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Step Back Into the Psychedelic 1960s With Sulu's Free GPS Guided Tour of San Francisco's Summer of Love

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The 1960s were more than a decade - in San Francisco, they were a revolution. A new sound crackled out of dance halls, walls dripped with kaleidoscopic posters, and whole neighborhoods pulsed with ideas about freedom, peace, and community. For one brief, blazing moment, San Francisco was the center of the universe, and the ideals of the counterculture - music, art, protest, and experimentation - spilled into every park, street corner, and Victorian flat.

Walking the city today, it’s hard to imagine just how alive it felt in 1967. But some places still carry that charge - standing in front of them, you can almost hear the echoes. Our tour follows those echoes, threading together the houses, parks, and street corners where the music spilled out, the poems were shouted, and the ideals of a generation took root. It’s less a history lesson than a chance to step into the same current that once swept through San Francisco - and feel it for yourself.

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What Makes This Tour Different - and Why is it Free?

Unlike group walking tours, this one is completely self-guided. Go at your own pace, day or night, with GPS that guides you and audio that plays automatically as you arrive at each haunted stop. All you need is the free Sulu app - no credit card, no bookings, no crowds.

‍At Sulu, we create GPS-guided audio tours that bring each city to life with storytelling, history, and local culture. We’re currently in Beta, which means every tour is completely free to enjoy - no credit card required.

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What you need to know

Out tour of Historic 1960's San Francisco is a hybrid driving/walking tour, and covers a lot of ground - you'll need to set aside 4-5 hours to complete the tour. If you're short on time or energy, check out our tour of Historic Haight Ashbury, which includes the entire walking section of this tour.

Cost: Free while we’re in Beta

Length: About 5 Hours

Best Time: Any time, day or night!

Start Point: Fisherman's Wharf

What to Bring: Phone, headphones, walking shoes

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Our Free Self-Guided Tour of Sixties San Francisco Covers 24 Legendary Locations in Haight Ashbury and Beyond

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On this citywide tour of San Francisco's psychedilc 60's, you’ll trace the footsteps of a music and counterculture revolution, visiting iconic locations across the city. From your starting point at Fisherman’s Wharf to a finale walking tour through the legendary streets of Haight-Ashbury, you’ll experience the stories, sights, and spirit that defined an era. Plan to spend about 4–5 hours soaking it all in - a journey best done with wheels, unless you’re truly up for a marathon walk! Short on time? No problem - our Haight-Ashbury tour gives you a focused look at many of the highlights from this adventure.

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On The Tour You'll Visit:

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The Grateful Dead Communal Home

From 1966 to 1968, this Victorian at 710 Ashbury was the Grateful Dead’s communal home - a place where they lived, rehearsed, and threw legendary parties. This wasn’t just the Dead’s house - it was the heart of the Haight, a place where the neighborhood’s music, energy, and ideals all came together.

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The Site of the Human Be-In

In January 1967, nearly 20,000 people gathered in Golden Gate Park for the Human Be-In - an event designed to unite the city’s scattered countercultural tribes into one visible movement. On stage, Allen Ginsberg led the crowd in mantras, Timothy Leary delivered his famous call to ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out,’ and bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane gave their music away for free. For one afternoon, the counterculture’s ideals - community, rebellion, and transcendence - were not just imagined, but embodied in flesh and sound.

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Janis Joplin’s Home

Janis Joplin’s flat doesn’t look extraordinary from the outside - just another modest San Francisco apartment. But inside, the air was thick with cigarette smoke, bottles of Southern Comfort on the floor, and a voice so raw it rattled the plaster. Friends remembered her strumming her guitar, belting out blues until the walls shook with laughter and music. From these humble rooms, she carried that fire onto the stages of the Fillmore and the Avalon, where her voice would stop audiences in their tracks. Out of unassuming apartments like this, legends weren’t just born - they were forged

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And these are just a few of the highlights you'll experience on your free GPS guided tour 1960's San Francisco

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To follow this history means weaving through the streets of the Haight, past corners where head shops sold incense and underground newspapers, past boutiques that set the style of a generation, past crash pads that blurred music, politics, and daily life into one restless experiment. Each block tells a story; each house whispers of the Summer of Love.

Spend a few hours or the entire day exploring 24 locations throughout the psychedelic heart of San Francisco.  Part history lesson and part time machine, you’ll feel the strange electricity of a city that once believed anything was possible, as you visit iconic locations like:

• The Jefferson Airplane’s mansion:  Headquarters of a revolution in sound.
• Haight Ashbury: ground zero for the Summer of Love.
• Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park: the heartbeat of the counterculture.
• The Fillmore:  Bill Graham’s “cathedral” of psychedelic rock.
• The Avalon Ballroom: where the Family Dog turned concerts into tribal gatherings of light, color, and sound.
• And many more!
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Ready to Experience 1960s San Francisco with a Free GPS-Guided Tour?

Just click this link and get instant access our GPS -guided walking tour, including 24 stops, and audio that shares the stories and history that will transport you back to the Summer of Love! While we're in Beta the our is 100% free - no credit card required!

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Here's how it works

1. Click this link
2. Using your mobile device, enter your phone number or email address,(we'll never spam you!)
3. You'll receive an access code and a link to download the Sulu app (100% free, no credit card required)
4. Download the app, enter your access code and start exploring!
5. Sulu will guide you through the tour,  automatically playing audio as you arrive at each location
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Want More Free San Francisco Tours?

At Sulu, we create cultural and niche GPS-guided tours that bring cities to life through storytelling, history, and local secrets. Walk or bike at your own pace, and listen as the city’s stories unfold around you. While we’re in beta, the following tours are 100% free!

• Murals & History of the Mission District
• The Haight Ashbury Summer of Love Experience
• The Ultimate Golden Gate Park Tour: An End to End Journey
• The Ghosts of Downtown San Francisco: A Haunted Walking Tour

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Get the Free Walking Tour of San Francisco's Psychedelic ’60s : Haight Ashbury and Beyond

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