Best way to see the city! Chad was fun, engaging and super knowledgeable - from history & architecture to music & pop culture. One of the best tours I have ever taken. My sons & I are still talking about how much fun we had. Highly recommend. The OG VW of SF! read more

I was in San Fran for a few days for work and ended up having a day off. After scouring reviews for the best tour, I landed on Vantigo. I went by myself and was paired with a small group (7) of folks young and old. It was a blast. You rotate seats during the trip so no one gets stuck in any one spot. I feel like I got to see close to all of the quintessential tourist spots in SF. Great photo ops. The tour was the perfect length. The guide was funny and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this experience. Loved it. (I'm a young person with no particular affinity for VWs, but if you are a VW lover, this is definitely the experience for you). read more

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I will not go into detail about the tour because I certainly do not want to ruin it for anyone. No spoilers! I will say that you must book a tour with vantigo, you will not regret it! Fun tour, awesome tour guide and cool, unexpected surprises along the way. Just expect other tourists to wave at you and take pictures while riding in the very cool, red vw bus :-) Go now and book your tour! read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

This tour was wonderful! Better than we expected. We'd already seen much of San Francisco, but the Vantigo tour let us explore parts of the city we had not seen. We encountered some magnificent views. Chad, our guide, was friendly and informative. The VW bus was very cool! Highly recommend. read more

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Sonoma Wine Tour with Vantigo was an A++ experience and probably the best trip to Sonoma I've ever had. We had a friend in town visiting who was dying to go to wine country and this was easy, cost efficient, and not to mention incredibly cute for photos. These reviews speak for themselves -- the car, company, and tour guides were great. On our way to wine country, we had mimosas! We went to 4 wineries and the tasting fees were included in the price per person, along with a deli sandwich for lunch. We learned the history of some of the wineries, and our tour guide, Eddie, provided many laughs and good stories along the way. Our group met another fantastic group and we all became instant friends. Truly a memorable experience and we can't wait to try another tour! I want to try the Highway 1 Brew Tour, and when I have visitors or my parents in town, definitely going to book an SF City Tour. You'll be so glad you booked through Vantigo! *Tip your drivers at the end! So easily forgettable (esp. after wine) and they don't bring it up or pass out an envelope, so you have to do it yourself!! read more

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BOOK THIS TOUR! We had such a great experience with Chad. He is super knowledgeable and funny. We only had a day in the city and I feel like I was able to get to see so much. Chad has picked out all the perfect pictures spots. I loved hearing about the history of each area of the city. You are left with recommendations for activities and food. Do not book a big tour bus. This is an intimate and unique view of the city so book it. read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

The team at Vantigo facilitated an excellent day for New Relic's Finance & Strategy team. Nothing turns heads more than two pristine, iconic VW buses traversing the streets of San Francisco. Our driver/guides Eliza & Zack were chock full of fun facts about the city as we hit Coit Tower, Twin Peaks, Fisherman's Wharf, the Marin Headlands, and Sausalito. Topped off the day sampling beer flights at Local Brewery. read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

Erik & Eddie were great! We were on a group tour and these guys had it all planned out and taken care of. The vans were great and provided panoramic views as we toured through the city and Point Reyes. Highly recommend! And will be looking for an excuse to go again! read more

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All I can say is WOW. I am so glad I booked this tour on our recent trip to SF. I booked the City Lights tour...luckily we had perfect weather, no fog, and an awesome tour guide. Justin was our tour guide and he was knowledgeable, funny, and friendly. I learned so much about the city and it was a fun way to take a tour that was more intimate than a double decker tour bus. We were able to ask questions and we got to know our fellow tourists. Justin informed us about all the best local restaurants, bars, and must sees. There was a great selection of wine and beer available on our tour and there were extra surprises along the way. All in all, it was money and an evening well spent! I definitely will be back to check out one of their many other tours! read more

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Went on the 7x7 tour, 1PM tour. I've been to San Fran before but I wanted a tour that was laid back but took us around San Fran to all the great spots - and this was it. We went straight from the plane from NYC to the tour (quite the trek) but it couldn't have gone better. We went to all the big spots, good photo ops, tour guide was very knowledgeable and were even able to get to Sea Cliff which I didn't expect. Tour was about 4 hours - just enough time. Highly recommend doing at the beginning of your trip - Eddie showed us around and it helped us guide the rest of the trip on where to go and where to go for a run, bars, etc. Book in advance - they fill up quickly. Thanks, Vantigo! read more

