Haight Ashbury Flower Power Walking Tour

We really enjoyed our Flower Power Walking Tour of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. I took the tour for two reasons: To finally see and feel the places that have had such a lasting impact on my life, and to try and impart those feelings of such a different time and place to my children. On the first part I enjoyed great success; on the second, not so much. Our guide was Izu and she is a hoot. A true OH (original hippie), Izu was amusing and informative. She spent a good deal of time referencing the Grateful Dead and the Summer of Love, truly icons of San Francisco, but I would like to have heard more about the whole decade of social change and other brilliant bands and performers that grew up from the fertile soil of the Bay area that nurtured so many flower children. For my kids sake, I would have preferred more of an educational emphasis on the history of the 60's and why hippie was necessary and unavoidable, rather than what it meant and means to be hippie, because without a more broad focus, a hippie may be perceived to be just a kid with long hair, a tie-dyed shirt, and love beads. But Izu speaks to what she is and what she knows, and in the end my kids thought she was sweet and charming. There was also a lot of standing around on street corners listening to Izu, rather than walking, but in her defense, she was nursing a recently hurt foot and relied heavily on a walking stick. I would imagine that under better circumstances, there would be much more strolling than standing, because the Haight covers probably ten square blocks. With good weather, there may be no better way to see an historic San Francisco neighborhood. Thanks Izu. The Hillbilly Hippies from Tennessee

This was our third time on the tour and with our third and best guide. Not that any of the others weren't just great but Izu brings a whole new perspective to the tour and a lot of new information.

Izu, you are outstanding! Don't ever put the suits back on.... - your real life experiences and stories add something to this tour that make it one-of-a-kind. I really enjoyed this walk through history of the Haight Ashbury district. The most memorable experience of San Francisco I will take back with me to Canada. Love and Peace.

We were in the area to see "The Dead" at Shoreline, we brought our two youngest children, now adults, and they wanted to see the infamous Haight Ashbury, so we booked the tour not really knowing what to expect. Well it was all uphill from there.. The tour was fantastic, our guide Stan was great! He was so knowledgeable about the area and the history. He had many many pictures and stories to add to the experience. I would recogmend this to everyone looking for a fun time. After the tour we went back to Magnolia's, had lunch and enjoyed their great beer. Still laughing about the old poster and Magnolia Thunderpussy, now there is one more reason to take the tour. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. Later, The Bennett family from Utah, now back behind the Zion curtain.

This was an interesting and enjoyable tour. I learned quite a bit, the tour guide was entertaining and a bit kooky. It gave her credibility, especially when discussing the hippie days of the Haight, which she lived through. It wasn't the best organized tour, and the guide sometimes went on tangents for a while, but the majority of the information was still relevant. Recommended to learn about the unique history of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood.

Stan was an enthusiastic host and quite entertaining but there was too much information crammed into a short space of time It was information overload and we felt exhausted at the end of it mentally Physically it would have been good also to have a couple of sit down breaks or a coffee and a chat.Three hours is a long time on your feet without a break. Also at the end of the walk maybe a short precise of the walk on a paper hard copy handout so that some of the myriad of information gleened can be retained We walked the castro the morning before and found this a much more user friendly walk

Izu was incredible. Her 40+ years tenure in living in the Haight led to a perfect historical tour of the neighborhood. As if that isn't enough, her personal relationships with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Country Joe and members of Hell's Angels took you back to the era. Her stories of growing up in the Haight, from prim-and-proper New York girl to self-admitted Hippie brought a realness to the tour that made me feel as though I was living the experience with her. The story of how she was awaken by a famous Seattle guitarist was worth the price of the tour alone. The tour covered about ten square blocks, and lasted nearly three hours. Being born in 1965, the era was considered history for me as I was brought up on 70's rock; never had a real appreciation for 60's rock... until I met Izu. If you are going to San Francisco and miss this tour, you will have not really experienced San Francisco. We watched one of the many San Francisco tour busses drive by with some guy blaring over the loud speaker. The people on board got a quick (35 mph) tour of the Haight. I guarantee you they didn't put their hands on the gate of the Grateful Dead house like I did! I will take my kids next time we visit. Izu: Happy Birthday (May 3rd)! Ray from Seattle, WA

Very interesting and unusual tour, quite authentic, gives you lots of insights about the Haight back in the late 1960's as well as later periods in the life of Haight community. Not less interesting - or maybe even more for that matter - was our guide, very friendly, a live flashback to the flower generation. Also, you learn quite a few interesting bits about the history of the neighborhood starting from the early 1900's (before the hippies moved in). Defintely a unique experience; highly recommended.

