Sunday Update: I rode the cable car both ways from California St all the way to the end & back. The…read morerides were super fun. I did have to wait for a very long time on the line at the turntable to go back to California though... might have been about a 30 minute wait, but once we were riding on it back to California St, everyone on the car was cheering & having such a great time. The cable cars are iconic & they're a must do when you are in SF!! *** Friday -,My experience riding around on the cable cars today was so much fun but I actually didn't get to ride on this line until later today! A stop at the top of Nob Hill is just a block away from where I'm staying, and so we bought a day pass ($15) because we figured we'd be able to ride the rails at least twice. here were a lot of people waiting to ride, and several cars passed us by because they were too full, so we ended up crossing the street and taking a different and less crowded line which didn't take us exactly where we wanted to go, but we were able to connect to the F line and get to our destination. We were able to pick up a car on this line at Union Square and it toted us up the hill to California Street. It was a short & bumpy, but fun ride. So I'll leave a review for the other line as well. Peace.

Today was our 1st experience on the Cable Car's of San Fran. We loved it! We got confused at 1dt on…read morewhere to catch the car but ended uo waiting in the linen at Union Station & riding to Hyde st, right across from Hyde st pier. On the ride back, OMG we got the surprise of a lifetime with a free mini concert by TRAIN! THANK YOU!!!! We were literally like 15 ft from them as they played a few songs. We road scooters up just after they started but got to here like 4 songs! We road back to Union Square, it was totally worth the $60! We bought the round trip through the app! If your wirh a larger family or want round trip I highly recommend the app & 1 day pass. 1 way trip is $9 but the all day on/off all the muni transit & cable cars was only $15 each. Oh yeah, if you get in without paying, they'll stop & out you off! Get to walking! Someone tried to use an expired ticket in the app, they stopped like a block later to make them get off!

The California Street Cable Car operates daily from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Powell-Hyde and…read morePowell-Mason lines run later, until 11:00 p.m., making it a great way to explore the city during the day or in the evening. Fares: Adult single rides are $9. Children under 4 ride free, and seniors (65+) pay just $4. You can pay using the MuniMobile app, a Clipper Card, or exact cash onboard. Hot tip: Grab a seat on the outside of the back of the California Street cable car. You'll be rewarded with a breathtaking view looking back down California Street with the Bay Bridge in the distance. It's one of the most iconic views in San Francisco and has inspired countless photos and paintings. (I even have a painting of this view in my living room!) There really isn't a bad seat on the cable car, but if you're trying to avoid extra hill climbing, be sure to get off at the correct stop. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a local, San Francisco's historic cable cars are both a fun attraction and a practical way to get around the city. Highly recommended!

We hopped on the California line in the morning with our day pass and had a great experience riding…read moreit back and forth. The operators were really friendly and informative. We were able to connect to the F in the Financial District as well and it got us to exactly where we wanted to go. I love the history and nostalgia that riding the cable cars evokes, and I'm really glad that in 2026 they're still operating well and they're a vibrant and vital part of San Francisco's public transportation infrastructure. Peace.

The Powell/Mason Cable Car Turnaround is at Taylor and Bay Streets. It's the northern end of one of…read moreSan Francisco's famous cable car lines. Since these cars can't go in reverse, they use a wooden turntable to turn the nine-ton cars around 180 degrees so they can head back to Union Square. You can actually watch the gripmen and conductors push the cars by hand, which is pretty cool. For years, when I first moved to San Francisco, I used to catch the cable car here every morning and ride it all the way to the very end at Market Street, then walk to work. I did that just because it was fun, not because it made my commute faster or shorter! Over time, I got to know the cable car operators who worked the early shifts and many neighbors who also took the cable car to work, and we often chatted and shared a few laughs while waiting. We also enjoyed live performances from street musicians. It is a fun ride, especially for visitors and their families who take the cable car as part of their San Francisco visit experience.

Great tourist experience riding the cable car. They are beautiful original works of engineering…read moreart. The vistas and buildings along the way between Fishermans wharf and market are gorgeous. Only downside is side is the long long wait in queue. They took ages to load every act. I am sure there is a valid reason for the delays between departures ( the cars were there waiting). But it was a pain to wait. Perhaps a sign saying the cars go every 15 mins might have helped.

When you visit San Francisco you must ride the cable cars. My favorite it the Powell one which will…read moretake you fro, Market street all the way to the Wharf. Stay on it and you can be there for it to be manually turned around. It is fun day or night. It is often crowded but the people are nice and it is just a must while in town. You can get on and off almost anywhere. Take a ride to Chinatown or the wharf. The conductors are great and will answer all your questions. The customers, many local, can also tell you where to get off and where some of the great sites are. The conductors are great with disabled people so get right over having to wait a minute so all can ride. During the summer it is more crowded than the fall. You may have a wait, but it is so worth it.

