2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Daily Tour
15 people
English
Uncover the scandalous, high-society history of San Francisco's most illustrious hill on a walking tour of Nob Hill. Hear the stories behind the grand hotels and stately mansions built by the city's powerful 19th-century business tycoons and’politicians, and learn how the advent of the cable car and the disastrous 1906 earthquake shaped one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.
This is your departure point.
• Admission Ticket Included
Of all the many hills San Francisco is famous for, few contain the special history and strange regard of the local population as the hill – Nob Hill at the top of downtown. Once home to governors, lumber barons, railroad tycoons and wealthy land speculators, the hill at the top of California street played an integral part in the special history of what makes San Francisco special, weird, and unique.
Your walking history tour of this once uber-affluent neighborhood begins at front of the Fairmont Hotel with your choice of a morning or early afternoon departure. After meeting your guide and the rest of your small group, you will proceed down the street with an introduction of how this single hill become home to some of this city’s most famous and wealthy families. Names like Huntington, Hopkins, and Stanford still ring out more than 100 years later as your guide fills you in on the details of the business, social and political rivalries that once dominated the landscape. You’ll learn how the cable car changed the perception of where the rich wanted to build their mansions and how this new form of public transportation tied the city together in a whole new way. You’ll hear tales of the great earthquake of 1906 and how the fires reshaped the neighborhood permanently while discovering new restaurants, bars, and places to explore on your own. Once your two hour tour is complete, you’ll have the option of eating lunch at one of the famous eateries near the top of the hill at your own expense.
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included