Alcatraz Island

Short answer

Is Alcatraz Island worth it?

Alcatraz Island deserves a place on most first itineraries. Go early or reserve ahead. Crowds are part of the cost.

The answer depends on your budget, time and travel style; the breakdown below shows who gets the most value.

Why

1. 01

   The cellhouse audio tour is genuinely gripping, with former inmates' voices in your ears as fog rolls past the bars.

2. 02

   Then a few hundred people shuffle the same corridor with you.

3. 03

   The award-winning 'Doing Time' cellhouse audio tour is narrated by the actual former guards and inmates who lived on the island, and Time Out calls it 'perhaps the greatest guided audio tour in the world.'

   timeout.com
4. 04

   The night tour circles the whole island on the ferry, runs smaller groups, and thins out so much that visitors end up exploring parts of the prison alone in the dark.

   wherearethosemorgans.com

Is it a fit?

Plan it well

Cost

$47 (incl. ferry)

Timing

Book the night tour for atmosphere and smaller groups, or the earliest day departure to beat crowds; reserve weeks ahead in summer.

Booking

Book directly through Alcatraz City Cruises (cityexperiences.com); the cellhouse audio tour is included with the ferry ticket.

Allow

3-4 hrs (incl. ferry)

Accessibility

A free SEAT tram assists visitors who can't manage the steep quarter-mile climb from the dock to the cellhouse.

Getting there

Official ferry departs Pier 33 (Alcatraz Landing); no other operator is authorized to land on the island.

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