Mr Toad’s Tours

Alright then. My wife and I spent a nice kid free weekend in SF recently. We have been to SF on several occasions, but had never taken a tour before. I found Mr. Toad’s on the internet and we decided to give it a try. Good decision.
We opted for the three hour tour. It was a good time. The tour car is a vintage looking circa 1920s coach car. It has a roof, but it is open air so dress warmly. We went in December, so it was a bit chilly. One cool amenity is they provide blankets.
Our tour guide/​driver was great. A SF native who really knew the history and vibe of the city. It’s a great way to see the city and learn about the history of the various neighborhoods.
We took one stop in Chinatown to walk around for a bit. Make sure you go to the bathroom before the tour, as there are not many opportunities to make a restroom break. Dress warmly and take some snacks and water.
If you take your camera, be prepared to shoot on the move. The tour doesn’t make many stops. I was hanging out the windows to get good shots. But, that was part of the fun.
Overall, a terrific way to see the city.
If you decide to go for it, give them a call and make a reservation. They will pick you up on the corner of Mason and Jefferson.

We booked this tour (the 90 minute) to learn some information about San Francisco. The tour car was very easy to find outside of the yellow Kodak store on Mason St. and was equipped with fleece blankets in case our abnormally sunny and warm day turned chilly. Our guide, Reed, was a lot of fun taking us throughout all of the city. He also was quick to answer question or offer suggestions for further adventures. Don’t be nervous when approaching the big hills… those little Toadsters have hidden power reserves that chug you on up the steepest of inclines!

We loved this intimate, up close, personalized view of the city. Our driver (Reed) was knowledgeable, funny, friendly and answered all of our questions.
This tour gave my husband and I a good knowledge of the city and led to us places we would never have thought we’d go while on our vacation.
There is no bad view in the car — you get in and out — and we loved getting to know our small group. Great for all ages. I definitely recommend Mr. Toads.

A totally fun and relaxing way to see SF.
I am a native of the bay area and thought I knew it all about the city– but was I wrong. This is a must do for native friscan if you want to learn and see the city without having to worry about driving. I certainly appreciate the city much more after this tour.
I love seeing the pretty houses scatter throughout SF’s hills. There are lots of great architecturally interesting homes in the city. Moreover, there are so many cute neighborhoods that they take you through. Because SF is so hilly, there are many fantastic view points of the city. It’s like seeing SF for the first time from every different hilltop.
The driver is really nice and funny. He was very thorough in his tour and provided everyone a good laugh.
I was also please to be supporting a family own company.
Be warned– it might get cold. The winds cannot be avoided and your hair will get messy. So girls, tie your hair in a ponytail or braid it so that you can get a great view of the city without having your hair whip around your face.
I would recommend this to all my friends and relatives that visit SF. Rather than drive them around myself, I would just take them on Mr. Toad and let them do all the driving. :)

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I liked every single part of my experience with «Mr. Toad’s Tours» and have been back for a second tour, and have recommended it to EVERYONE who comes for a visit.
The tour guides are great. Knowledgeable, personable, friendly, and funny.
The cars are really comfortable to sit in (they even give you blankets) and its small and very relaxing to be in.
I learned a LOT about the city, and even use some of the spots they pointed out as places to go now as we head into the city.
Everyone should take this tour. From SF natives to weekend visitors.

I am very impressed with Mr. Toad’s Tours. Summary:
— Very amazing experience
— Perfect date ride
— Hilarious driver — good humor, responds well to audience (even with my jokes about homeless bums SF)
— Dramatic experience — try it yourself to see what I mean
— Comprehensive overview of SF, the history, sight seeing spots, etc.
— Exclusive trail that other tour buses cannot go on
Overall: A+ experience. I would highly recommend it for a date or just with family. It’s exclusive in that you’re not sitting on some big tour bus listening to one guy rant about random stuff. It’s just 9 – 10 people exclusively driving around. Well worth it! Make sure to tip.

Got the deal through LivingSocial. It was unexpectedly better than most of «cheesy» tours. The week we went to San Fran was super windy and cold, but there were blankets in the car. Tour guide was knowledgeable as well.

