The Best tour in San Francisco - Alcatraz

We took the Ferry from Pier 33 to Alcatraz on this day for the best tour in SF

When I lived in the Bay area in the 90's I always too friends who visited to Alcatraz for the best tour ever.

This is the view of Alcatraz we saw as we approached via our Ferry ride.

Hands up Cheryl and Pearl - you've arrived - Alcatraz the Island.

As we walked around the island prison, many ships and sailboats toured the waters around us.

This shell of  a house is all that remains of the original Warden's house here on the Island.

This is how the prisoner's shoes and linen were laid out for them when they arrived.

The only tour to take is the 'audio' tour because it is the voices of these 'real' former inmates that are speaking to us throughout the self-guided walking tour.

As we walked throughout the prison, we were able to not only look into each cell - but were able to actually walk into the cells to see what life felt like for the inmates.

Everything here was behind bars and locks.

This shows the cell of the only famous unsolved Alcatraz prison break where the inmates who escaped were never found- assumed drowned - but no bodies found.....

Rows and Rows of cells

Cell block A, B, D or D - they all looked the same - but had different 'views' for the inmates.

These were the Guard Walks where the guards kept watch on the prisoners.

This is the 'community' shower area for the inmates.

Everywhere you looked there were bars on the windows - they could see the city and sometimes could even hear the sounds of the city - the worst torture for those behind these bars.

Here is one of the views of San Francisco waterfront from the ferry coming back from Alcatraz.

A view of Coit tower from the waterfront as we rode the ferry back from Alcatraz.

As the sun set over the city of SF, we looked at the Bay Bridge.