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Great trip leaders for the SF City Tour today - Justin and Eddie! Vantigo SF is the original tour company that operates VW buses around SF. Painted Ladies Tour Company appears to be a copycat business that goes to similar spots and even has the exact same pick up locations as Vantigo. You know you have a good business when other folks start copying you, even down to using the exact same VW bus! I'd recommend Vantigo to anyone. An old buddy from college was visiting me from out of town and we decided to go on a tour to see a good chunk of the city in one day. I'm local and we went through places that I've never actually seen before - so it's great even for Bay Area natives. Here are my recommendations: - Do Vantigo towards the beginning or middle of your trip (so you can do further exploration of places from the tour that you thought were cool). - Vantigo's great if you want to see the popular SF sites in half a day and don't want to have to do all the driving / navigating (they do it for you). - Use Vantigo if you want an intimate tour group (compared to the hop on hop off buses which I've also done). I'd recommend going Vantigo even if you wanted to go by yourself. read more

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I've ridden on a the SF City Tour for Vantigo twice now (once in August 2014 and again recently) and both have been unique and unforgettable experiences that'll leave you more knowledgeable about the city's past and present - and maybe even future! The tour can be anywhere from 3-4 hours, with a good number of photo opportunities at choice locations scattered around the city. Without spoiling the tour, you'll learn a lot about the significance of certain historic sites as well as facts about the city today. The vans are clean, upgraded, and you'll feel pretty awesome with the amount of people smiling at you when you drive by. Erik is the original guide who started the company and tours and how there are multiple guides and vans puttering around the city. Erik was funny and extremely personable, and loves recommending further adventures for you after the break. Bottomline: highly recommended for the first time SF visitor and you'll probably learn a few new things about the city even if you were born and raised here! read more

Vantigo - Jerry (Garcia) by the Palace of Fine Arts - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

I have never been on a more informative AND fun tour of San Francisco, than Vantigo Tours!! Let me first say that Zachary was the best tour guide. He's extremely knowledgeable about the area, is super-enthusiastic about the city, and knows a ton of back stories about its historical music scene. Time flew so fast, only because the tour was so much fun. He even related his own personal stories with the city, and showed us some of the cool places he likes to hang out. I didn't want it to be over! So much fun touring the city in a cool vintage Volkswagen bus! I suggest Vantigo to anyone (tourist or local), who wants to "really" know San Francisco! read more

My family and I had the most amazing time on our Vantigo San Francisco tour. Our guide was Erik and he was absolutely wonderful. He was friendly, engaging, informative and made our ride such a personal experience. He took us to so many great spots in the city and beyond, and along the way he taught us interesting facts, history and information about the city. I have visited San Francisco many times before, but during this Vantigo tour I saw more than I've ever seen before and learned SO much. It was a remarkable experience that everyone on our tour (from age 11 to 69) will remember for the rest of our lives. San Francisco is a beautiful city with so much history, I can't imagine a better way to experience it. Highly recommend! read more

What a wonderful day! Eliza and her van "Harvey" took us on an intimate and informative tour of San Francisco today. It was such a fun way to see the city without the typical double decker bus tour schtick. From seeing the sites up close and personal to appreciating Eliza navigating the Streets of San Francisco, we couldn't have had a more enjoyable time! We've taken many tours of cities and the best are always with well informed and friendly guides. The Vantigo SF tour was first rate from the online ticket purchasing process to the locations we visited to the quirky 1971 VW bus. With only 6 passengers and our driver Eliza it was a fun way to see the city and experience driving the hills without actually having to be behind the wheel. We'll definitely take another Vantigo tour the next time we visit San Francisco. Well done Vantigo, well done! read more

