San Francisco The Castro District Tour

Explore the LGBT history of San Francisco's El Castro neighbourhood with this approximately two-hour walking tour of America's first gay neighbourhood . Walk the iconic El Castro district through history with a local guide and visit historic sites that remain a symbol and source of activism.

You'll explore numerous historical landmarks that forged a community, from the 1848 California Gold Rush, World War II, the era of gay leader Harvey Milk and more. Accompanied by your guide and in groups of about 20 people, you'll see the Pink Triangle Memorial Park, a small triangular-shaped park that commemorates the thousands of homosexuals persecuted in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. This cemetery in San Francisco's Castro district is the first permanent, public memorial in the United States.

On this walking tour you will walk along the mythical rainbow zebra crossing and encounter the Rainbow Honor Walk, which honours notable lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people from around the world who have left a lasting mark on society. Some of them as famous as poet Allen Ginsberg, Japanese writer Yukio Mishima or Jane Addams, the lesbian visibility fighter who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

You will also visit historical sites related to Harvey Milk, an American politician and resident of San Francisco, who became the first gay man to be elected to public office in the United States in the 1970s. With your group you will explore Harvey Milk Plaza, an LGBT civil rights memorial that honours Harvey's life and legacy. You will walk through Harvey Milk's original camera shop. What was once his residence and headquarters has now become home to the Human Rights campaign action centre.

Tour the history and culture of the Castro, one of the most prominent symbols of LGBT activism and events in the world.