Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting to & from the Airport
TAXIS:
Rates are around $2.85 for
the first mile and $2.25 for each
additional mile. From SFO, the
approximate fare is $25 to $37 for
the 20- to 25- min. trip. From Oak-
land the fare costs approx $50 and
takes 30 to 40 min.
AIRPORT SHUTTLES SFO: SUPER-
SHUTTLE
y
800/558-8500 or 415/
558-8500,
BAY SHUTTLE
y
800/564-
3400 or 415/564-3400,
and
QUAKE
CITY SHUTTLE
y
415/255-4899
charge average rates of $14 per
adult and $8 per child.
OAKLAND
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: BAY-
PORTER EXPRESS
y
877/467-1800 or
415/467-1800
charges $26 for the
first person and $12 for each addi-
tional person; $7 per child.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT (BART, A COM-
MUTER TRAIN) FROM SFO:
From any
terminal, take the free, 5 to 10 min.
AIRTRAIN to the BART SF Int'l Airport
station, and transfer to the BART
train. A one-way ticket from the air-
port to downtown San Francisco is
$4.95 and takes about 35 min. This
is the cheapest option of getting into
the city.
FROM OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT:
Catch the
AIRBART SHUTTLE
y
510/465-2278,
which runs every
15 minutes in front of either termi-
nal. The fare is $2 for adults and
50ยข for children and seniors for the
15-minute ride to the Oakland
Coliseum BART station. From there,
you'll transfer to a BART train San
Francisco. The trip to downtown
takes about 20 min.; the fare is $3.15.
and intersects with Interstate 80,
which goes to the Bay Bridge. The
drive from Los Angeles to San Fran-
cisco on I-5 is about 6 hours. The
drive from Los Angeles to San Fran-
cisco on 101, a slower option, takes
7 hours.
Drivers arriving from the east will
cross the Bay Bridge ($3 toll) and
head toward downtown on 5th
Street or toward North Beach and
Fisherman's Wharf on Fremont
Street. Cars coming from the south
on Highway 101 will see the city sky-
line on their left a few miles past
Monster Park (the former Candle-
stick Park). Downtown exits here are
either 7th or 4th streets. If you're
driving from the coast heading
south, you'll enter San Francisco by
the Golden Gate Bridge. Once you
pass the tollbooth ($5 toll!), exit
along the bay to Van Ness Avenue.
By Train & Bus
AMTRAK
y
800/872-7245 or 800/
USA-RAIL; www.amtrak.com
doesn't
stop in San Francisco proper, but
lands in Emeryville, just south of
Berkeley in the East Bay. From the
station, an Amtrak bus takes passen-
gers into downtown San Francisco.
The buses stop at the Ferry Building
at the foot of Market Street, and at
the Cal Train station, where you can
catch the streetcar to Embarcadero
Station and thus into town. The
Ferry Building is more convenient to
most of the hotels listed in this topic,
as long as you manage to hail a cab.
The
GREYHOUND LINES
y
415/
495-1569; www.greyhound.com
ter-
minal is located at 425 Mission St.
(3rd floor) in the Transbay Terminal
and is open from 4:45am to
12:15am daily.
By Car
You can get to San Francisco along
three major highways. Interstate 5
runs through the center of the state
