Small Group Yosemite and Giant Sequioas Day Trip from San Francisco

Brian was amazing, he texted the night before of the tour to making sure we have the meeting place address, advised when booking that my family and I won’t be staying in SF area.. He knows his way around the park and know when to be at the place in the perfect timing to get good pics.. He was absolutely wonderful, O will highly recommend him!!! Thank you Brian!

Expensive. Why? Compared to other tours I have been to. VAN-NOISY. Noise from the loud music, back and the doors. At one point we could not hear the guide because he did not use his mic. Noisy loose shaking door. Whistling air and noisy engine in my back. I endured this throughout the ride. You have to talk over the oldies music to be heard. Music themed in groups of COVID, FIRES, a LOT of 60's songs. 11 people 5 of whom are 20's-30's, a couple in their 30's, the rest in their 40's-50's. We are not a bunch of old people. It was annoying and made the ride uncomfortable. Silence or radio would've been better because the radio plays a variety of songs. Get those CDs and have random people of 20's50 yo listen to all of them. Ask if they would enjoy their ride listening to it all day. Accommodation offered by other tour vans this van DOES NOT have: Cup holders USB chargers on each seat Unlimited free cold water bottle Unlimited Free snacks Good time management Breakfast stop was at a grocery store. There's no cup holders in the van. IT was uncomfortable to eat. Suggestion-gas station or 7-11. Plan your lunch and dinner stops. We ate dinner in the parking lot, sitting here and there like homeless people. Prolonged stops at Half Dome, Tunnel view, El Capitan, Bridal Falls seriously. 15 min stops is all you need for photos. He gave us an hour to hike Yosemite the shortest of which is 2 miles. Our group range from fittest to very fit. A well planned trip would have given us ample time for hike, enough time for photos, and enough choices for meals. You do not need to sit and watch climbers climb at El Capitan for almost an hour. I know because I've been to other tours. Bindlestiff Tours have the best customer service and the most organize tours. Learn from them. Last-Introduce your passengers to each other. Not just to some. This is your job as a guide. What I detested was the obnoxious yellow signs taped in the van's walls saying something like this "In the US tipping is necessary. Standard rate for chauffers/guides is 20% of the total fee" EXCUSE ME? You are more expensive than Europe. I think it's rude. I would be paying $140 in this case. *Room temp water bottles was offered in the evening after the hike. But most of us already bought our own water when it was not offered to us in the beginning.

The tour itself is amazing, and Phil was an awesome guy. The park was quite empty because of the pandemic, so we had a lot of time for photo ops. The tour operator was responsive when I texted them. They handled all the ticketing process so that was a breeze. All we had to do was to show up at the hotel lobby and the whole trip was taken care of. The reason for one start taken off was about the AC. After one long day in the park and it was in the middle of the summer, the AC was dead. It felt like the sauna the whole time we were on the way back to SF. All in all, great experience. This is your tour if you're short on time.

Phil went above and beyond. We booked months in advance for a tour through Extranomical that unfortunately cancelled on us the day before the trip. Viator and Phil from the Best Bay Area Tour company pulled through with less than 24 hours notice! He was extremely personable, patient, and went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience. He knows all of the best spots and trivia to go along with it. Thanks Phil!

Best tour ever!! 100% recommended . Best bay tour and the Tour guide are very professional, knowledgable, friendly and helpful. We had an amazing time.

Great trip loved Yosemite and Mike our guide was brilliant very informative and extremely helpful. Definitely recommend

Absolutely worth it doing this tour. Yosemite is magical and it's a great way to get the first glimpse! I wish I had more time but it still felt we had time for a couple of nice shorter hikes - so it was not "all day on the bus" sort of thing. We were very lucky to visit Giant Sequioas (not guaranteed in Winter due to possible snow) but this Winter it is very dry in CA. The travel time one way is about 4 hrs (including the food stop) - it went by very fast. Our guide and driver Mike was very good; he spent some time living in the part in the past and shared some interesting information about it.

Phil was a fantastic tour guide. We really enjoyed this tour. We had a small group which saved time and allowed us to visit more parts of the park. Would recommend to all.

Mike was a very informed interesting guide. Heaps of laughs and great to have inside knowledge. Awesome day out

Fantastic experience! One of the most impressive parks I have seen in my life! Our driver Phil was very knowledgeable and humourous! We had a fantastic time and learnt a lot! He made sure we not only did all the scheduled stops but also some additional for pictures! Great trip, I would highly recommend this experience!