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Choosing Vantigo for a recent SF visit was an easy choice. It met the "cool" factor and coincidentally, I own a similar bus although I can't remotely drive it with Eliza's finesse. This tour, led by Eliza, exceeded our expectations, from start to finish. When my teen realized this was our tour bus, it was the most excited she's been since getting her first cell phone (which she wasn't allowed to use during the tour to better ensure she took it all in.) Eliza knew so much about SF, it was almost information overload. Eliza was an expert at driving the manual VW and no turn or hill impeded the tour. My one and only complaint is that the given how fast the tour sped by, it wasn't long enough. I'll have the option of doing this again and I'll consider a private tour. Locals took our pictures as we drove by. Others waved and gave us a thumbs up. I think the seven of us felt uber cool. Our tour consisted of us two and two other families of two each. This tour invites a hip type of tourist willing to tour 'outside of the box'; by the end of the tour, we were friends and ribbing each other. This was Way better than a big-bus tour. We were going to do the on/off bus but opted for this instead. If you have the time, I recommend doing both tour options as 1. there are few similarities and 2. After Eliza's many recommendations, you can use the on/off bus to visit/revisit the landmarks Eliza will show you. On our next visit, I'll definitely request Eliza as our chauffeur. read more

This is definitely my favorite San Francisco city tour and I've now had the privilege of doing it twice. With my family arriving from Saskatchewan, Canada, I thought this would be the best way to show them the city. Eliza was our driver and she was an absolute delight! She was fun, knowledgeable, and extremely thoughtful. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone that wants a fun overview of the city! read more

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We had the BEST time!!! Chad was so friendly and knowledgeable and Harvey turned heads everywhere we went. Great way to see SO much of the city, hear the history in a fun way, have perfect photo ops and get restaurant/shopping recommendations. read more

This is one of the most fun outings we've had in the City. We had a private tour (there were 4 of us) in the comfy, clean VW bus. Chad was our fearless leader and guided us through 3 brewerjes in SF, had front row parking and plenty of beer! He was knowledgeable about beer and provided a great tour for our day! read more

A friend recommended them, and they did not disappoint! Chad was our driver with Jerry the van, and it was a great trip! We visited 3 wineries. I loved that they were all smaller local wineries, not big commercial places. We even met one of the owners at Robledos! The picnic lunch was fantastic, we were lucky enough to have good weather for an outdoor picnic. Chad was full of fun facts, and his playlist perfectly for the '60s VW van. The smaller tour group allowed us to go to smaller wineries and get in and out fairly quickly. I would highly recommend Vantigo if you want something a little more different and intimate! read more

Had a great time rediscovering San Francisco on this tour! I've lived here for 6 years but it was so refreshing to see the city with fresh eyes. Eliza was the loveliest tour guide and knew eeeeverything about the city- she had an answer for every question we threw at her! The curated playlist and list of personal off the beaten path food recommendations were great touches. read more

What a fun way to spend the day, in a VW van cruising down highway 1 with Eddie our driver/guide and 5 new friends. After cracking open the first beer on the ride down the coast I knew it was going to be a great day. The brewery tours were interesting, beer was tasty, lunch was huge, company was awesome!! Highly recommend to unique minded travellers. read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

The tour of SF in a vintage Volkswagen bus was so awesome! We had 4 of us in the van and were joined by two other very nice people. It was perfect! I know a little about San Francisco but Zachary really knew more about this great city. We were very impressed! The tour took us to all the hot spots. You really can't go wrong with this tour company. Ask for Zachary,. He is the best! read more

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Absolutely fantastic weekend in San Francisco thanks to Vantigo! We booked a private tour of the city to play tourist and see all of the places we never visit as Bay Area locals. We had the best time! Erik was our tour guide and our 1971 van was Lily. She was truly the cutest thing on wheels and I really enjoyed seeing how many people on the street simply waved when we drove by. Erik and Lily picked us up at our hotel at Fisherman's Wharf. Erik is very familiar with the city and was great at pointing out what restaurants were the best. In addition to travel tips, he was a wealth of local historical knowledge, providing all types of facts, some with photos and even musical accompaniment. I had no idea just how much there was to learn! We stopped in several places, so there was plenty of opportunity to stretch our legs, grab a light bite, take photos and enjoy without the stress of finding parking! Erik knew all of the tricks and his driving skills (especially considering he's driving a 1971 stick shift) were on point, getting us through high tourist areas, around traffic incidents and through all types of neighborhoods. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone - visiting or local - that is looking for a fun view of the city as well as a great overview of its history. I should mention that we had three teens with us and they all had a great time as well! Thanks again, Erik and Lily! read more

