the first stop on our trip was san francisco to visit my sister! she and tony have been dying to go to alcatraz, so that was the first thing on our list. we got our tickets through alcatraz cruises, which is the official website for tours to alcatraz island. there are many unauthorized resellers offering tickets at higher prices, but this is the official tour, so make sure you go here!
we took the “day tour” (if you are looking at the website), which included a 45 minute self-guided tour of the prison. after the boat brings you over to the island, you can begin the audio tour at any time (at your own pace) and also take the boat back at any time. the audio guide was extremely interesting and very easy to follow. the four of us started the audio at exactly the same time and if any one of us wanted to pause, we all paused. it was cute. anyway, i highly recommend doing this!
other tips for an alcatraz trip!
- book early. especially if you want to go on a night tour (we wanted to this and it was sold out). i recommend at least 2 months in advance.
- plan to spend about about three hours there. there is a lot to see on the island!
- wear comfortable shoes. the walk up to the prison is equivalent to about 13 flights of stairs.
- dress appropriately. probably in layers. the weather in san francisco is really unpredictable. also, i was expecting endless amounts of fog. not the case. please note the sunburn on my back. the san francisco sun does exist friends!
we had such a great time, thanks alcatraz cruises for sponsoring my visit!
here is tony with the headset from our audio tour. you can see what some of the cells looked like back there too! i really liked that we could go at our own pace and stop when we wanted to.
my sister’s boyfriend jon was along for the tour as well. here he is being scary in the cell with me!
mallory is so intense here! i love her super serious face and pose.
i cannot get over how beautiful this island is! can you believe that this is the location of a prison? 
this was the warden’s house (how pretty!) the warden, the guards, and all of their families lived in various residences on the island. it was so amazing to me that they had pretty normal lives (given they lived next to the country’s most notorious prison!)
we went up to the prison yard after we toured the prison. apparently the prisoners were very into baseball! who knew?
it is kind of hard to tell in this photo, but those are all birds! there are so. many. birds on alcatraz island. the island is also called pelican island by some. i can see why!
my absolute favorite part of the day was when we got to go down to these gardens. the gardens are not usually open to visitors, but security let us go down there and it was so beautiful! we took our turns posing a little bit in the gardens.
you guys. the sunburn! i have permanent tan lines in the shape of this lulu sports bra.
thanks again alcatraz cruises for a great time!
alcatraz cruises provided me with free admission to alcatraz in exchange for this review. as always, all opinions are my own.