Day 17: Alcatraz Island

After a good nights sleep we breakfasted well in the hotel. We are actually in two next door rooms here with Tessa, Issy and I in one, Becky and Eliza in the other. Whilst not ideal, it working fine with two king size beds in each room.

After breakfast we wandered down to the bay and began to slowly make our way around Fisherman’s Wharf to Pier 33, where we were booked onto the 1.30pm ferry to Alcatraz Island! We walked along the Hyde Street Pier which is designated as a Maritime National Historical Park. The Pier includes a magnificent fleet of historic ships, a Visitor Center and Maritime Museum and we enjoyed looking around.

We then browsed in several shops and had a quick picnic lunch looking out over the bay before checking in for our ferry. The 20 minute trip across to Alcatraz is really beautiful and provides some great views of the island on approach with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

I previously visited Alcatraz Island 18 years ago and it has lost none of its intrigue or mystique in the years that have passed. The audio guided tour of the penitentiary is absolutely fantastic and all of us were gripped by the couple of hours we spent wandering around hearing about the history of the place.

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to meet one of the guards who had spent 9 years working there and got him to sign a copy of his book for me.

The ferry ride back provided some amazing views of San Francisco and we then made use of our bus hopper tickets to ride back to our hotel on an open topped bus through the financial and main shopping districts which was good.