Being in San Francisco, you've gotta do at least one cable car ride -- whether just for the…read moreexperience or as a quick little "tour" down Market Street from Powell to Union Square. It's $9 each way though -- still trying to figure out why some "locals" could hop on at some stops -- without showing their MTR-pass.

First off, the staff is amazing! All of the drivers are hilarious, polite, and enjoyable to spend…read moretime with. The lady selling tickets was super kind and steered us in the right direction for a one day pass. It's a great value for your dollar for $15 means you can jump on and off all day long. The cable cars are very clean and the staff ensures that those who need to sit have a spot to sit. You may wait a minute because it's in high demand. Though it's completely worth it. If you come to San Francisco for the day or week I highly recommend you try it out. Made our stay so much more enjoyable and fun. We were traveling with someone from Germany and he thought it was awesome as well.

The Powell/Mason Cable Car turnaround was an absolutely outstanding experience! Watching the manual…read moreturnaround is a San Francisco staple, but the ride itself was the real star. The operator was incredibly kind and friendly, making the trip even more special by letting me ring the bell for my birthday! It was such a unique, personal touch that I'll never forget. The ride up and down the steep hills offers some of the best views in the city and a cool, vintage breeze that you just can't get anywhere else. If you're looking for an iconic and memorable way to see San Fran, this is it. High quality service and a total blast!

Powell street was decked out for NBA All Star and I was one of the lucky few that got to be able to…read morecheck out some cool events. There is going to be a foot locker and shoe palace opening on the Powell street locations which will be really good for the city because there is a major bounce back happening. I truly believe that the city is on an upward trend which is really good for the beautiful city of San Francisco. A lot of NBA Players and Legends were walking around the area and how truly lucky we are to live in a beautiful city like San Francisco so let's please take care of it!

It May Not Be Too Practical Now, But It Sure Is Fun And A Vision Of Our Future Selves We Should…read moreHave Pursued Ardently More Than 100 Years Ago. SITREP I love cable cars. They are fun. Great to ride. Great to catch on Powell Street. And great to ride up the hills of San Francisco. For me, it's a time-trip up & down memory lane. It's sad that this costs $6 as a single-rate trip, rather than as a free community-sponsored endeavor to convince people of the benefits of mass transit. Both Muni and BART our outgrowths of these modest cable car-beginnings. But in addition, it's critical to drive home to the citizenry with these tangible object-lessons when comparing the vast amounts of money that were poured into fossil fuels and cars, and how little that accomplished for the community good by comparison. SAD SAD HISTORY As such, cable cars on this line remain a vestige of a bygone era when we, as a society, were on the "right track" (har har, I love puns) to creating a transportation infrastructure that was both useful and did not have a huge carbon footprint such as the one created by cars & gad that are imperiling our lives today. However, the very tragic greedy collusion of oil magnates, coal barons, and car company overlords at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, ensured that for at least for a full century (and until well into another century) that fossil fuels, such as gas and coal, would continue to drive our cars and trains. And not only was it greedy, but it has damaged our planet. If we had remained an enlightened American society - instead of a greedy capitalist one - we would not be facing be the level of global warming we are today. And perhaps we would not have implicitly set a bar for industrialization that the Chinese and Indian sub-continent feel the need to duplicate now, furthering endangering our planet. MORE THAN A TOY OR TOURIST TRAP So when I see the beloved cable cars today, I think a lot of "what if?". What if the cable car had led to the earlier development a bullet trains? What if the cable car tracking mechanisms had been advanced faster, from chains, cables and tracks, to high-speed levitation? What if the trains of some future Sci-Fi dream were in fact the trains of NOW, a hundred years earlier, because we had actually engineered them to be? THE LOWDOWN If not for a greedy hiccup in time, this would have been the path we would have firmly remained upon.

Back on the cable car ..it's $9 for a single ride ..most days and until 11 pm…read more Fun delightful SF past time

Horrible experience…read more I have been living in San Francisco for 10 years and never had the desire to ride this before, mostly because I had never heard anything good about it. Unfortunately, my experience confirmed everything I had heard. My child loves trains and buses, so we decided to give it a try to make him happy. We waited for two hours, and then out of nowhere they announced it was delayed. When someone asked how long the delay would be, the staff said, "I don't know." It was extremely frustrating -- isn't it their job to know what's going on? If they had been clear from the beginning, we would have left, but we thought it might only be a 10-minute delay. Almost 40 minutes later, they said it was closed and they didn't know when it would reopen. They mentioned there was a "free bus" around the corner, but people were fighting just to get on it because it was the only one they provided. Just a reminder: each ticket costs $9, yet no one explained anything or offered help. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson. Wanting to make my child happy, we tried again another day. I honestly hope my child never asks to ride it again. After waiting another hour, just as we were about to get on, the man taking tickets told me -- in a very rude way -- that he would not accept my ticket and told me to move so others could get in. When I asked why and what he meant, he just repeated, "I'm not taking your ticket. Move." No explanation, no help, just rudeness. My husband told him we would buy another ticket, and even then he refused to let us on -- despite the car staying there for another 10 minutes. Completely unacceptable service and an awful experience overall.