Wow! What a fun tour! My fiancé and I are both SF natives and thought it would be fun to go on a tour of our city. Eliza was our tour guide and was such a fantastic host, making some pretty hilarious puns and showcasing her immense knowledge of San Francisco's history. We learned so much about our city and had a blast riding around in the decked out VW. If you are a visitor to the city, this would be a great way to get a flavor of the city. read more

Great tour of the "local" areas of San Francisco. Our driver Zachary was amazing. Highly recommend this tour. Get away from the big bus scene and see a lot more. Loved it! read more

This is the way to see the city. Our tour guide Chris was funny, knowledgeable, and very friendly. My wife and our three kids rode in the red van "Lily". Chris explained the reason she was named Lily during the trip. Just one of many interesting stories and little known facts that you'll learn during the 3.5 hour tour. My only gripe is on me in that we waited until the third day of our trip to take the tour. I recommend doing this city tour on your first full day. You will see many sites briefly during the tour that you'll want to go back to for a longer period. For instance, Chris took us through Golden Gate Park and recommended the de Young | Legion of Honor museum which we are going to explore more of today. This tour is great for tourists but I would recommend this to locals as well. You'll find out new bits of cool history about the city and probably even see areas that you never knew existed. Thanks Vantigo and Chris for such a memorable day. This was truly the highlight of our vacation! read more

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This is one of the most true 5 star experiences I've ever had! My wife and I toured the Sonoma wineries with a few other tourists in an awesome VW bus with our tour guide, Eliza. We enjoyed each of the three wineries we visited and overall had an awesome day with amazing company! Eliza had a lot of great information to offer and connected with everyone effortlessly. She made the entire experience friendly and fun by helping everyone get acquainted. It felt a lot more like going to wineries with friends than going with complete strangers. We will definitely do this tour again when we visit! There is so much more that I could say, but if I write too much no one will read my review. Take my word and the word of the other 191 reviewers and book your tour with Vantigo! read more

Brilliant! We had Justin and "Jerry" take my husband and I out on their SF City tour - we just loved it. You're paying for. Small group experience where the VW Kombi (as we call it in Australia) can take you places other bigger buses cannot (Marina district, below GG bridge etc). Max capacity for the tour is 7, and we had 4 on ours plus Justin or guide. In hindsight I wish we had taken this tour at the beginning of our trip to SF to really get a feel for what sites and Neighbourhoods we could explore more, but we did this on our second last day. In saying that we saw new things (Coit Tower, Lands End, Twin Peaks) and learnt about the great history of SF plus of course it's historical music scene. Vantigo - you guys should create a Spotify list, the car music was great! read more

I booked Vantigo for a girls weekend and it was the best way to see the city in a day! We had so much fun, learned so much about the city, and had some great photo ops! Eliza (our tour guide) was awesome. She was very knowledgeable about the city and its culture and even gave some great recommendations of things to do after the tour. I can't wait to go back and check out their winery & brewery tours! I would 100% recommend this tour to anyone visiting SF who wants to explore! read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

So glad we booked this tour and not one of the big bus/greyline tours. Erik was a great tour guide and Harvey was the perfect transportation for seeing San Francisco. There were 7 passengers and we all had plenty of room. Erik picked US up on Post street near Union Square and had music and information/history about the city. Harvey (named after Harvey Milk) was the perfect mode of transportation and really added to the feel of the tour. We took the 7x7 tour at 8 am. My husband and Erik joked back and forth along the tour and we couldn't say enough good things. Don't hesitate...just book your tour with vantigo! read more

Vantigo - Harvey - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

It was one of the most amazing experiences here in the city! I loved Eliza and Lilly so much! I'm so thankful to my mentor Aliya Janjua for giving me this opportunity! read more

Thank you Chad for an amazing tour of the city. We enjoyed every second of your tour. Riding around in Jerry was one of the highlights of our trip. Our only regret is we didn't book this tour for our first day in the city. Chad was full of knowledge of the best restaurants and things to do while here. We learned lots of history with all of the cool stories Chad told us about from Lily Coit to the history of Chinatown. We would highly recommend this tour and Chad. Peace and love read more

