Barbary Coast Trail: Guided Tours

Guided tours by appointment: $22 per person, $352 minimum.

Four separate tours are available (see right).

Each tour is two hours. Custom tours are also available.

To schedule a tour, call (415) 454-2355, or email

PLEASE NOTE: There is a $352 minimum for our guided tours. This means you or your group can hire a guide for that amount for up to sixteen people. Add $22 per person for groups larger than sixteen.

School Tours

The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society offers free guided tours of the Barbary Coast Trail to San Francisco public schools. Other schools may arrange tours for a fee. To schedule a tour, please contact us at (415) 454-2355.

Author and trail creator Daniel Bacon is your personal guide to the Barbary Coast Trail. His lively descriptions and amusing anecdotes are a treat for all those who love The City by the Bay.

Guided Tours are available by appointment. The cost is $22 per person with a $352 minimum. You can also take a self-guided tour of the trail anytime using our Audio Tour or Printed Guides.

This tour explores an area that was devastated in 1906 and then rebuilt into a world-class city.

• Old U.S. Mint, a national historic landmark
• Union Square, site of Civil War-era rallies
• Maiden Lane, a sunny street with a shady past
• Oldest Catholic cathedral in the West
• Street of the Painted Balconies
• First Asian temple in America

This tour explores the period when San Francisco catapulted from a small Mexican village into a thriving metropolis.

• Portsmouth Square, the birthplace of the Gold Rush & the village of Yerba Buena
• Commercial Street
• The city’s original shoreline
• Pony Express headquarters site
• Wells Fargo History Museum, featuring Gold Rush artifacts
• Jackson Square, the last cluster of Gold Rush and Barbary Coast era buildings
• A 19th century shanghaiing den
• “Terrific Street” where Jelly Roll Morton once performed for enthusiastic dancer

This tour highlights the vibrant bohemian culture of North Beach.

• Vesuvio Café, once a Beatnik mecca
• City Lights Bookstore, where Allen Ginsberg & Jack Kerouac once read their work
• Molinari’s, an authentic Italian delicatessen since 1896
• Washington Square, the heart of North Beach
• Telegraph Hill, where we examine priceless Depression-era murals
• Filbert Steps, a beautiful garden on the east side of Telegraph Hil

This tour explores San Francisco’s rich maritime heritage.

• The Great Seawall, San Francisco’s largest public works project
• USS Pampanito and Jeremiah O’Brien, two WWII era vessels
• Fisherman’s Wharf
• Hyde Street Pier, the largest collection of historic ships in the United States
• Aquatic Park, the most beautiful WPA project in the country
• The Maritime Museum, a streamlined modern gem