My husband and I are going to San Francisco for a long weekend in June to celebrate our anniversary. We've never been before, so we want to make the most of our time there. We can't decide if seeing Alcatraz is worth it, or if it's mainly a tourist trap. My husband enjoys museums and history, but he's worried Alcatraz will be boring. Plus it will take up a large chunk of our time. Thoughts?
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I enjoyed it, we did a self guided tour.
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We really liked it too. We're both into seeing historical sites (husband's a history teacher).
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I enjoyed it! Plus its fun to be able to take a boat ride out to the island and see the city from the water.
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For only a long weekend, I would probably skip it. There are tons of great museums and historical sites in greater San Francisco. Unless it really interests you, I think it would zap too much of your limited time.
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I enjoyed it, though I was skeptical too! I liked taking the ferry there, and the history and stories were really interesting to me. We were in SF for a whole week though so we had plenty of free time to do this. If I only had a short trip, I might not have as it does take up time.
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Definitely worth it - I've done it twice and my husband still talks about it. I agree with @yoursilverlining: though that depending on how long you actually have there it will take up a large portion of your time.
If you go, make sure to buy tickets in advance - they sell out early.
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You can do it pretty quickly since its self guided- and the boat ride and views are really awesome. Buy tickets online in advance- they sell out. We enjoyed it. It has been almost 10 years- I would do it again but I go to SF at least every other year.
MOMA has been closed for a remodel but may already be open again- worth looking into.
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I'm not a history person and I really enjoy it - not just for Alcatraz prison but also for the ferry ride and the view of the city from the island.
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Not boring at all! I've been three times.
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It's so great! I've been twice!!! Not boring at all.
Definitely book in advance
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I would do it. I really enjoyed it but I like things like that, that are set up so you can get the feel for how it was, etc. Yes, it's a touristy thing but I think it was worth it!
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I've lived in CA on and off my whole life and have never done Alcatraz so I don't have much of an opinion on that, but the California Academy of Science is very much worth a trip!
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I live in Cali and I have been there a number of times because friends and family visit and want to see it. I personally think it's a fun. DH who loves museums (like seriously reads the little card in front of all artifacts type person) really liked it a lot!
Like others have said, get tickets in advance. We haven't gone in a few years but back then you needed to get them at least a day or two in advance (aka you can't show up and hope to get tickets that day).
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YES! it's touristy but SO MUCH FUN! i took my DH to SF for his first visit and we went, he loved it.
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We thought it was really cool! (we did a San Francisco anniversary trip two years ago)
Seeing the inside and getting the tour was worth it but it's also a beautiful boat ride and view of the city. -
My hubby and I went and enjoyed it. I think it's worth it if you like those type of places
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Thanks for the replies! We looked into it a little more, and we saw they have a tour at nighttime. The reviews say that tour is a little spookier feeling, and you get a tour guide leading your group instead of listening to an audio recording. I think we're going to go with that one. We were looking for things to do at night anyway, so that sounds fun!
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@youboots: Yes, it will be open when we go, so DH definitely wants to check it out!
@Mrs. Turtle: Thanks for the suggestions. We'll look into it.
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I loved it! Totally worth it! Reserve in advance as tickets sell out.
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We did the night tour some time ago and it was awesome! Definitely worth it, can't wait to go back again someday. The views of the city lights were incredible
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