Getting To San Francisco - Travel To San Francisco

Getting To San Francisco

Air

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the main airport serving San Francisco. Located 13 miles south of the city, SFO is a major hub for United Airlines with Virgin America also operating out of here. Visitors arriving into this airport can travel into the city via public transport either by taking a train or bus. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain operate the two train services. BART runs trains from the airport to Downtown San Francisco and other main stations in the Bay Area. You can catch a BART train from its station at the Departures level of the International Terminal. Train journeys into the downtown area of the city take about 15 minutes during the week and 20 minutes for evening and weekend journeys. Bus companies that operate services from SFO to other areas within San Francisco include SamTrans and Airporter.

Train

Amtrak provide train services to San Francisco from other major American cities. The long distance train station is located outside the city limits, across the bay in Emeryville. From here, passengers can take the Amtrak California Thruway bus to the Amtrak stop at 101 Embarcadero or to a number of other stops within San Francisco. You can travel to San Francisco from Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland by taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight. The Amtrak California Zephyr run services from Chicago to San Francisco.

Bus

Greyhound operates bus services to San Francisco from other major American cities. Greyhound buses arrive into Transbay Terminal located at First and Mission streets. Xe Do Hoang also offers bus services from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Car

The I-80 leads drivers from the direction of Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City and New York to San Francisco. Those traveling from San Jose, which is also in the state of California, should take the scenic I-280 to get to the city. For a more direct route from the south, take the US 101 road. It is often backed up with traffic however. The US 101 will also lead those traveling from the north to San Francisco.