Alcatraz
A federal prison on a rock, closed in 1963 because it cost three times any other.
Duration
3 hrs – 4 hrs
Best time
On the first crossing of the morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
Alcatraz was a fort, then a military prison, then a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963. It took the inmates other prisons could not hold — Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly — and it closed not because of escapes but because of cost: fresh water came in by barge, and a day's detention there cost three times one anywhere else.
Thirty-six men tried to escape; the 1962 case — three men, raincoat rafts and papier-mâché heads in the beds — was never solved. In 1969 Native American activists occupied the island for nineteen months, and their inscriptions are still on the walls: the park service preserves them.
Getting there
Ferry from Pier 33, fifteen minutes. It is the only access: no private boat may land.
What the price covers
ferry crossing and audio tour included in a single ticket sold by one concessionaire; rate to be checked
Rules on site
Tickets go weeks ahead in season and there is only one official concessionaire: any other reseller adds a margin. The island is windy and cold even in August.