AlexS

I'm going to San Francisco next week, and I'm hoping someone can help me out with some realistic travel times. I haven't been in a few years, and the last time I was there, I just stayed in the downtown area.

I'm staying in Union Square, but am going to be going to our local office in San Jose, and also Berkley and Stanford.

Does anyone know about how long (realistically) it takes to get from downtown SF to Berkley and Stanford in the morning? Also, it's about 30miles to Stanford, and 15 to Berkley--will taxis go that far? If they will, does anyone know approximately what the fare might be? And, if taxis are a bad idea, does anyone have any recommendations for a car service?

Thanks,

Alex

rjque

What time in the morning? That can make a huge difference. For Berkeley, a cab is probably fine as long as you are willing to spend at least $50 for the cab fare. Give yourself an hour during rush hour (7-9:30 or so) and you should have plenty of time to spare. Without traffic, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes, depending on how far off the freeway you need to go.

For Stanford, I'd rent a car for the day as it will likely be difficult to get a cab to take you back to the City. Give yourself 1:30 during rush hour and take 280 rather than 101. Outside of rush hour, an hour should be fine as long as you can easily figure out where you are going.

If you absolutely can't be late (a job interview or a court hearing), add 45

ebayj

Time of day is a huge factor, especially down to Stanford. If you're going to Cal Berkeley (the campus) take BART and pick up a cab as needed in Berkeley. It beats the Bay Bridge almost any time of day in my book. It's also vastly cheaper. As the other poster said, if you're running between all points over one or two days, just rent a car.

Eastbay1K

For Berkeley, midday (anytime there are direct trains from SF, which is all day until about 630p or so), BART is the best bet, and if you are more than a short walk from the 3 Berkeley BART stations, get a cab at the station. OW fare is about $3.50. I wouldn't even consider a cab the whole way. For Stanford and SJ, I'd rent a car. Your other alternative is Caltrain, and then get a cab from the station(s).

AlexS

Thanks for the responses! I'm going with two of my Japanese colleagues, and when I found out we were going, I suggested that we rent a car. They don't usually rent cars when they travel, so thought this was a very bad idea. "But then we have to worry about the crash."

The person who put together our itinerary, just used the travel times that Google directions generated, so for example, she had us leaving our hotel at 8:00AM, and arriving at Stanford at 8:40 It's not mission critical that we be there exactly on time, but we really shouldn't be late, and I pointed out that I thought those times were a *little* optimistic.

I'll push them on the rental car tomorrow, but thanks again for the info!

Alex


Also, I wanted to see Beach Blanket Babylon, and casually mentioned it to them as something we might possibly do. I explained that it's going to be fast English, and a lot of jokes about current events that they're not going to understand, but they looked at the website and really want to go! I have a sinking suspicion I'm going to be explaining it on the plane the whole way back to Tokyo