The 15 Best Yosemite Day Trips from San Francisco

1.Small Group Yosemite and Giant Sequoias Day Trip from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3,671 reviews · 14 hours (approx.) · from $239Our pick

Review of a 14-hour small-group Yosemite trip from San Francisco, with giant sequoias, Tunnel View, waterfalls, and hotel pickup.

“Overall, quite a good experience. Brian S is very knowledgeable, and you can tell he is passionate when he explains the movie and the history of the mountains. Interesting experience to look for climbers at El Cap mountain. However just a few things to note: The roads get really winding so do prepare some motion sickness pills ahead of time! Also be prepared for the trip to be 1) mostly getting up and down the bus for photos (except free time 2 hours during lunch), 2) have a tedious trail at the sequoia tree area (note that there’s nothing much to do if you choose not to go on the…”

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2.Yosemite Highlights & Giant Sequoias Day Tour from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3,455 reviews · 14 to 15 hours (approx.) · from $219

See Yosemite Valley, Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, and giant sequoias on a long but rewarding day tour from San Francisco.

“Great tour guide. Great trip. The only thing bad about the whole experience was the bus. This bus is not made for long distance travel. It’s a bus to take around the airport. I might have to go see a chiropractor after this ride. No but seriously it rides so rough it’s not even funny.”

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3.Yosemite Day Trip with Giant Sequoias Hike & Pickup

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 1,331 reviews · 14 hours · from $239

See Yosemite’s waterfalls, granite cliffs, and giant sequoias on a 14-hour small-group trip from San Francisco with hotel pickup.

“Our guide Calder was great. Communication before hand of where to be was spot on, he arrived on time, talked us through the detail of the day, kept us informed the whole time. We made a few stops for refreshments and bathroom breaks. As we drove Calder, where appropriate pointed out areas of interest and just interacted with us all day (but also gave us our own time to ask questions and just enjoy the ride). The van was lovely. Although it rained that didn’t stop us! Calder provided us with umbrellas! We saw climbers on El Capitan which was just unbelievable! Some of our group saw bears, Yosemite is…”

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4.Yosemite National Park: Full Day Tour from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 937 reviews · 14 hours (approx.) · from $199

Review of the 14-hour Yosemite tour from San Francisco, with Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, three hours in the valley, guide tips, and bus cautions.

“Yosemite is an absolute experience. 10/10 Park. 1 star thanks to Yosemite being an amazing park, 1 star for a bus driver that did his best. Bus: No aircon for 80% of our time on the bus. The bus was far from an "air conditioned luxury motor coach". It did have seatbelts. We were seated up the back basically on top of the engine so we cooked the whole trip. We couldn't wait to get off the bus at every opportunity. When the tour started the bus driver told us that we had to move because we wouldn't see anything up the back. There were actually no other seats left…”

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5.Day Trip to Yosemite National Park

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 883 reviews · 15 hours · from $209

Review of the 15-hour Yosemite day trip from San Francisco, with Tunnel View, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, free time, and practical tips.

“Great full day! Our driver Aiden gave us a wealth of information on San Francisco and Yosemite. As it was an early start he allowed us time for a snooze on the way. We stopped half way for a toilet/coffee stop. Adjacent a supermarket. Aiden suggested we get sandwiches etc for lunch, as long queues in Yosemite. This proved to be very true and meant we could find a spot and picnic…much nicer than the fast food cafes…not to mention lunch was a lot cheaper! We had 3 hours in Yosemite and Aidan suggested the best trails to explore, inc the way that takes you close to the Yosemite Falls.…”

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6.Yosemite Day Tour from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 713 reviews · 15 hours (approx.) · from $209

Review of the San Francisco to Yosemite day tour, with Tunnel View, Half Dome, El Capitan, three park hours, costs, and practical tips.

“When it tells you it’s a 14hour trip, it is a 14hour full day. Our guide was fantastic and gave us bathroom breaks along the drive. He was very knowledgeable about the park and recommended things to check out while on our free time to explore.”

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7.Yosemite National Park 2-Day Tour from San Francisco with Lodging

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 412 reviews · 2 days (approx.) · from $619

Explore Yosemite on a two-day trip from San Francisco with sequoias, Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, guided stops, and overnight lodging.

