One of the many tourist traps... and other San Francisco, CA Tourist Trap Tips

One of the many tourist traps would be Alcatraz island. Yet, no San Francisco trip seems complete without a mandatory visit to Alcatraz. After all, it has captured our imagination in the movies such as 'The Rock', or in the story, 'Papillon'.

You can get tickets on-line now by checking out the website: www.blueandgoldfleet.com -- they offer comprehensive details on the schedules and prices of tours. The ferry departs from Pier 41, latest at 4.15pm in Summer. If you book on-line, there is a service charge of US$2.25 per ticket.

I found that if you go to the pier at about 3.45pm, there isn't much of a queue. We were there on 5th June, a Wednesday afternoon. Otherwise, it's been advised to get your tickets early due to the long queues. I'm glad that we took the late afternoon ferry as Alcatraz wasn't very crowded at that time of the day.

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Just next to Pier 41, is Pier 39. A definite tourist trap that is vibrant and colourful, and filled with all sorts of small shops and places to eat.

We had our dinner at one of the restuarants there, overlooking the Sea Lions hangout place. It offered us a good view of the place, and it was perfect to watch the sunset. The food was not too bad too.

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