San Francisco Cable Car Ride

Tickets & Visitor Guide to the World's Last Manual Cable Cars

⏱ 30-60 minutes👤 All ages$

Invented in San Francisco and running since 1873, the cable cars are the last manually operated cable car system in the world — a working piece of 19th-century technology that's also a National Historic Landmark and the city's most charming way to get around. There's no engine in the car itself; instead, a grip operator clamps onto a continuously moving cable running beneath the street, and a brakeman helps haul the car up and down grades far too steep for ordinary streetcars.

Three lines remain. The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason lines climb from the Powell Street turntable near Union Square over Nob Hill toward the Fisherman's Wharf area, delivering the most dramatic hills and bay views (the Hyde line, cresting Russian Hill above the crooked block of Lombard Street, is the most scenic). The California Street line runs east-west through the Financial District and Chinatown and is usually less crowded. Riding the open-air running boards, hanging on as the car clangs over a summit and the bay appears below, is the quintessential cable car moment.

It's both transport and attraction. Lines at the Powell Street turntable can be long, especially midday in summer — riding early, or boarding at a stop mid-route, helps. The Cable Car Museum (free) lets you see the giant wheels that wind the cables, a worthwhile stop for the curious. However you do it, a cable car ride is a non-negotiable San Francisco experience. This experience is booked directly through our own ticketing site.