The ferry was fun, the audio tour easy to follow and informative. In spite of the # of people, we had room to move around. The history is so interesting. Met one of the old inmates at his book signing there! Very cool spot!

When we came to book our trip to Alcatraz they had sold out of the regular tour so we had to go for the tour which included Angel Island as well. The tour cost us $76 each which was quite expensive.

When you get to Alcatraz you’re given a quick talk about the rules and then you walk to the top to get your audio guides. The tour is really interesting and focuses mainly on the notorious prisoners but doesn’t really go into much detail about anything else. There’s a small gift shop on the island and some toilets and that’s it. It was definitely interesting but I don’t think it was really worth the money, especially as you’re not paying for a walking guided tour, but given a headset instead. It’s worth doing if you know you won’t be returning to San Francisco for a while.

The island is very steep, especially when you’re walking to collect your audio tour. If you’re travelling with a wheelchair or pushchair you should perhaps research if there are any lifts available, I couldn’t see any so it’s worth looking into.