Yosemite National Park Tour

Enjoy a Full Day Chauffeured Adventure of Yosemite National Park

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About This Experience Gift

  • Explore the Wonders of Yosemite National Park
  • Relax in a Motor Coach and Enjoy a Narrated Tour to the Park
  • Discover Amazing Rock formations, Astounding Waterfalls and More

Located a few hours from San Francisco is Yosemite National Park filled with magnificent wilderness and natural wonders and is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, and biological diversity.

During this full day chauffeured adventure, you will be transported from San Francisco to Yosemite via an Eco-friendly Biodiesel fuel mini-coach. Enjoy a 90 minute narrated tour from the comfort of the mini coach as your professional guide provides insight into one of the earth’s best examples of a glaciated valley. Once you arrive at the park, you will have the opportunity to discover and explore this National Landmark which is home to America’s tallest waterfalls, cliffs rising 4,000 ft. from the Valley floor and some of the world’s most famous rock climbs including El Capitan. With sufficient time to venture through Yosemite National Park at your leisure, you may enjoy walking, hiking, biking or swimming.

This full day tour of Yosemite provides you with the perfect opportunity to enjoy the beauty and grandeur of this natural wonder. So whether you visiting and looking to explore Yosemite Park or simply would like to get away from the city, this Full Day Guided Tour of Yosemite National Park is perfect, and makes a great gift for adventurers!

Where to Go for City Tour Experiences in San Francisco

  • San Francisco, California

Group Size and Spectator Info

Participants
The Yosemite National Park Tour Experience Gifts Certificate is valid for one participant, unless additional are added onto the certificate. There will be up to 12 additional participants on the tour.

Guests
This experience is not suitable for non-paying guests or spectators.

When can you book Yosemite National Park Tour

OPEN CURRENTLY CLOSED

The Yosemite National Park Tour takes place seven days a week, year-round, subject to availability. Tours typically begin at 7:00 AM and return at 9:00 PM.

How Long Is The Yosemite National Park Tour

The Yosemite National Scenic Park Tour includes transportation to and from Yosemite from San Francisco, a 1½ Hour Guided Tour of the Park, 3 Hours on your own to explore the Park and has a total duration of approximately 15 hours.

Does Weather Impact City Tour Experiences

The National Park Tour of Yosemite may be rescheduled due to severe weather conditions.

What to Wear for City Tour Experiences

Dress comfortably in layers. Flat, rubber-soled walking shoes, athletic shoes or hiking shoes are recommended for this exciting tour of Yosemite Park. During the summer months it is suggested to bring swimwear, a towel and sandals if you wish to go swimming.

Average temperatures in the winter are 50 F/10 C, but can be as low as 28F/-2 C. Snow boots, warm clothing, a knit hat and gloves are recommended during the winter months.

What To Know Before You Go

Price includes the Park fee, narrated transportation in a eco-friendly Biodiesel fuel mini-coach, rest stops, fuel surcharge, an hour and a half guided tour of the Park and three hours of leisure time.

Food, beverages and additional activities at the Park are not included in the price of the tour. Participants are urged to bring spending money as there will be opportunities to purchase food, beverages and souvenirs during the tour.

Children must be accompanied by a person at least 18 years of age or older at all times.

Participants may bring a small back that will fit beneath their seat on the bus. A camera, bug spray, sunscreen and water bottle are suggested.

Gratuities are not included but are greatly appreciated and may be offered at the end of the event.

You will need to meet your guide at one of five pick up locations in San Francisco: Zone 1: Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, Zone 2: Le Meridien, Zone 3: San Francisco Marriott Union Square, Zone 4: Holiday Inn Civic Center, or Zone 5: Dublin BART Station.

ITEM/SKU NUMBER: XD-1114-001

Inquire about this Experience

Reservation And Cancelation Policy

All changes to reservations for the Yosemite Tour Experience require seven (7) days advance notice.

Xperience Certificates® cannot be exchanged once a reservation for the experience has been made.


Hiking, rock climbing, waterfall swimming; Yosemite National Park has it all. I was concerned that because of the wildfire near Yosemite the day trip might be called off, but thankfully the tour was still going ahead, and I was picked up promptly at 6:50am outside the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel.



I love hiking, but I’m no expert, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Yosemite National Park Tour. Luckily, our guide, Kenya, had done this trip several times and knew all there was to know about the layout of the park, and its long and fascinating history. On the four hour journey east across California we learnt about the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and how Galen Clark and John Muir respectively fought to protect the valley to pave the way for the US National Park system we know today.



The drive to Yosemite National Park from San Francisco is long, but the views are truly breath-taking. Once we’d passed the sprawling Don Pedro Reservoir and historic Chinese Camp, we officially started up New Priest Grade Road (Old Priest Grade Road is an incredibly steep trail that the original settlers used to take, named after the priests that would bless the horses before they descended to protect them from falling off the pathways). This road is still open, but since we all wanted to make it to Yosemite alive, we took the new road which is far longer and more winding than the original. About two hours into the drive we stopped for breakfast, giving us the opportunity to stock up on coffee and snacks for the rest of the day.



The national park entrance fee is included in the price of the tour, so all we collected at the entrance gate was a useful map of the park to take with us once we disembarked the bus. With three hours to ourselves we couldn’t get too far from the bus stop, but Kenya advised us on how best to use our time and make the most of what the park has to offer. She dropped us at Bus Stop 7 close to Lower Yosemite Falls, which is where the majority of us headed for our exploration.



Due to the high number of tourists and gallivanting children at the base of the falls, I assumed this would be a relatively simple and enjoyable hike up to the pool at the base of the waterfall. Alas, it was a lack of childlike fearlessness that left me stuck on a rock in the middle of rushing water without the courage to leap across to safety. This was the theme for my entire climb up to the pool (at one point someone had to rescue me because I couldn’t move forward or go back the way I came), so don’t believe Wikipedia when it says the Lower Falls are ‘accessible’. Eventually I did, however, clamber, jump, and crawl my way to the pool, where I enjoyed several minutes of swimming in the incredibly cold but refreshing water.



Despite the smoke that engulfed the valley, or maybe because of, the views were simply incredible. The mist created an ethereal sight, with giant sequoias looming in the distance and huge granite cliffs disappearing into the skyline. I could have stayed in that pool all day, but the descent back to the village was ahead of me, and given how long it took me to get to the top I didn’t want to be late back to the bus. Weirdly, (sarcasm), it took me a lot less time to get down than it did to get up, so I had a few minutes to have a private photoshoot on a fallen tree before I got back to the minibus.



The drive out of the park took us past the part that a lot of us were most eager to see; El Capitan. Unfortunately, due to the smoke it wasn’t particularly clear, but we could still make out the sheer cliff face and seemingly impossible height that many climbers still scale every year. After about ten minutes of photographing and question time, we hopped back in the bus and started the journey back to San Francisco.




This route was a lot quieter than the journey up, I think Kenya wanted to give us some time to let what we’d seen sink in. After a couple of hours we stopped for dinner (I chose In-N-Out of course, a Californian institution), which set us up nicely for the last two hours back to the city, over the Oakland Bay Bridge which Kenya told us the history of before dropping us at our respective locations.



The Yosemite National Park Tour is ideal for those who want to see Yosemite but are short on time, as all the highlights are covered and you receive expert knowledge from a guide who knows the area well. It’s a great way to see Yosemite from San Francisco, because let’s be honest, most people can only handle so much nature for one day! Huge thanks to Kenya for the impeccable driving and faultless commentary, and for keeping our spirits up despite the hindered visibility – gives us an excuse to come back another time!


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