Dec 13 2008
Walking tours — San Francisco City Guides
City Guides, a group partially sponsored by the SF Library, offers an amazing variety of free tours of the city. Tours are led by volunteers who are history buffs, many of them retired or current teachers. There are tours every day of the week, year-round (except for holidays) — as many as 15 different tours a day. Two months a year, in May and October, they offer additional special tours.
I’ve gone on the tours for Land’s End, the Palace Hotel, Nob Hill, Golden Gate Heights Stairways, and Sutro Forest, as well as the Halloween ghost walks at City Hall and the Palace, so if you have any questions about any of those, feel free to ask.
Cost? Free, but they do pass an envelope for voluntary donations.
Comfort level? Most tours last an hour-and-a-half to two hours and go at a slow pace, with a lot of stops to look at and discuss the sights. The few tours that are more strenous are identified as such in the schedule.
More information: You can find all the information you need on the City Guides website. You can also pick up a printed brochure at any library branch.
There is a book I got from the SF public library called Stairway Walks In San Francisco that has many of these amazing back-ally, history-filled walks you can take by yourself! Highly recommended!
I second that recommendation!