Best Silicon Valley Tours in San Francisco

Among the activities to see and do in San Francisco, one of the most interesting is to visit Silicon Valley, which is the starting point of some of the most important technology companies in the world.

Located on the San Francisco Bay, the site that is known worldwide for the Golden Gate Bridge, the Silicon Valley area is also home to Stanford University in Palo Alto and one of NASA's Research Centers, making it an area of great cultural interest, especially if you are a technology buff.

This is one of the best tours from San Francisco and consists of a one-day visit to the most emblematic sites of Silicon Valley.

The tour is done by bus and usually includes hotel pick-up and entrance fees to the main companies.

What you will see on this tour

On these tours you will be able to visit Spaceship, the famous Apple headquarters. There you will be able to see the facilities and even test some of the new products and other prototypes in development.

You will also have the opportunity to see the neighborhood and the garage where Steve Jobs and Sete Wozniak founded the company and the shed where Hewlett Packard was born.

These tours include one of the most interesting stops at the Googleplex Campus, where it is possible to see the Android Garden and, after a stop for lunch, you will also visit Stanford University, Facebook headquarters and the Big Like, the iconic thumbs-up monument.

These types of tours are ideal if you are visiting San Francisco during the winter, as this is when temperatures drop and it is preferable to take these tours on guided tours or on the city's tour buses.

Details of interest

• Tour price... These tours are priced at approximately €158 per person, including bus transfers with hotel pick-up, assistance from a local guide and admission to the attractions on the tour.
• Duration of the excursion... Approximately 7 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... This is the conventional tour and one of the most comfortable tours to take in Silicon Valley.

San Francisco and the California coast is a very common destination for group travel, so a private tour of Silicon Valley may be the best option if you are traveling with others.

On these tours you can tour the San Francisco Bay Area in a private vehicle with hotel pick-up and visit the main sites of Silicon Valley.

What you will see on the private tour

With the assistance of a guide you can visit the facilities of Yahoo, Google, Hewlett Packard, Apple, Facebook, eBay and also Stanford University. On this tour you will understand how Silicon Valley became the mecca of technology and the impact it had on the modern development of communications.

These half-day tours, which last approximately four to five hours, are ideal if you are traveling in a group or plan to visit San Francisco in three days or less, because they will save you time and money on tour tickets.

Some private tours also include a bike tour of San Francisco and the main sites of Silicon Valley, although you will need a longer stay in the city to enjoy it.

Details of interest

• Price of the tour... These tours cost approximately 95 euros per person, including transfers by private vehicle with hotel pick-up, assistance of a local guide and admission to the attractions on the tour, considering a group of six people.
• Duration of the excursion... Between 4 and 5 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... It is an economical and comfortable tour if you are visiting San Francisco in a group.

If you plan to tour San Francisco in five days or more, this type of tour may be ideal for you, because in addition to visiting Silicon Valley you can also visit Alcatraz, tour Sausalito and tour other major sites in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, giving you a complete perspective of the city.

What these tours include

These hotel pick-up tours will allow you to visit the Googleplex Campus, Facebook facilities, Stanford University. In addition, the tour also includes a shopping stop in Palo Alto.

Afterwards, a boat ride in San Francisco will take you to Alcatraz, where you will be able to visit the old prison island, one of the best museums in the city

The service of these tours is ideal if you want to book at the last minute, as you will be able to secure tickets to the Alcatraz Prison even when it is sold out for sale to the public.

These tours also include tours of San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood and other must-see sites in the city.

Details of interest

• Tour price... These tours are priced at approximately 575 euros per person and include hotel pick-up transfers, admission to the attractions and round-the-clock assistance from an expert local guide throughout the tour.
• Duration of the excursion... Between 8 and 10 hours.
• Advantages of this excursion... It is a complete tour of the main points of the city and can be an alternative to get tickets at the last minute.
• Disadvantages of this tour... It can be expensive and you will need several days in the city to be able to dedicate a full day to this tour.

Another of the most common trips in San Francisco is by car along the California coast. For that reason, it is also possible to take a self-guided tour of Silicon Valley driving a rental car.

This is an interesting option if you are visiting San Francisco with children or if you are looking for a more economical alternative.