“Be prepared for a 2-3 mile hike at the early end of the trip. Have good shoes and water. The valley is just wonderful. We stayed in the Valley View Lodge which is abut 45 minutes outside of the park. The Valley Lodge is more convenient to the Yosemite Village where the museum, Ansel Adams gallery, shops, theatre, and food are located. I suggest the film about Yosemite at the theater too. The views up at the granite formations from the valley floor are incredible. It's a very peaceful and yet thrilling experience!”

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8.Day Trip to Yosemite with Giant Sequoias Hike

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 290 reviews · 14 hours · from $209

A long but rewarding San Francisco day trip to Yosemite, with Giant Sequoias, Tunnel View, Yosemite Valley, and expert guiding.

“Great experience! Sharon was amazing! Always explained everything clearly, happy to chat with everyone & had showed us every cool spot 🤍”

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9.Yosemite 3-Day Camping Adventure from San Francisco

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 211 reviews · 3 days (approx.) · from $795

Three days of Yosemite hikes, giant sequoias, camping, shared meals, and guided views from San Francisco, with gear provided.

“All in all great experience, thanks Lisa for being a great guide! The hikes were truly amazing and also the food was pretty good.”

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10.Yosemite National Park Guided Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 197 reviews · 14 hours · from $197Best value

Review of Gray Line’s 14-hour Yosemite day trip from San Francisco, with scenic stops, guided touring, three free hours, costs, and practical tips.

“Great day out, bring comfy boots or shoes, long journey there and back but worth it”

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11.Yosemite Valley 3-Day Camping Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 180 reviews · 3 days · from $795

Review of a 3-day Yosemite camping tour from San Francisco, with sequoias, High Sierra hikes, guided sightseeing, campfire meals, and free time.

“Our great guide Ollie wowed us with Yosemite's gigantic granite walls, forest hikes, camping cooking, and a great music mix for the road trip. Definitely worth the money to spend the time experiencing the valley and plateau fully. If I'd change anything, I'd trade the commercial valley restaurant on the second day for another camping dinner :)”

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12.Yosemite Park 2-Day Trip with Accommodation

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 85 reviews · 2 days · from $629

Review of the 2-day Yosemite trip from San Francisco, with small-group transport, Glacier Point, sequoias, lodging, and practical booking tips.

“Our guide, Jay, was very friendly and knowledgeable. We enjoyed hearing his stories immensely! Both days were pretty busy as we wanted to see as much as possible, but a person could choose to move at their own pace on the second day as we were free to spend about 5 hours on our own exploring the valley floor. Much to see. Beautiful! It was great not having to drive and having Jay take us to all of the top spots, and coordinate all the individual hikes the group was taking. Highly recommend!”

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13.From LA: SF, Yosemite, Santa Barbara and Carmel 3-Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 68 reviews · from $590

See Santa Barbara, Carmel, San Francisco, Yosemite, and the California coast on a fast-paced 3-day tour from Los Angeles.

“This is a great value-for-money tour to see the sights of San Fransisco, Yosemite and much more! Our guides were excellent and provided useful information about the sights. Amadeo Travel runs longer tours simultaneously to the three day tour. I think the three day tour is the perfect length of time because of how jam-packed the itinerary is, and how much time you spend on the bus.”

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14.3-Day Yosemite Tour Without Hotel

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 13 reviews · from $269

Spend three days exploring Yosemite from San Francisco, with giant sequoias, Tunnel View, free time, transport, and lodging booked separately.

“Yosemite is awesome, a must-see if you are in the area. However, if you can afford it, I would always take the 3-day tour so you have at least one full day to discover the park, since the drive is quite long from SF with 6 hours. The bus drivers, who are the main tour guides since you are on your own in the park, were amazing. They delivered great insights along the way, and the few stops before Yosemite Valley were great choices. What withholds a 5-star rating for me is that the buses were quite old compared to what I’m used to in Europe, and there was no…”

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15.Yosemite and Tahoe from San Francisco: 4 Day Sierra Nevada Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 13 reviews · 4 days (approx.) · from $1,509

Explore Yosemite, giant sequoias, Bodie, Mammoth Lakes, and Tahoe on a four-day small-group tour from San Francisco.

“Good. Just wished we were offered the chance to either do the cruise or gondola ride in Lake Tahoe, as we clearly had enough time to do it. Other than that, our guide tried very hard as this was the first tour with this itinerary from this company.”

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