll learn about the diverse history and get to see landmarks like the Pink Triangle Memorial Park.
San Francisco Movie Sights City Tour
I’m not usually a fan of bus tours, but this premise is way too cool to ignore. You hop on a bus and zip around the city to its most famous locations that you’ll recognize from major films. The bus has monitors where you’ll actually see the movie clip in question, then get to match it up with the views out your window. For cinephiles, or anyone who likes movies.