The tour guide (ISU) was very enthusiastic and really worked hard to make sure people enjoyed the trip. She clearly identified with the hippie movement and I enjoyed her total lack of cynicism about that era. I would say it was more of a 'talking' tour than a 'walking' tou but ISU was hindered by her broken foot. The fact there was nothing on the Jefferson Airplane surprised me. Overall it was definitely worthwhile.

I loved the Haight/Ashbury tour because it was so genuine and just fun! It was my first time to San Fran and the tour guide made the experience unforgettably psychadelic

The tour guide did an exceptional job or keeping each person on the tour interested. My wife was not really looking forward to the tour; however, it was one of her favorite activities while we were in San Francisco. I would recommend to anyone wishing to visit San Francisco to take the Haight Ashbury tour, especially if classic rock 'n' roll is in your blood. Five stars *****

YOU SIMPLY CANNOT GO TO SAN FRANCISCO, WITHOUT TAKING THIS TOUR OF HAIGHT ASHBURY...EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT SPECIFICALLY INTERESTED IN THE 60'S AND THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT, BECAUSE BY THE END OF THE TOUR YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY...AND ANY TOUR IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE GUIDE WHO GIVES IT...AND THE GUIDE FOR THIS TOUR "EZU" IS THE GREATEST AND MOST RELIABLE AND AUTHENTIC SOURCE OF REFERENCE FOR THIS TOUR. SHE HAS SEEN IT ALL...BEEN THERE DONE THAT, LIVED AMONG IT AND THRU AND CARRIES THE SAME TORCH OF THE 60'S, BRIGHTER AND PROUDER THEN EVER TODAY 40 PLUS YEARS LATER. ONCE YOU MEET "EZU" AND SHE BEGINS TO DESCRIBE THE HAIGHT, I SWEAR TO YOU, SHE HAS THE UNCANNY ABILITY TO MAKE YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU ARE IN A TIME MACHINE AND 2009 IS LEFT BEHIND AND SHE MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE ITS 1967 ALL OVER AGAIN. SHE TAKES YOU TO THE SPOTS AND SITES THAT DEFINED NOT ONLY THE AREA, BUT THE CULTURE, THE MUSIC, THE PEOPLE, THE VIBES, AND SUCH A DEEP ROOTED SENSE OF HISTORY. EZU IS FUNNY AS SHE IS SWEET, AS SHE IS 100% AUTHENTIC AND THE REAL DEAL. WORDS CANT DESCRIBE HOW INCREDIBLY FAST AND FACT FILLED AND INTERESTING THE HOURS FLEW BY ON THE TOUR....IT WAS ACTUALLY SAD TO SEE IT END...BECAUSE AS SHE SAID GOODBYE AND LEFT...YOU COME RE-AWARE THAT ITS BACK TO 2009 AND I DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE THE "EZU TIME MACHINE" THE MONEY YOU SPEND ON THIS TOUR AND ESPECIALLY WITH EZU, WILL BE THE MOST SMARTEST, FULFILLING AND TOUCHING MONEY YOU COULD SPEND ANYWHERE IN ALL OF SAN FRANCISCO.... DONT MISS THIS TOUR, AND ABOVE ALL DONT MISS EZU...SHE THE DIAMOND IN THIS GEM OF A PIECE OF HISTORY.

This was a very interesting and informative tour. My out of town relatives also enjoyed it.

Izu, our tour guide, was quite the character and seemed to have never quite left the '60's. She'd been there, done that! Saw all sorts of great locations and homes (Joplin, Dead, Hell's Angels, Free Clinic, etc), heard terrific stories, saw excellent vintage photos that she had collected, knew lots of people we passed along the route. And, because of a foot injury, Izu did this all from a wheelchair!! (a friend pushed her along on the tour, along with her pet dachsund). Tour lasted nearly three hours, way longer than expected. Had a GREAT time!!!! Wife and I loved it, as did our kids, son 18 and daughter 21 years old! Would highly recommend the tour!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, it was full of detail on history, architecture, detailed knowledge of the neighborhood, a good recommendation of a restaurant, the guide was wonderful (Ivo? Igo? I can't remember, but if you can provide an e-mail address, I would like to tell her how much I enjoyed the tour.