What to see on the self-guided tours

These self-guided tours will take you through the streets of Silicon Valley to visit the headquarters of Apple, Google, Facebook, Tesla, Microsoft and Amazon while learning about the stories that pitted Bill Gates and Steve Jobs against each other and the feuds of Mark Zuckenberg and Jeff Bezos.

In these options you can also customize tours, add stops, use the self-guided tour recommendations for lunch and ensure detailed knowledge of the sites you will visit.

These tours are paid per car, not per person, so you can save money and also ensure you get to know Silicon Valley at your own pace.

The self-guided tour is an ideal option to combine with San Francisco's best food tours or a family visit to the city's Aquarium.

Interesting details

• Price of the tour... These self-guided tours cost 15 euros per vehicle.
• Duration of the tour... 2 to 3 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... This is the most economical option and an ideal alternative if you are touring the California coast by car or traveling with children.

You can book these tours online in advance or book a tour once you are in the city.

My recommendation is that if you visit San Francisco in June or in the high season months, it is best to secure the tours before your arrival in the city to avoid selling out or price increases at the last minute.

Silicon Valley is one of the most visited areas of the San Francisco Bay Area, so I recommend that you secure your tour in advance, especially if you want to take some of the tours that include private services, full tours of Alcatraz or gastronomic tours of the city.

The answer depends on the option chosen, but on average a day tour of Silicon Valley, whether private or group, can take approximately 5 to 7 hours.

Excursions that include tours of other attractions in the city can take between 8 and 10 hours, especially those that include a visit to Alcatraz Island.

If you plan to visit Silicon Valley with a self-guided tour, the tour lasts approximately 2 to 3 hours, which you can start at any time, stop and resume, allowing you to move at your own pace, especially if you plan a short stay in the city.

If that's your case, here's a guide so you don't miss anything in San Francisco in 2 days.

If you take the Silicon Valley tour you will be able to visit the facilities of the largest technology companies in the world, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Tesla, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft, as well as the campus of Stanford University.

On some tours you will also be able to visit the Android Garden, the Googleplex Campus and have your picture taken with Facebook's Big Like.

If the tour includes other parts of the city you will also visit the Alcatraz prison, Chinatown, Sausalito and the Palo Alto shopping area.

You will also get to know some important points in the Silicon Valley area, such as the garage where Apple was founded or the shed where Hewlett Packard was born.

If you are visiting San Francisco during the Christmas or peak season months, which is when the city is most crowded with tourists, I advise you to book your tours in advance to avoid selling out or paying last-minute surcharges.

If you have a stay of several days in the city I recommend that you take a tour that lasts several hours to enjoy all the attractions of Silicon Valley and Palo Alto and so you can listen carefully and at your own pace the stories of the entrepreneurs who changed the history of communications.

You can also make the most of your visit to the California Bay Area by touring Sausalito, or by visiting the Golden Gate Bridge for one of the best views of the city.

The answer depends on the option chosen, but a typical tour of approximately 7 hours in Silicon Valley that also includes hotel pick-up and drop-off and the assistance of an expert local guide costs approximately 158 euros.

If you are traveling in a group you will have to book private options that can be more economical starting at 95 euros per visitor in groups of six people.

The most expensive option is the one that includes other tours of the city, such as Alcatraz Island, which with transfers and hotel pick-up costs approximately 575 euros per person.

The most economical option is the self-guided tour of the California coast by car, which costs 15 euros per vehicle. This is an ideal option if you are visiting the city with children and in that case you can also visit the Walt Disney Museum in San Francisco.

Silicon Valley is a visit you can not miss on your visit to San Francisco, not only because it is very interesting to know one of the meccas of world technology, but because its streets hold stories of all kinds, which I'm sure you will love to know during the tours with the assistance of a guide.

Excursions to Silicon Valley are accessible to the whole family, so it is a plan that is adaptable for a trip with children or a group, as it will interest everyone.

The proximity of Silicon Valley to the most emblematic sites of the San Francisco Bay Area is also a good excuse not to miss a tour of the only neighborhood in the world where it is possible to come across an Android robot walking along the sidewalk of the Microsoft facilities.

You can tour Silicon Valley on your own, although without the assistance of an expert local guide you will miss out on the best stories, so I recommend that you at least hire the self-guided tour system to get the most out of your visit.

Also keep in mind that if you want to access the companies' facilities, tickets are often sold out if you try to buy them at the last minute, so even in that case a guided tour will allow you to access the attractions.