I visited San Francisco again last month, my favorite city in America. This was not my first visit to SF, so I was looking for things to do outside of the city that I didn’t get to do last time. One of them was cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge to visit a charming small town called Sausalito.
In this blog post, I’ll go through all the details you need if you want to do the same. Here are the topics we will cover:
- How to get to Sausalito from San Francisco
- By bicycle (over Golden Gate Bridge)
- By ferry (from Pier 1)
- By bus (over Golden Gate Bridge)
- By car or ride-sharing (over Golden Gate Bridge)
- How much time to spend in Sausalito
- Sausalito Day Trip Itinerary from San Francisco
Let’s get into it, shall we? 🌞
How to get to Sausalito from San Francisco
Sausalito is one of the most popular day trip from San Francisco. It is located just a little bit north from the Golden Gate Bridge. There are a few ways to get to Sausalito, and all of them will prominently feature the bridge prominently. You would either be going over the bridge, or you’ll get the chance to see the bridge (weather-dependent).
- By bicycle 🚲
- By ferry ⛴️
- By bus 🚌
- By car or ride-sharing đźš—
And here are the details for each ways:
1. Bicycle 🚲 (from Fisherman’s Wharf)
I personally think cycling to Sausalito is the best ways to get to there, but only if the weather cooperates. The cycling route will take you cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge itself.
As I mentioned in my SF travel guide, weather in SF can be finicky. I was lucky to have a sunny clear blue sky that lasted the entire weekend. This is rare in SF (especially in the area around the Golden Gate Bridge) so as soon as I found out, I booked an afternoon cycling tour operated by Blazing Saddles. I booked a regular bike, but when I showed up for the tour, they gave me an E-bike. I think a regular bike would have been just fine though.
Could I have cycled on my own without a tour? Well, while I can cycle well enough, I am not confident to go on my own on a route that I’m not familiar with, in a foreign country. Thus, I decided to go on a tour instead of going by myself.
But having done the actual cycling route from Fisherman’s Wharf to Sausalito, it was not a very difficult ride. It can get a bit intimidating when you’re on the bridge, because it gets windy up there and you’re riding next to a freeway with cars going fast on the bridge. But once you’re off the bridge, it’s an easy ride.
If you’re an experienced cyclist and want to go on your own, you can just rent a bike instead. You could take the bike on the ferry if you decide that you don’t want to cycle back. Note that bike space on the ferry is limited, so if you’re catching the last ferry of the day, make sure you’re there early.
2. Ferry ⛴️ (from San Francisco Ferry Terminal)
The ferry is around 30 minutes journey one-way from SF Ferry Terminal to Sausalito. I think this is the second best way to get to Sausalito when the weather is good. You won’t get close to Golden Gate Bridge, but you’ll get a good view of it.
Here is the ferry schedule between SF Ferry Terminal (Pier 1) <> Sausalito. There are different timing for weekday and weekend / holidays, so make sure you’re looking at the right one. It costs $8.50 one way, payable by Clipper card straight from your phone (see my SF travel guide for more information about taking public transportation).
Take note that if you’re coming back to SF from Sausalito on the last ferry, you might want to line up early. If it’s a good day, there might be a lot of people and you may not get a spot on the ferry if you turn up last minute.
⛴️ Ferry tip: If you want to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz island from the ferry, it would be on the left side when going to Sausalito, and on the right side when going to SF.
3. Bus 🚌
If you prefer to take the bus, Bus 120 is the one you’d want to watch out for (see map and schedule here). It takes around 40 minutes to get from Sausalito to downtown SF and costs $5 one way, payable by Clipper card. It comes once every 30 minutes. The bus route will take you over the Golden Gate Bridge itself.
If you ask me, I wouldn’t take the bus unless I really have to. I think the ferry or cycling is the better way. However, it is a good option if you want to travel outside of the ferry schedule – the last bus runs at 11PM.
4. Car or ride-sharing đźš—
Traveling by car can be the most convenient – it would let you access view points that you normally would have to walk to. But I would avoid driving on the bridge during peak weekday commute hours and weekends because I’ve seen how congested the bridge can be.
The car route will take you over the Golden Gate Bridge. Take note there is a toll to cross southbound the Golden Gate Bridge (From Saulito to SF), which will be $10.25 one way. If you’re taking a ride-sharing service, this will be added to your fare. However, there is no toll for going northbound (From SF to Sausalito).
How much time to spend in Sausalito
Sausalito is not a big city. In Sausalito itself, you can spend just 2-3 hours and be done with it. I’d say it’s the journey from SF to Sausalito that makes it.
In total, you can expect it to be a half a day (4 to 8 hours) activity for the entire SF to Sausalito trip and back. I myself started my cycling tour in the afternoon at 2PM, and I was back in SF on the last ferry at 6PM. I think this was more than enough.
Sausalito Day Trip Itinerary from San Francisco
Convinced to check out Sausalito? Below I’m going to write details of how my day went, so you can plan yours too.
I went for an afternoon cycling tour with Blazing Saddles that started at 2PM, but you can basically start this any time if you decide to not go on a tour and rent your own bike. Blazing Saddles does tours in the morning too at 10AM.
