San Francisco City Guides

This was my first time taking a walking tour, much less first time in San Francisco's Chinatown - during a short trip I took this past weekend. I heard many great things about SF City Guides, so was excited to set aside some time to take my first walking tour while also learning a bit more about the history behind "the oldest Chinatown outside of China". We had a relatively large tour group of about 20 or so participants, and our amazingly awesome tour guide was Richard L. - who mentioned he was raised near the Chinatown here, and was intimately familiar with many origins and tales linked to the area. Our group met at Portsmouth Square - which a colorful block that is basically the community hub for Chinatown seniors - especially since many of them live in very small spaces (as explained by our wonderful tour guide). We moved to several different points of interest throughout the nearly two hour tour - but it never really felt that long to begin with - since Richard was fully engaging with his enthusiastic storytelling and the different types of "teaching aids" he had with him. In addition to a very detailed binder full of photos, he also had a joss stick fortune telling device, as well as two wooden moon shaped trinkets (I forgot the name) - which he demonstrated the use of when we were in front of the Ma Hsu Temple. Having never taken a walking tour of this length before, and with no other experience to compare it to - I have to say, that RIchard L. is definitely among the best tour guides. He came prepared, was very engaging, and definitely knew his stuff about the area. We covered things like Chinese herbal medicine (along with tales of Chinatown's first millionaire), to opium alley, to tales of less-than-desirable/sadder parts of Chinatown in the past. It never sounded like he was speaking from a script - as demonstrated by his confident answers to some of the questions that our tour group asked. I also appreciate his use of a voice amplifier - helps ensure he is clear and easy to hear. One thing to note - SF City Guides tour guides are entirely volunteer based. The tour guides are volunteers and do not accept tips. There is no charge to attend any of their tours (space limited, reservations required) - there is a $20 donation (either cash or online) if you feel inclined to - and the donation is really worth the cost of the tour. Being that it was my first time in SFO's Chinatown - I greatly underestimated how quickly the hills would wear me out - so had to cut my day short and retreat to my hotel. Happy to say that I plan to return in two weeks, and already have another City Guides tour scheduled for Nob Hill.

Went on the San Francisco architecture tour this week, and have been on many of their tours in the past. This is a great organization, affiliated with the San Francisco public library. All volunteers; free tours, but if you donate any money toward the tour group before or after the tour, 100% of it gets funneled back into more tours. These tours are the highlight of my SF trips! If you like to learn, and you like to walk, go! Go on all of them!!!!!!! Take your friends and family! These are fun and informative tours for locals and tourists alike. Don't forget to wear your walking shoes!

I have been on many of the SF city Guides tours. They are always excellent and I learn so much. My latest was Cityscapes & Public Places led by Shelley. She led our group of 10 around the financial district to little known gardens, seating areas and art installations that are open to the public if you know about them. It was a great tour thanks to the interesting information and background provided by Shelley.

When my California native friend told me that the San Francisco library operates free tours around the city, I could hardly believe it. Immediately signed up for the Chinatown tour with Manuel and the Golden Gate Bridge tour with Liz C. Manuel was a wonderful guide and proved super flexible, pausing the tour so our group could enjoy the lunar new year parade that we happened upon. Liz is a phenomenal storyteller with so much genuine enthusiasm for what she does; loved listening to her and appreciated the clever way she presents information. Thank you, SFCG! Will be recommending you to everyone headed your way!

Along with some neighbors, we signed up for the "Scandalous Murals in Rincon Center" (Mission Street between Spear and Steuart Streets near the Embarcadero). This was an indoor tour, in the ground floor of Rincon Center. A beautiful art deco lobby from 1939. 27 murals sit high on the surrounding walls, telling the story and history of California. Our guide Nancy walked us thru all of them, sharing stories, tidbits, little know facts, and more. So helpful to have a guide such interesting knowledge. There's no way you could know all those details by visiting the murals on your own. SF City Guides offers so many tours throughout the city. I hope more people take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to get some knowledge, and learn more about our beautiful city's history.

Our Presidio tour guide Philip was excellent - extremely knowledgeable about the Presidio (history, financial support, development) - we loved this tour and hope to go on his other SF City Guide tours as well!

I went on the Golden Gate Park Mid-Park Ramble with Guide Don M. We started at Japanese Tea Garden (this tour does not include that, but City Guides does have those tours as well) on a weekday in Jan 2025. Since this was a weekday walk, only 3 of us on the guided walk. This was my 5th City Guides walk, I've also done Presidio, Downtown Architecture, DogPatch, and Ferry Building. I've visited GG Park many times but we visited spots I was not aware of -- started with a walk around Blue Heron Lake where Don pointed out various types of water fowl that are visiting in January. Then up Strawberry Hill, which I didn't even know about. He gave a lot of great info about what used to be up on the Hill, the history etc. Then we made our way via JFK drive (closed to traffic) where he pointed out various art exhibits along the walk. Last place was Lloyd's lake and he told us all about the history of the structure there. Then we visited a cross I never knew about, etc. Enjoyed the tour, we went a little over 2 hours.

We showed up to the Tea Garden on a rainy day and were so pleasantly surprised to see that a free tour would be available. Eric F was a tremendous tour guide, so fun and knowledgeable and interactive. He kept us in great spirits despite the weather and we left so well informed and better able to appreciate the beauty of the garden.

This is our 13th tour with SF City Guides. We love in the area and love to do these to get to know neighborhoods & SF history. The Docents are so well informed and provide historical pictures and fun anecdotes. The tours are free. They ask for donations for the organization (they do not go to the guides, they are volunteers). Thank you SF City Guides!

Had a great walk with Shelly. Open spaces and public places? POPO's are public places in private buildings. Very interesting and Shelly was very knowledgeable!!