Visiting the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco

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The visit to the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco should be on par with the Golden Gate Bridge

I often joke that people will come when you describe any old building as a tourist attraction and write it to a travel guide. Whether a sober power plant, a random rock formation or even a tour of a sewage treatment plant - with enough people.

In theory, visiting the Alcatraz prison could fit into this category of non-attractions. It is a prison. It has cell blocks, cells, walls and lattice bars. Each cell cannot be distinguished from the next and the entire building should be largely unobtrusive from the inside.

"By describing the attempts to escape, fights and unrest, the tour neither criticizes these men, nor does it represent them as a martyr: it simply offers them a platform to speak."

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Of course it is not the cells, walls and bars that make Alcatraz fascinating; It is the people who were recorded in it - people like Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert Stroud "The Birdman of Alcatraz".

they are the occupants, the guards and their stories, who attract millions of visitors year after year. In fact, the number of visitors is so large that it is almost impossible to get tickets that day. Visitors are recommended to book at least four weeks in advance, possibly even six.

Visit to the Alcatraz prison

The tour begins with a long line at the Pier 33 from San Francisco to prepare the boat transfer to the island. Feel free to buy a coffee and sit while waiting for the queue to shorten.

There is plenty of space on the boat, so you will probably find a good place somewhere. Avoid sitting on the upper deck, as enthusiastic visitors are almost safe on the edges and in turn will block the view.

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If you approach Alcatraz, go to the output of the boat so that you are one of the first to get out. You will be greeted by a park that will bring you closer to the island while the boat empties.

My advice would be to skip the introduction and go straight to the audio tour so that they don't push the amount all the time. If you get one of the last off board, alternatively go to the barracks building and instead take a look at a discovery channel documentary over the island. In this way they stay behind the masses.

go to the audio tour

If you are tried to skip the audio and do it alone, don't. Alcatraz's audio tour is awarded. It is touching, moving and urgent - worth the admission price alone. Told by former prison attendants with first-hand comments from inmates, it is an authentic piece of Alcatraz story that is wonderfully supplemented by subtle but powerful sound effects.

The tour meanders through various areas of prison, many of them with ironic nicknames: "Broadway" for the central round between cell blocks B and C, "Times Square" for the big watch at the entrance to the cafeteria.

Visitors are invited to enter darkened cells in order to get a short foretaste of solitary confinement. At one point we are asked to pause and look at a high window. On New Year's Eve, the sounds of the free world wore the wind: women's laughter in the yacht club, music, exuberant chatter and audible joy. It is difficult not to feel compassion for the men who have lost their best years to Alcatraz.

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Since the tour describes the escape attempts, fights and unrest, she neither criticizes these men, nor does it represent them as a martyr: it simply offers them a platform to speak. An inmate tells us about a reunion with his sister, who was told by her parents that he was dead. Told with its deep, rugged voice, the story is both sweet and sad.

The tour continues to the quarters of the guards, meanders to look outside at the Bay of San Francisco before returning back into the cafeteria. There Pat Mahoney, our main counter, tells us about the spaghetti uprising from 1950. I let her hear that from him instead of me.

When the tour comes to an end, I sit on a bench in the cafeteria and watch the other visitors. Then I hear the most moving words of the tour:

"I remember when they released me, I was locked up for 15 years and during this whole time I never had no visit, no letters, nothing ... and I watch the cars that go for a break and the people, everything moved too quickly ... and I didn't know how to move with it.

I remember how jealous I was on these people because they all had a goal, they all went somewhere and I didn't know where I was going ... and I was afraid of death. "

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Visit to the Alcatraz prison: The essentials

Price: $ 30 for day tour; 37 USD for night tour. Plan for at least three hours for your visit. Location: Pier 33, Alcatraz Landing, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA (map). Tickets: Alcatraz Cruises (book four weeks in advance; photo ID if necessary when picking up).

see Clint Eastwood and Patrick McGoohan in the classic film from 1979 Escape from Alcatraz.
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