Alcatraz Island
4.7 (45,331)attraction
4.7 (45,331)Access via commercial ferry service (Alcatraz City Cruises). Advance reservations recommended as tickets frequently sell out up to 90 days in advance.
This former high-security penitentiary offers an immersive audio tour of its cellblocks alongside sweeping bay views.
Description
Situated in San Francisco Bay and managed by the National Park Service, this historic site spans a complex past as a military fort, military prison, and federal maximum-security penitentiary housing inmates like Al Capone. Alongside its legacy of incarceration and Civil War defense, the island also interprets the 1969–71 Indians of All Tribes civil rights occupation. Visitors explore the cell blocks, solitary confinement, and recreation yard through self-guided audio tours that recount the stories of guards and inmates, complemented by sweeping views across the water.
Good to know
Much walkingFerry at Pier 33