The cable cars are a staple of San Francisco. And if you're a tourist, it's most likely high up on…read moreyour bucket list of things to do. However, do yourself a favor and don't get on to the cable car from this location. This is the beginning (or end) of 2 lines. Because of that, it is busy but turning the cable cars around can take time which means load time can be slow. And given that it is in the heart of downtown, it is an area of very heavy foot traffic. That means long long lines. It's going to eat up a ton of (what could be) precious time in your day. If you are here to just see a cable car and see what it looks like to have them turn around/switch lines, then great. You can see that from the area easily. However, if you are wanting to actually ride one of the cars, It's a better plan to get on to the other end of one of the lines and ride it in to Union. You will have a much quicker/shorter wait.

This review is for the Cable Car Turntable at Powell and Market Streets in the Union Square/SoMa…read more(South of Market) area in San Francisco. The cable cars are fun and iconic. They've been a symbol of the city for over 150 years now, since 1873. There are four turntables: 1. Powell and Market Streets (this one) in Union Square near SoMa. 2. Taylor and Bay Streets in North Beach near Fisherman's Wharf. 3. Hyde and Beach Streets in Fort Mason near Fisherman's Wharf. 4. Car barn next to the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill. There are three lines: 1. California 2. Powell/Hyde 3. Powell/Mason The California line is a straight shot, roughly east-west, on California Street from the Financial District to Nob Hill, Pork Gulch, and Pacific Heights. The California line doesn't include any turntables. The Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason lines travel roughly north-south between the Union Square/SoMa and Fisherman's Wharf areas. These two lines include the four turntables mentioned above. The cable cars are a popular tourist attraction and therefore, you'll always see tourists lined up waiting to board at the turntables. This turntable at Powell and Market is located "downtown" in a retail area. There are a lot of shops nearby as well as the San Francisco Centre shopping mall across the street (formerly Westfield San Francisco Centre): https://www.yelp.com/biz/westfield-san-francisco-centre-san-francisco-3 During our most recent visit to San Francisco, we stayed at the Axiom Hotel ( https://www.yelp.com/biz/axiom-hotel-san-francisco ) which is adjacent to this turntable. The hotel is home to the Turn Cafe and Little Sweet, the former being aptly named: https://www.yelp.com/biz/turn-caf%C3%A9-little-sweet-san-francisco-12 I recommend all of these places. Along with retail and hotels, this area also has numerous restaurants and office towers/buildings, and the turntable is situated right next to a major BART station (Powell Street Station) and an SF Muni station (Powell Station). In addition, each day, vendors set up tables and canopies to sell stuff and you're likely to run into street performers and religious folks holding signs and speaking into megaphones. So, there's a lot going on around this turntable. As for the turntable experience itself, it can be interesting to watch the SF Muni staff (the cable cars are operated by SF Muni) manually operate the turntables. Coming and going from our hotel, we noticed this turntable was consistently busy with riders, day and night. Cable car tickets must be purchased in advance. I like to use the Clipper Card on my phone because it works for BART too. For more information on buying tickets, visit https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/cable-cars Also, I recommend checking out the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill, just west of Chinatown. Admission is free: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cable-car-museum-san-francisco

Golden Gate Ferry Terminal is always a delight to walk through. All seasons, anytime of the day,…read morethe vastness of the water, the atmosphere, the place though is always abuzz with people yet offers some sort of a sense of calm. I love standing next to the water there and keep watching as far as the eyes go. There are enough food places close by.

Traveling by ferry is such a wondrous experience…read more So traveling by ferry to the island of Tiburon is the only way to travel there! The Golden Gate Ferry ride offers spacious quarters, amazing views, and good snack and beverage choices. There are cozy chairs inside or comfortable chairs on either outside deck (deck levels dependent on which ferry boat you get). There are cell phone charging stations by several seats if you bring your charging chord. And staff and riders alike always seem overjoyed to be sharing the experience with you. I take this ferry several times a month sometimes during the week and weekend to visit family. This is truly a unique and quintessential Bay Area experience worth having.

We bought the daily pass through the Muni Mobile app. In retrospect, it was worthless. The driver…read moredidn't look at it and the reader by the back door didn't work. Most people just came on without showing anything. The buses run frequently and ours were clean. Expect to stand as ours were mostly full to the point where getting off was a chore.

Goes from wharf north Beach loops ..union square ..disappears after ...harrison highway ..mystery…read morebus ..runs frequently ..easy to use..hop on