The diaries of Lewis and Clark are filled with cantankerous laments about having to tour the wilderness by foot and the startling lack of trailside fast-food options. Equip yourself with a discoverer's eyes and an amphibian's powerful hind legs with today's deal: for $18, you get an adult ticket to the 90-minute Hop Around the City tour (a $36 value for adults) from Mr. Toad's Tours, a family-owned-and-operated sage of city sights.

Mr. Toad specializes in small, personalized tours that offer a better overview of the bay area than the Full House intro. Instead of the modern vehicles frequently sighted touring urban landscapes, Toad tours take place in pre-1930s vehicles that run on propane, the power behind grills and floating cities. The nimble rides can easily navigate the hilly cityscape along the route. The Hop Around the City tour is a beautiful jaunt around town, highlighting cinematic and historical landmarks like Little Italy, the Embarcadero's piers, Mrs. Doubtfire's house, Chinatown, and the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. Tours depart from Fisherman's Wharf at the corner of Mason and Jefferson—see the sidebar for tour schedules. Call ahead to book your tour and arrive twenty minutes early to avoid missing the send-off, subsequently ruining everything forever.

As anyone who has gone on a historical tour only to learn more about the guide's love life than the landmarks can attest, the guide can make or break the experience. Every Mr. Toad driver is passionate about the tours and possesses enough obscure knowledge about the city to slam through 10 rounds of San Francisco Jeopardy, sweat free. After the tour, leave your heart or other extraneous appendage on the seat so that future sightseers will know they're in for an unforgettable experience.

Reviews

Mr. Toad's Tours get four stars from Yelpers and five from TripAdvisors, whose ratings put Mr. Toad sixth of 639 listed attractions in San Francisco:

• It was such a treat to see the city with a guide who was so knowledgeable and so passionate about the city…[The tour guide] was full of interesting facts and little-known information about the history, architecture, and characters of San Francisco, and the small group setting felt very comfortable and personal. Both my little ones enjoyed themselves as much as my mom and I did! – TeacherBelle, TripAdvisor
• My wife and I took a 90min tour with my toddler and it was the highlight of our trip…Great experience overall and I would highly recommend it! – Lancia_b, TripAdvisor