2-Day Redwoods, Wine Country & Alcatraz Tour【Product Code: 8239】

Our Wine Country & Muir Woods tour combines a walk through the one of the tallest trees in the world with a relaxing afternoon at 3 wineries in the Wine Country, with the option to go to Alcatraz Island the next day. First of all, you drive to the Marin Headlands into Muir Woods, a beautiful valley filled with California Redwood Sequoia trees. You’ll spend around an hour at Muir Woods, and then, come back over the headlands and head north again. You’ll get the Wine Country history on the way to the historic Sonoma Valley and Carneros Regions, spending 30 minutes to 1 hour at each winery, with free Wine Tasting fees, and usually 5 appetizing wines at each one. At lunch time, you will visit the Sonoma Plaza. On your way back to San Francisco, we’ll also drive through the picturesque town of Sausalito, home of thousands of sailboats, and hundreds of floating houses, and a beautiful view of the Bay and San Francisco. Finally, we’ll make our way back to the Golden Gate and stop to take pictures high above the Bridge, if we didn’t do it in the morning. Now that you have visited Muir Woods, and the Wine Country, it's time to do Alcatraz!

Wineries – Extranomical Tours has endless experience when it comes to California Wineries, and we have compiled mountains of research and narrowed down the list of potential winery stops to a short list that not only represents the best that California Wine Country has to offer, but also keeps costs down and allows us to provide free tasting samples at each of our stops on this tour. We like to cover the range in size from small and homey, to large and grand, always with an eye for visual appeal, friendly atmosphere, good presentation, and good value. We do not always go to the same wineries on every tour, but choose 3 from the following list of quality wineries that we can count on.

Itinerary

8:00-9:00am   Pick-up for your Wine Country tour at your San Francisco hotel in downtown or Fisherman's Wharf area.

9:00-9:15am   Drive through the Marina neighborhood, past the Palace of Fine Arts, the Presidio, and head north across the Golden Gate Bridge. Continue north through the Marin Headlands to Sausalito.

9:15-9:30am   Pick-up at Sausalito hotels if necessary.

9:40-10:00am   Listen to the story of the Redwoods while driving over the headlands into Redwood Valley to Muir Woods National Monument.

10:00-11:00am   Muir Woods walk. Spend an hour in the shadow of 250 foot Redwoods, admiring the ferns and moss lining Redwood Creek, breathe in the fresh Bay (Laurel Tree) Leave scented air, and across the creek on one of 3 footbridges, and return by way of the gift shop and snack bar.

11:00-11:45am   Head north on U.S. 101 to the first winery stop in the Carneros Region of Sonoma County, the birthplace of California's wine industry.

11:45-12:15pm   Arrive at your first winery stop and enjoy complimentary tasting a variety of California Wines. Or just stroll the grounds and take some pictures among the vines.

12:30-1:30pm   Drive to the lunch stop, either downtown Sonoma, or the historic village of Glen Ellen, in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Buy a lunch (or bring a bag lunch) and enjoy the sights and do a little window shopping after lunch.

2:00-4:00pm   Get back in the vehicle and continue the Wine Tasting Tour. Visit 2 more wineries and enjoy complimentary tastings of California Wines and enjoy the views of the surrounding hills.

4:00-5:00pm   Start the return and head back South to Marin County and San Francisco, taking a little detour through the quaint town of Sausalito. (Optional Ferry return to SF -Fare not included)

5:00-5:15pm   Top off a great day with a photo stop high above the water, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and Pacific Ocean with an amazing view of the San Francisco Bay, the City, the Bay Bridge, the East Bay Hills and Alcatraz.

5:15-5:30pm   Drive back across the Golden Gate Bridge and start the drop-off at San Francisco hotels.

On the second day ride across the bay on a ferry prepare yourself to visit one of the most famous landmarks in the world, Alcatraz Island. Please meet at Pier 33. This tour includes a 45 minute audio presentation which features actual recordings of employees and inmates who lived and worked on the Island, and then explore Alcatraz Island as long want on your own.

9:00am/9:30am/10:00am/10:30am (Tour departure times are subject to availability.)

Please meet at Pier 33-Embarcadero Street. Local public transportation - F Streetcar, BART-Embarcadero station.

The ferry ride from San Francisco to the island takes approximately 10-15 minutes. Once you arrive on the island, a brief presentation of the island's history and guide to touring the prison is given. An audio tour is provided on entrance of the cell house that gives a recorded commentary from former inmates, prison guards and prison wardens. It takes roughly between 2 and 2 1/2 hours to do the full tour and just enough time to grab a souvenir. The ferry leaves roughly every thirty minutes. Learn interesting facts about the island, such as that Alcatraz was not only used as a prison but also as a harbor defense fort during the civil war and before then, was America's first lighthouse on the West Coast. Experience the beauty, history and infamy of Alcatraz Island on the San Francisco Bay.