Super enjoyable!
My group rode in a beautiful 1924 Yellowstone Bus. John «Fransisco» learned a little about each person in the group and shared his love and knowledge of the city he was named after.
We saw the well known tourist attractions, architecture and learned cultural history. This tour is a «must do!»
Loved it!

OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS!!! it was so much fun.
okay, i will simmer down. our driver took us all around san fran– the piers, union square, the gorgeous victorians, etc. he was very funny and incredibly knowledgeable– spewing out fun facts and jokes left and right.
we bought the groupon and felt like we really got some bang out of our buck! there were 10 of us, so we got the entire car to ourselves. they also give you cozy blankets in the back to stay warm– something we really needed as it was late December and the temp was in the late 50s in the evening.
oh! and my forgetful mother even forgot something in the trolley. the next day, we were able to recover it from the storefront. good, honest guys.
i highly recommend mr toad’s tours.

Highly recommended.
It was a fun experience sitting on the vintage tour car.
It was a very good history lesson about the city of San Francisco from John, our driver and guide.
It was a very cold night and unfortunately most of the lights around the city were already being taken down. The blankets that were provided were much appreciated.
I love taking pictures but I could not get many as we never stopped.

Got a groupon for ($ 20 for $ 40) a holiday lights tour of the city. my scheduling issues would have drive lesser men than Charles to drink. But we got the date a week too late for the lights. And on a night that was freezing cold.
We get to ride in these cool little cars that attracts a lot of attention but the thing about this tour is: they do not stop to let us out to take pictures. we rolled around and looked at things listening to stories of the city in the cold. The heat didn’t kick in for the car but there were blankets.
Kinda wish I’d changed it to the city tour (at which point Charles would have started drinking)

We had a GREAT time and saw parts of SF we have never seen before. Our driver Don was very nice and friendly. He was very knwoledgeable of the City and made good recommendations as well.
They provided cozy blankets to keep us warm and we enjoyed riding in a old fachioned car.
Would highly recommend this tour, even for locals.

Highly recommended.
A group of us saw this on Groupon. The writeup looked interesting, so we decided to give it a go.
The tour exceeded our expectations!
Our driver John was awesome — very knowledgeable, funny and even quirky :)
The city was beautiful at night. We learnt a lot about the city’s history and culture — and of course it quirks.
As John would say «Things are not what they seem :)»
I’m a fan and would do this again!

Mr. Toad’s provided our wedding day transportation and was a ton of fun.
When we found out the chapel we were using needed shuttles, we started out on a desperate search for a fun and affordable option. Mr. Toads fit this exactly and definitely provided our guests with a fun ride up to our ceremony.
From the funny horns to the driver’s uniforms the experience was a blast and true to the old fashion nature of Mr. Toads. They were also easy to work with and on-​time and provided everyone with an experience never to forget.
Thank you Mr. Toads for making our wedding day extra wild!

This was a Christmas gift to my 2 gf’s and basically an excuse to get them to the city for a day of fun. BART was not cooperating and it took 2 hours instead of the normal 1 to get to the embarcadero. Instead of stopping at the square for a run into Macy’s we had to cab it straight down to the Wharf instead of the planned cable car ride. We figured the Toad Bus would be on the street corner and sure enough there it was. We made it just in time.
Off we bounced thru the Wharf, North Beach, Fort Mason, the Marina District etc as the sun began to set. What a wonderful way to see the sights, not be distracted by driving, and be in an open air car close to the beauty of the city. Eric was an awesome tour guide and although I’ve been to SF more times than I can count I was still able to see things I’d never seen before. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours; more than was expected.
I asked Eric if we would be driving past Caesar’s Italian Restaurant and if so, could he point it out to us! He said, «I’ll do you one better, I’ll drop you off there»! Talk about curb service. What a sight! The three of us exiting our toad cab right into Caesar’s! What fun!

