- Hours: Tours given daily. Closed Christmas and New Years Day, limited hours on other holidays.
- Reservations: Required
- Cost: Fee charged, save money by reserving online
- Location: Near the Hyde Street cable car turnaround just below Ghirardelli Square
- How Long: Tours last two and half to three hours
- Best Time to Visit: Tours are the most fun when the weather is good, and can run even during light rain. If it's raining too hard, they will cancel the tour and try to re-book you.
San Francisco Segway Tour Review
It's not often than something really new and fun appears on the San Francisco tourism scene, but early 2005 was an exception, when the San Francisco Electric Tour Company opened. Yes, it's another tour company, but the mode of transportation is new: the Segway HT (human transporter). You may have seen this two-wheeled contraption before, looking like a skinny vacuum cleaner with two big wheels, with a standing rider holding the handlebars and zipping around with seemingly little effort.The Segway is just as much fun to ride as it looks like, and surprisingly easy, making this tour perhaps the most fun thing you could do with a few hours in San Francisco.
Can We Do It?
Before the tour started, the one characteristic I shared with almost all my fellow Segway-riders was a bit of worry. Would we be able to balance? Would we run into something? Just how do these things work, anyway?We needn't have worried about the balance part. The Segway's high-tech gyroscopes monitor balance and respond to the body's movements. To move forward, all we had to do was lean forward (or just think about going forward). It only took a few minutes with the helpful tour guides to get comfortable with going forward, backward, stopping and starting.
In just a short time, a little Segway-train was weaving around orange cones in the training area like a bunch of pros. After a helpful, humorous review of the most common mistakes riders make, we set off.
The Tour
The tour starts at Ghirardelli Square, goes along the waterfront past Fort Mason and the marina, past the Palace of Fine Arts and back, with stops for refreshments and photographs. It's a pleasant route with nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. However, while it's billed as a "tour," the word "ride" might be better, as you may not learn a lot about the places you pass.What You Need to Know about the Tour
- Wear comfortable, closed-toed, flat shoes. You'll be standing in them for most of the tour.
- Bring a warm jacket, even if you don't think you'll need it. As the tour approaches the waterfront, the winds can get quite chilly, even in mid-summer.
- Riders must be over 12 years old, and a parent or guardian must ride with anyone under 18.
- Riding the Segway is quite easy, and even this clumsy travel writer could do it with ease. If you can balance well, stand for a couple of hours, go up and down stairs without assistance and operate a steering control with your left hand, give it a try.
- Riders must weigh over 100 pounds and less than 250 pounds(46 to 113 kg).
Making Reservations
Reserve your tour online through Viator.Getting There
The Electric Tour Company's office is just off Beach Street near Ghirardelli Square.San Francisco Electric Tour Company
757 Beach Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 474-3130 or (877) 474-3130
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