Flashback: Summer of Love, Winter of Discontent

Our tour leader Kurt was amiable and knowledgeable. He was quite familiar with the Haight's history and architecture, and the area's importance in the social movements of the 1960's. In particular, he focused on San Francisco's role in the development of rock music. My niece, a young Grateful Dead fan, described the tour as "awesome." This is a term she uses quite frequently, but I do think she really liked it. My only recommendation is that Kurt should figure out how to get his i-pod off of the shuffle mode. I'm not one to criticize, however-- I've had the same problem.

This was a fun trip to do.The guide was very knowledgable and made things come 'alive'.We loved the musical exerts we could really imagine the real thing.We love walking tours you really get to know the locals and neighborhood . We learnt a lot Thanks

I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life and found this tour both fascinating and fun. Our guide, Kurt, was very knowledgeable on the local hippie history, and it was really interesting to see things like how close the Grateful Dead's house was to the headquarters of the Hell's Angels, all while playing fun games, answering hippie trivia, and even breaking into a "Hippie Dance" competition. Would definitely recommend the tour to locals as well as tourists--it'll make you see the Haight in a new light!

We were inspired to take this tour after my boyfriend viewed a documentary based on Haight Ashbury "in the day". Kurt was our guide for the tour. Must say we were most appreciative that he accommodated "our " itinerary by agreeing to organize a group on a Wednesday instead of his routine weekend tours. Turned out, we were "the group" and were treated to a private walk thru the Haight. Kurt is a genuinely nice guy...personable, informative and laid back. As we were not part of "a group" it is tricky to ascertain the dynamics of the tour had we been in the company of others...you know, interaction, feedback, etc. Kurt engaged us with his knowledge of the history of the Haight and entertained us with trivia games that pitted us against each other in a competitive race for the right answer (we love competition) :) As we were not a schedule, Kurt was very lenient with his time...we stopped for lunch, chit-chatted about our livelihoods, posed for photos...it was more like spending time with a new friend, rather than "a guided tour ". Again, not sure whether this helped or hindered our experience; and may I emphasize and reiterate that this query has nothing to do with Kurt personally, but rather, the merit of group interaction (guess we will never know...). Felt that Kurt's joke, quips and the "Hippie dance" were tailor made for an audience larger than uh, "party of two"... ba-dum-ch! The commentary was interesting and I felt I learned something (I hadn't seen the documentary). Kurt had visual aids (photo binder) and a soundtrack (MP3 or something ...) to enhance the key points. There was a time or two where the "soundtrack" accompaniment was introduced as an afterthought, "oh, and by the way" ... I guess my "constructive criticism" would be "preparedness"... again, not sure if this tour is "scripted" or ad- libbed by the guide to suit the demographic of the group; or in this case, "non-group". Wonder if there is more "animation" in a group setting? I tend to think a group can make or break the vibe, right? In a nutshell, we had a very nice time, punctuated by a casual flow of interesting facts, seamless camaraderie and good exercise. We truly enjoyed our one-on-one time with Kurt...he was a good sport and piqued my curiosity to learn more about "The Diggers". Oh, and I won the trivia game .... brought home a "prize" CD with music from the Haight. Best part...I will hear "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" sung by Scott McKenzie in a new light thanks to this tour! P.S. - Found out (as I was writing this...no kidding) that Scott McKenzie passed right before I made this trip to San Francisco...BITTERSWEET :(:)

The tour was fun and informative and I was able to get a really good sense of what the Haight Ashbury was like in the late 60s. Fun way to spend a couple of hours.

We enjoyed the tour of Haight Ashbury even though the weather was rainy and chilly. We were prepared for it so we managed. We had arranged a private tour and our guide was very accommodating when we had trouble getting there due to the championship football game. Kurt was fun and had good games, music, pictures and information. He even steered us to a great place to eat. (We would recommend Cha Cha Cha's to everyone who goes to the neighborhood.) It was a great tour with a great guide and we recommend it! Lots of fun!!

Loved the historical info and the upbeat and fun way it was presented

Well done, well researched, fun, great tour!

This was a really great tour - lots of information that I wouldn't have found out exploring the neighbourhood on my own. The guide was friendly, knowledgeable and personable. I would recommend this to anybody wanting to know more than the typical tourist facts about San Francisco.

Went on this walking tour to a place I'd wanted to go to for years. Easy walking, not too fast, not too slow, no steep hills. Great tour leader with very interesting info about the area and people /times of my youth. Good music also.