Here is a summary of the itinerary:
| 11:00AM | Saturday Farmer’s Market at SF Ferry Building |
| 1:45PM | Get a bike from Blazing Saddles |
| 2:20PM | Started tour and stop by SF Points of Interests |
| 3:40PM | Finally cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge bridge |
| 4:00PM | One last look at Golden Gate Bridge |
| 4:30PM | Arrive at Sausalito |
| 6:55PM | Take the last ferry back to San Francisco |
| 7:30PM | Arrive back in San Francisco |
And let’s get into the details 🙂
11:00AM: Saturday Farmer’s Market at SF Ferry Building
Since I started my tour in the afternoon and it was a Saturday, I had the chance to check out the Farmer’s Market at SF Ferry Building. I arrived bright and early at 11AM, so that I would have time for lunch and coffee.
Well, I thought I arrived early but the market is already bustling by 11AM. I got some of the most delicious strawberries I’ve ever had (and only $6 per basket!), peaches, and had some tacos from Senor Sisig for lunch. After that, I walked around the pier to burn some time.
The Blazing Saddles is located in Fisherman’s Wharf, so I was hoping to catch the bus there from the pier. However, the bus was full and I couldn’t board. Rather than waiting for the next bus, I decided on walking all the way from Pier 1, which took about an hour. Good thing the weather was nice!
1:45PM: Get a bike from Blazing Saddles
Our meet up time for the tour was 2PM, but I arrived 10 minutes early as instructed on the booking. The crew immediately fitted me with a helmet, an E-bike (even though I had booked a regular bike) and a portable audio device so I can hear the tour guide later.
It was my first time using an E-bike, so I took some time and rode around the area to get my bearing. Thankfully, it’s not difficult at all – although the feeling of the gears kicking in was a little weird for me at first.
In the cycling tour group, there are two guides. One will be leading the tour in front and narrating our way via the audio guide, the other will stay back at the end so that no one gets left behind.
And slowly, our group started streaming in.
2:20PM: Started tour and stop by San Francisco Points of Interests
After taking some time making sure everyone is comfortable on the bike, our tour finally sets off. We started cycling west towards Golden Gate Bridge, stopping by a few points of interests along the way like Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field and Presidio area of SF.
My favorite point of interest is the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point South. Because it was such a nice clear day, we all got a great photo of and with the Golden Gate Bridge.
3:40PM: Finally cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge bridge
Just a few minutes past the Vista Point South is, finally, the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge itself! I was really excited for this. Cycling over the bridge is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile.
Our guide warned us that it can get windy and a little intense on the bridge with cars on one side, and other cyclist going by fast. However, if we wanted to stop and take photos, one of the guides will wait for us. I took a few quick snaps around the midpoint of the bridge for some memento, but otherwise kept cycling through.
It took around 15 minutes to cross the bridge with some photo stops. It does get a little windy up there, but overall it was a pretty easy ride. I think the good weather helped make the experience more enjoyable too.
4:00PM: One last look at Golden Gate Bridge
After about 10 minutes break at the parking lot at the end of the bridge, we resumed our cycling route down to Moore Rd towards Fort Baker. There, we made a brief stop and got one last good look at the bridge.
I think Moore Rd Pier is a great viewpoint for Golden Gate Bridge too. Unlike the other view points that were full of people, this one had almost no one around.
4:30PM: Arrive at Sausalito
From Fort Baker, Sausalito is an easy 15 minute ride. We had the choice of dropping of our bike at Sausalito or keeping it. Most people in our group ended up dropping off the bike, because we wanted to take the ferry back.
You can keep your bike if you want to check out more of Sausalito. There are boat houses in Sausalito that I didn’t get to see because it is a little away from the town and would be better to reach by bike.
However, I think downtown Sausalito is a good place to spend time too. It’s not a large town, but it should keep you occupied for 1-2 hours. One of the most popular thing to do is eat ice cream at Lappert’s, but I skipped it since there was a crowd and a long line. Also, there is Lappert’s at Pier 39 in SF anyway.
I ended up spending most of my time by the bay, chilling out while waiting for the last ferry.
From Sausalito, you’re really not that far away from San Francisco. Here is a photo I managed to get of downtown SF using the zoom lens on my iPhone.
6:30PM: Take the last ferry back to San Francisco
Here is the ferry schedule between SF Ferry Terminal (Pier 1) <> Sausalito. There are different timing for weekday and weekend / holidays, so make sure you’re looking at the right one! In my case, since I was there on a Saturday, the last ferry was at 6:55PM.
I lined up early at 6:30PM to get a good seat and also to make sure I get a spot on the ferry, since it was such a popular day to be in Sausalito and I was sure most are going to want to take the last ferry.
7:30PM: Arrive back in San Francisco
You can get a decent view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz island on the ferry. For this direction, you’d want to sit on the side facing the right (west).
After around 30 minutes of sailing, the ferry made it back to SF Pier Building. We got a good view of downtown SF, including the Transamerica building.
And that’s how my cycling day trip to Sausalito went! If you happen to have a good weather day in SF, I highly recommend joining the tour. I think it was my favorite activity in SF this time around.
As always, please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.
Have fun in SF! 🤩