Walk SF Tours

Wonderful Tour! I was lucky enough to have won a tour through G-​local expert and did their first Dogpatch Tour ~ My sister and I had a wonderful time!
To start off, we met at Triple Voodoo Brewery. Getting a tasting of the gold rush before our tour of the Brewery, getting to look into the back and even finding a little history of it. AFter that, our fun tour guide stop across from Irish hill and gave us our «history» portion of the Dogpatch. How, depending on who you asked, the name came to be. I do recommend bringing sunglasses on sunny days!

We had a chance to go on the North Beach Tour this past weekend and had a blast learning about the neighborhood. Ryan was extremely friendly and knowledge about the Beats and the evolution of this neighbohood. It was clear that he loves his neighborhood and its community. I would highly recommend this tour, very manageable in terms of walking distance and length of time for all ages, you’ll have a great adventure, thanks Ryan!

My fiancée and I took the Gold Rush Drinking Tour as part of her birthday celebration. Our guide, Eric, was a fantastic host and knowledgeable historian. While we have lived in SF (working/​living near this very neighborhood!) for over 2 years, there was a treasure trove of information and stories that expanded our historical knowledge of the city. The drinks included in the price of the tour were a special way to connect today with the Gold Rush era. I strongly recommend this tour for any visitors or locals who are curious about how San Francisco transformed from a sleepy trading town to the bustling cosmopolitan metropolis it is today. Oh, and an extra star for the recommendation of Firenze at Night as one of the best italian spots in North Beach. Thanks for making our birthday date night special!

The Gold Rush tour was absolutely awesome — I can’t imagine anybody who wouldn’t enjoy this tour immensely.
The stories that Ryan shared were super interesting, from Emperor Norton creating his own currency to the Sydney Ducks and their brief crime-​filled reign over the city. There are several areas in North Beach that I have walked by 100x without noticing the details that our guide pointed out. I’ll never look at the area the same.
Finally, the bars on the tour were great — I hadn’t even heard of 2 of them, and they are definitely spots that I would visit again on my own time, especially Doc’s Lab, a new music/​comedy venue that opened under Doc Ricketts.

I have been privileged to join two of Ryan Russo’s great walking tours of San Francisco: The Beat Tour, and the Tasting Tour of China Town and North Beach. I highly recommend both.
Being the daughter of Neal Cassady (aka Dean Moriarty in Kerouac’s «On The Road»), I felt I knew pretty much all I needed to know about the Beats and their hangouts in the City. But I was wrong! Ryan totally immersed our group in the Beats… their culture, their impact on the world, their evolution and their philosophy. He took us to the places they favored (even if the places are now replaced by fancy boutiques), and we could feel their vibe everywhere.
On both tours, Ryan was obviously passionate about his subject and knew his stuff! He does his homework. Added touches made the tour even more valuable for me. For instance, we began the tasting tour with delicious pastries Ryan provided as we sat in St. Mary’s Square learning about the marvelous Bufano sculpture of Sun Yat-​Sen. It made me want to know more about both Bufano, and Sun Yat-​Sen. (Actually, Ryan provides a list of resources so one can delve further into the subjects he covers during the tour.)
I was impressed with not only Ryan’s knowledge, and his articulate presentation, but his flexibility and personal touch. He gears the tour to the interests of those attending.
My vote: Walk SF Tours is the best tour company in town!
Thanx,
Cathy Cassady Sylvia

The point: Historic tours provide a depth and richness to understanding an area. Even as a local, I find them fun and interesting :) .
We did the Beats Tour with Ryan, and it was excellent. We plan to be back for more: D !

A few days ago I had the pleasure of taking the The Gold Rush Drinking Tour. As a local in SF, I learned things I never knew about this city. He took our group to places I had never been in the city and I liked them all. The one part of the tour I especially loved was learning about Emperor Norton. The tour is the perfect length in time, not too long or short. Ryan is a great tour guide and can answer almost any question you have. He also gives great recommendations of reading and other things to do in SF after the tour is completed. I recommend this tour to locals and tourists, it’s one of the best in the city!

I had an amazing time taking the Gold Rush Drinking Tour with our tour guide Ryan. We learned a lot about the history of San Francisco, the nefarious activities that went on during the gold rush, as well as had some awesome cocktail tastings at a couple bars he took us to. I would definitely recommend taking his tours, and I hope to take one of his other tours soon.

This is review number two for me because I (finally) went on another one of Walk Sf’s excellent tours. This time I went on the North Beach China Town tour. I called Walk Sf last minutes when I had some family visiting who wanted to see China Town. There were no scheduled tours that day, but Ryan personally said he would come out (on his day off no less!) to give us a personalized tour. And it was excellent! He completely catered to what my family was interested in seeing, including some amazing old temples, a beautiful dragon dance, a fortune cookie factory (complete with fresh samples!) and even bought us all amazing pastries and coffee from a couple of his favorite shops. My mom and niece loved him and I had an amazing time exploring the history of my city! I left that day with a list of books and places to research more about the Tongs in China Town. Overall, Ryan was knowledgable, relaxed, funny, and a lot of fun to be around. Would fully recommend this tour, along with the Beats Tour I took last time, to anyone interested in history and San Francisco! The brewery tour is up next for me!

I pride myself on my knowledge of the Beat Generation. It used to be one of my favorite teaching units back when I taught Advanced Placement Lit so I jumped at the chance to check out Ryan’s Beats tour when a deal showed up on Zozi. Even before I went on the tour, Ryan impressed me with his professionalism. I canceled on him twice, once due to child care issues and the second time due to muscle strain, and each time he was more than understanding. I also appreciated his post-​tour thank you email.
I chose a beautiful sunny Saturday to take part in the tour. We met up at the Beat Generation Museum and spent the next two-​plus hours strolling around North Beach and Chinatown and learning about famous Beat watering holes and hangouts. I learned a lot! It wasn’t just trivia; I can tell Ryan has read the Beats and his attention to detail was impressive.
Ryan provided us with a bibliography of recommended reads and a list of the restaurants he recommended. My deal also included a free ticket to the Beat Museum and a free poster of my choice. Whether you’re a budding Beat poet or love to play tourist, this tour is wonderful.

I went on the Beat Poets tour in North Beach in conjunction with the Beat Museum. I love history and I love SF, it was awesome to see Walk SF blend the two in such a unique and entertaining way. Ryan, our guide, was both knowledgable and personable, you could tell how much he cared about the subject. Along the way, numerous people stopped to say hi to him and he casually recommended restaurants and bars; it was clear that Ryan knew the city well. Highly recommend!