Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Airport Art
The evidence that San Francisco is a dignified city presents itself the
minute you arrive at its main airport, SFO.
San Francisco Airport
Museums
(www.sfoarts.org)
has outfitted the terminals with a range of
pieces by well-known artists. Some are before security, some after, but you
can find a brochure listing artists and locations at the information centers
near baggage claim. There are also changing shows scattered throughout
the terminals. A recent one was a retrospective of 130 years of audio-
related inventions, co-curated by Dolby, and another on model trains.
There's even an
Aviation Museum and Library
(
%
650/821-6700;
Sun-Fri 10am-4:30pm; free admission)
including more than 6,000 books
and 5,400 artifacts to do with aviation history. There aren't too many
cities that invest their transit ports with as many high-culture benefits.
around another $4 per round-trip visit, but otherwise resist the urge to load up
your ticket, because BART doesn't go many places once you're in town. You can
always put more value on the card later.) Keep your ticket handy during your ride,
because you'll need it to get out of the station again. Most stations have escalators,
so you won't have to fight your luggage too much. Finding the right train at the
airport is easy enough, but when you take BART back to SFO, make sure you
board the correct train: You want Dublin/Pleasanton-SFO/Millbrae, in the direc-
tion of Millbrae. It's the blue line on the maps.
From Oakland (OAK), you can also take BART, but it involves the quick, free
AirBART shuttle bus that goes every 10 minutes to the station. From there, the
fare is $3 to Embarcadero, and the train trip takes about 25 minutes. Ultimately,
it's an easy way to go, and although the shuttle is a slight pain, if the airfare to
OAK is markedly cheaper than it is to SFO, there's no reason you shouldn't fly
here instead.
Taxis to town from SFO cost $40 to $50; from Oakland, $30. Of course,
plenty of shuttle companies will take you into town for a higher fee.
SuperShuttle
(
%
800/258-3826; www.supershuttle.com)
operates shared-ride vans door-to-
door to the city for $17 each way ($27 to Oakland's airport). You can have your
own car through the company for $60. If you have a reservation with a hostel, ask
about transfers; many offer ones for cut rates.
Important note:
You may be tempted to fly into San Jose. Don't be. It's not
well situated for casual visitors to San Francisco, and unless you rent a car, you'll
pay dearly ($120/taxi ride) to get to town. There are enough airfare bargains
between SFO and OAK to keep you limited to those airports, which are easily
reached by rail.
I warn you strongly against picking up a
rental car
at the airport unless you
plan to immediately drive out to the countryside. San Francisco has one of the
worst parking situations of any American city, and I pity the fool who drives into
that city with an intention of parking. San Francisco is one of the few American
cities that you can easily tour without using your own car, so take advantage of