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Vantigo is the only way to tour San Francisco! Owner/Operator Eric Hormann is an excellent driver of Lilly, the 1971 VW Van in which we toured The City, and Eric is a very entertaining and knowledgeable tour guide. Coordinating and syncing music with well known landmarks and notable venues , sharing historic San Franciscan memorabilia he has collected, Eric's knowledge base is vast and shares SF's idiosyncrasies and historic points of interests with passion and lot's of humor. We covered all the "must see's " of The City and participated in short walkabouts in the span of 3 plus hours. Whether you are visiting San Francisco for the very first time or for your one-hundredth time, we highly recommend Vantigo. Eric and his team also have wine and beer tours, also in Napa and Paso Robles. Check out the website! Or better yet, call and talk with Eric; you'll be glad you did. read more

Vantigo - Eric, Joann and Rich Fort Point National Historic Site 4-8-2018 - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

Absolutely no complaints, cons, or nitpicking -- this is the best organized city tour I've ever taken! We've made many trips to SF, but since we were traveling with an SF newbie, we decided to try a Vantigo city tour. Such a delight -- we saw parts of the city we'd never seen before, and learned some fascinating trivia/history as well. Fun atmosphere and great music, too. Our guide Chad is the best! Kind, sincere, and always smiling. And a dang fine driver, cruising up and down those steep hills in our vintage VW van while chatting all the while. We loved our tour -- you will too! read more

We had the BEST day on our SF Brew Tour with Chad at Vantigo. From the minute Chad picked us up to him dropping us off, it was a seamless and perfect trip. We had friends visiting from out of town and my husband and I thought this would be the perfect way to spend our Saturday with our friends. Chad had a cooler stocked with drinks, he gave us great background on the history of brewing beer in San Francisco, and was overall such a fun tour guide! Throughout the tour he would check in on the group and see what people were feeling to determine which brewery we were going to next. All of the breweries we visited were amazing and had great beer! I would most certainly recommend the SF Brew Tour with Vantigo or any tour for that matter, and hopefully you get Chad as a tour guide, he's the absolute best! read more

Mom was in town for a short visit and I wanted to show her as much of the city as I could. She doesn't have the stamina for a lot of walking, much less hills so I was looking at the hop on hop off bus tours when I ran across Vantigo. It was fantastic! We loved our guide Zach and our bus, 'Maverick' was able to go places the big buses can't. It being a smaller group, it was easy to hear everything, talk and ask questions. Zach was super friendly and personable, and was able to spot a lot of unique things going on we might have missed on a big tour -- like spotting whales at Fort Mason under Golden Gate! :) Highly recommended! read more

The absolute best way to see Sam Francisco. Chad is funny, informative, flexible... just an awesome tour guide. I feel like we SAW San Francisco. From the must see to hidden gems, Chad covered it all! read more

Hi! We used Vantigo today as a charter for our engagement pictures and they are AMAZING!!! I cannot say enough positive things about this company! Erik and Eliza worked their scheduling magic and helped to coordinate "Lillie" with when our photographers were scheduled to be in town. Justin was our driver extraordinaire! After today, I want to sign up for a SF beer tour too! I knew I wanted to have our engagement photos shot in quite a few locations around the city. I also knew dealing with driving and parking would make my fiancé crazy. So came the idea of using Vantigo. They made it easy and fun to hit up many local SF destinations. Our photographers joined us in the van. They also appreciated not having to deal with the hassle of driving and parking in the city. Plus, they loved the backdrop Lillie provided for some of our pictures! If you are looking for a fun and stress-free way to get around for your engagement pictures or any other type of event, definitely contact Vantigo! I cannot wait for the pictures. I'll try to add one as soon as we get them back from the photographers! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! read more

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I had one of the greatest time exploring the city with Eliza. She is funny and extremely knowledgable about the city. I wanted to explore the city in a more personal way. If you want to do the same I would definitely recommend this tour. I will definitely come back to take the other tours that they offer on my next visit! Thank you for making this one of the highlights of my trip here! read more

Vantigo - Wine Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California