Alcatraz Cruises runs ferry transportation to Alcatraz Island. The departure point for cruises is Alcatraz Landing, Pier 33.
Alcatraz tickets
To purchase tickets in person, go to the ticket windows located at Pier 33. Shuttles to Alcatraz Landing pick up and drop off at locations throughout Fisherman's Wharf. Children under four are free.
A collaborative partnership between the National Parks Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy includes a number of on-island improvements.
Cellhouse tour
On the cell block audio tour, visitors enter from the bottom of the building, through the entrance prisoners originally used, rather than from the top. The cellhouse tour takes visitors up through the building and ends in a 3,000-square-foot museum store below the dining hall.
Exhibits, tour and gift shop are completely integrated in thematic content. New exhibits and interpretive signs are phased in inside and outside the building. An elevator provides accessibility to each level of the cell house that is on the audio tour. SEAT (Sustainable Easy Access Transport) trams transport visitors from the dock to the entrance.
Alcatraz Film Festival
In conjunction with the tour and facilities, the Castro Theater holds an Alcatraz Film Festival in early February. The theater showcases the island orientation with a video about Alcatraz.
The locks on the cells were refurbished so tours can include the clank of the cell block doors closing, without fear of locking someone inside. Behind the scenes, $11 million in seismic retrofitting has been implemented.
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