On my Segway in North Beach
The tour company had us watch a training video and gave us a group training, then they hung a little yellow radio around our necks and gave us an earplug to hear the commentary from our guide, Cameron. He was cute and his patter was good, but my radio was crackly and hard to hear. He told us about the history of the places we were seeing, recommended the best spots to eat and those to avoid. Saw a great shopping street at Grant and Green Streets. We stopped for a break (photo left) at Washington Square in North Beach for a delicious slice at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana at
1570 Stockton St.
Cam pointed out that Scoma’s has a fleet of fishing boats that go out to sea every day and that you really can get fresh local seafood at their Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant. We went around the Cannery and Ghiradelli Square, and spent some time zooming around a pier near the Dolphin Club. When the tour was over, we walked half a block back to Ghiradelli for some great ice cream. We also checked out the Spy Shop on the wharf — the place to go for your own lock pick set.
At the pier with San Francisco in the background
Anet and Howard on Segways with Alcatraz in background
Looks like a fun way to see San Francisco! What good thinking to do it on 49er Playoff day.
great pics and such a beautiful day did you try taking them up the curviest Road on earth or try any other Hills that would have been great
The Electric Tour Company offers several tours. The Advanced Tour, designed for guests with prior experience riding an i2 Segway, scoots up Russian Hill, eases down the world’s “crookedest” street, explores North Beach Little Italy, and glides along the waterfront. $70. You would love it, and so would Joey.
I am definitely going to try it!
I drove a Segway at the Petaluma airport. I was there for lunch and a guy was buzzing around on his personal toy. Asked for a try and he said sure! They aren’t easy to master but I did get the hang of it.
Back when they had the “secret introduction” of the BoB I think that’s what they called it but it never stuck. Bob Rice said He “would buy a fleet of them and start a tour company.” I said, “Nah, SF is too hilly.”
We didn’t go on any hilly parts because we were just beginners, but because they are electric (like the buses in SF) they are probably great on hills. The “Advanced” ride goes down Lombard St.
Cool. I want to do it. The walls between you and the water look high enough to save you from swimming…
Thanks Anet and Howard for booking your tour with us. Thank for the nice blog post.
I think we may have attracted some new customers for you, judging by the comments!
This seems like a fun thing to do even as a beginner. Did you tangle with traffic or have other challenges? How large was the group and could you stay together easily?
I’ve seen Segway tours in other countries and figured that’s a good way to cover lots of ground and not wear out your feet, especially on cobblestones.
We went on the day the SF 49ers were in the playoffs, so there was little traffic even though the weather was gorgeous. As a result, we had a lot of time to kill at the end of the 2.5 hour tour. They took us to a pier where we could take pictures and zip around to our heart’s content. We were in a group of 8. Four were men in their 30s. The other two were best girlfriends from Dallas; a hootin’ hollerin’ firecracker, and the opposite. She was timid and tended to lean back, which makes the Segway slow down. She kept drifting backwards in the pack. But she eventually got the hang of it. You can bring your own group, ideally adventurous people with a good sense of balance.