This is the sort of thing a native San Franciscan wouldn’t be caught dead doing, but it’s their loss. We had a fine time on our Mr. Toad’s tour. Perhaps the primary benefit isn’t just that the tour guides know a lot about the city, but with driving in San Francisco challenging and requiring of attention, it’s nice to have someone else behind the wheel so you can enjoy the view. The driver can be a little cheesy at times, but that’s part of the fun of the tour. We went on a holiday lights tour and enjoyed the trip through the marina, Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, and Union Square.
I did wish it was a bit warmer the night we went. I know Mr Toad cannot control the weather, but the promised «heaters» were not noticeable and the provided blankets are pretty thin and useless. On a cold December night zipping through the city in an open air car, you’ll want to bring parkas, scarves and gloves. (Seriously! And I moved from frigid Milwaukee just a year ago!)

Since I had lots of time while my husband was in a conference I decided to explore the city just 60 miles from our new home.
I am very glad that our driver was Proctor. He wore a sea captain’s hat but was a SF native with a remarkable sense of humor and a tangled resume involving film-​making. We had the green 1924 White Yellowstone aka Toadster 4.
Although blankets are available and the heater works very well especially in the second row left… ahem, dress in layers as it gets colder as the sun sets.
As he toured around the city, he pointed out details of favorite haunts, restaurants, bars, hotels, gave brief histories; and areas to avoid at night. At every stop he was willing to take pictures of our group which was very nice. Apparently we were quite photogenic because the poor hapless souls in the huge tour buses took pictures of us!
See their website for the Postcard Tour which is too long to list here.
If you have time for only one tour — this should be the one! Their office is about 6′ x 2′ carved out of the side window of a camera shop on Mason. Arrive about 15 minutes before your tour.

We had a GREAT time on our Mr. Toads tour. Getting a real steal off
, we headed down to the wharf for our driving adventure. While we all live here, it was nice to be tourists for a day esp. with a great driver like ours. I believe his name was Charlie. He was a tall fella.
I like this tour because of the old buggy and the quirky information the drivers know about the city. This is not one of those tours that will have you zoning out. It doesn’t recite the same boring bullshit you get on many of the hop-​on/​hop-​off tours in the city.
Our driver was friendly and he took pictures of us with the Toad Mobile in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. I would highly recommend Mr. Toads for tourists or San Franciscans. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday and learn more about the city I love so much. I’m already planning the next one when my mom comes to visit.
Toady power!

Loved Mr. Toad’s Tours!
They were super accommodating for our group of friends.
We called the day before we wanted a reservation, and unfortunately all of the times we wanted to go on the tour were booked, and all of the times that they had room for our party of five (get it? or maybe i’m old), we were unavailable. Finally, Liz, offered a private tour for the five of us. Sold!
Would definitely recommend this tour to people looking to see SF and learn about the city’s history. Our tour guide, Reed, was fantastic. Funny and incredibly knowledgeable about SF. During the tour, there were a few road closures (it was a Monday morning), but he was flexible and knew all these detours and fascinating facts about all of the streets/​places we went through.
It was definitely a bit cold, but they had blankets for you to mummify yourself with.
The only downside was that we got the tour on the last day of our girls’ weekend in SF. So, all of Reed’s comments like «oh you should definitely eat here!» or «check out this place in the future» were met with dismayed eyes. Womp womp.
So, a tip for you would be to have this tour at the beginning of your trip, especially if you haven’t been to SF before.

My husband and I took Mr. Toad’s 3 hour tour during our 6 day stay in San Francisco and we didn’t encounter any racist or inappropriate talk from our tour guide and our tour started on time.
Our tour guide was Ken and he was very professional and knowledgeable about San Francisco considering he was originally from New Orleans. As a matter of fact Ken was so good that our tour actually extended into 4 hours. Ken even asked us if it was okay for him to extend the tour since there was so much that he still wanted to show us and of course we all said yes.
It was really cool riding around in the vintage car, people were taking our picture as we rode by. We were given blankets when the air got chilly as we made our way down by the Golden Gate Bridge, which was a good thing. We even made a stop in Chinatown and had dumplings and fortune cookies.
We enjoyed the tour very much and saw several key points/​areas of San Francisco that we probably wouldn’t have visited.
I would recommend this tour and Ken as a tour guide.