I have been twice now this time with my 7 years old twins. It is magical with the head phone tour. The boat ride out there gets you really wondering did they or didn't they swim all that way??? It is so imposing when you arrive and you get a quick history on the landing stage, you can only imagine what it would have been like to be sent there to spend the rest of your life locked up. Booking on line was very easy indeed and great value for money.

We enjoyed our visit to Alcatraz. It’s terribly disappointing that the National Park service sells their tickets to tour companions to only market up what you can pay for on the National Park Service website. We didn’t get anything extra for the tickets we bought on aviator.com and they were three times as much. Buy your tickets early. Don’t procrastinate or wait a day. They might be sold out and then your forced to buy them through a tour company for 3x the price. Dress warm. It’s always cool on Alcatraz Island. It’s less busy later in the day. It took us 3.5 hours from the time we got in line to get on the boat until we got off. There is always the smell of bird poop due to the amount of wildlife living there.

One of those bucket list places to visit. We pre booked before leaving the UK to avoid any disappointment not being able to get the dates we wanted. Wrap up. It can get very windy and cold out there but it was a fantastic experience and enjoyable visit. There's an audio informational device supplied with earphones as well as all the informational stuff dotted about. Treat yourself and watch The Rock with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery before hand to get you in the mood 😉

Hi we visited in July. We booked on the 0840 boat as advised by the booking agent. We were straight over to the island and it’s a fairly steep walk in places up to the cell block.you get issued your headphones and do the audio tour which is great. There is plenty more to see, the model prisoner area, gardens, fire engine. Wardens area, Basically one to do.

This was such an interesting place. The ferry was well organised and efficient. The audio tour of the prison was really well done and there were plenty of other interesting places to look at around the island. Beautiful views of SF too!

Very interesting trip, I wasn’t sure if it’s worth visiting, glad I decided to do it. The teens enjoyed it as well. The only downside is the price ($45 from the official provider) of which the biggest chunk ($28!) goes to the ferry trip provider, not the Alcatraz (as in National Park).

This was a must see for my Wife. It was well worth the visit and she had a great time with the history of the prison. One must is to pre book. The day we turned up for the tour a couple in front thought they could just turn up but it had a 2 week waiting list.

My husband and I visited the island and Alcatraz Prison during a 3-week road trip through Utah, California and Oregon. We bought our tickets online about 4 months in advance. Upon arrival, there is a waiting area close to where the boats load up passengers. We were a little early so we wandered around and had a quick snack before boarding. The boat trip was nice with lots of people. When we landed on Alcatraz we listened to an arrival orientation talk by a park ranger explaining what rules we had to follow. Another ranger walked up the switch backs with the crowd stopping occasionally to fill us in on the history at different points of interest. For those of you with mobility issues, there is also a shuttle that will take you up the switchbacks so you don't have to walk. At the top of the hill is the penitentiary. At the door you get an audio player with headphones that gives you a guided tour around the complex. Life for the inmates was sure minimalist, privileges earn and any punishment was swift and brutal. It was a very interesting tour, but again lots and lots of people. It was hard to move around. The gift shop was nice and had a variety of interesting souvenirs. This should be a must-see on anyone's SF visit.

Alcatraz Island is a very interesting place to visit! When we got there we joined one of the walking tours which was very interesting. Then we went up to the cell house and followed the audio guide. The cell house was very busy and but at least the audio guide was easy to follow. In the end, we got to see the exhibitions. Before leaving we had a walk around the island to see the gardens and the birds area. We even managed to spot some whales, while there! All in all, we spend around 3 hours there (including a visit to the shop) but we could have even spent a bit more. The only thing that seemed unnecessary was paying $1 to get a map since we already paid to visit the island. Our experience with the return ferry wasn't great, as there was a long line and we weren't sure if we would get on the next ferry. It would be good if you could book a timeslot for a ferry so that instead of waiting in line and hoping that you would get in, you were seeing the island. In addition, all the afternoon ferries were late, so we didn't even know when the next ferry would be. In contrast, we had a great boarding experience when getting to Alcatraz Island. We arrived around half an hour early and we got to queue to get in the boat. The queuing bit wasn't the most fun part the line was handled great. And if we arrived there a few minutes early, we could even board the previous ferry that have some space.

I have visited Alcatraz numerous times with school groups from the UK and it is always a highlight of the school trip. A little disappointed that the audio tour has been shortened this year but what made our visit really outstanding this time, was in addition to the audio tour, we had a guide (Brian Bechtel) who volunteers on a Thursday. He was one of the best guides we have ever had for any attraction while touring America. He was clear, interesting and adjusted his exposition to suit our group. We saw areas of Alcatraz we have never seen before and our students loved it!