San Francisco: Organized tours
One way to orient yourself is an organized tour . Gray Line Tours (tel 415/558-9400), for example, take you around the city in four fairly tedious hours for around $37 a head. Considerably more exciting are the 60-minute bay cruises operated by the Blue & Gold Fleet ($17; tel 415/705-8203) from pier 39 and pier 41 - though be warned that everything may be shrouded in fog. Excruciatingly expensive aerial tours of the city and Bay Area in light aircraft or helicopters are available from several operators, such as San Francisco Helicopter Tours (tel 1-800/400-2404, ), which offers spectacular flights over the Bay Area for $95 per passenger.The best of the walking tours include City Guides, sponsored daily by the San Francisco Public Library (free; tel 415/557-4266); Cruisin' the Castro ($40; tel 415/550-8110, ), an absorbing and witty tour of the gay community; Footnotes (tel 925/672-5908, ), a rigorous walk and storytelling centered around the city's Barbary Coast days; and All About Chinatown ($25; tel 415/982-8839), an insider's cultural perspective on this lively quarter (optional dim sum lunch, $12 extra). Three Babes and a Bus ($35, which includes all cover charges; tel 415/552-CLUB, ) takes a luxury coachload of people looking for a good time to different nightclubs around the city. There are also special mural tours of the Mission by Precita Eyes taking in the district's distinctive street art.
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