Coming from the airport into SFO

We are a family travelling with 2 small children, arriving from Europe around 16:30pm. Is it worth trying to get into the city at this time of a day, or will there be lot of traffic? Propably we%26#39;ll be pretty tired after the long flight... Could anyone recommend a nice area to spend the first night in between the airport and San Francisco?

Coming from the airport into SFO

Please visit the page of options for Getting From/To Our Airport to Your Hotel geocities.com/touringsfo/鈥romSFO.html at the TouringSFO site at http://geocities.com/touringsfo/ A less useful version of the page may be found by putting ';Wunth'; in the Search box above.

Yes, there will be traffic. Yes, it IS worth coming here (isn%26#39;t that why you left home?). It%26#39;s only about 25km and about forty minutes.

Coming from the airport into SFO

Yeah, I personally would just go in to the city via taxi if you%26#39;re tierd and get settled in at your hotel. If you had a few hours to drive, I%26#39;d totally understand not wanting to go that far but as it is, I don%26#39;t think the distance is significant enough to really need to stay by the airport.

Thanks for your advice. We are going to stay in California for 3 weeks so we will have a car anyway. I was just worried of not getting into a traffic jam after having been travelling for something like 16 hours with 2 small, not so patient kids...We%26#39;ll have to weight different options. Thanks again!

Will you be awake enough to drive at this point? You could take BART to your hotel, take public transit around the city, and begin your car rental later in your trip. This could work if your hotel is near a BART station (in which case they may not have free parking).

Marie, San Francisco airport is about a 45-minute drive south of the city along the western edge of the bay. There%26#39;s little, if any, reason to stop along the way.

At 16:30, you%26#39;ll be in the the evening rush hour, so traffic will be apparent, but you won%26#39;t have any problems getting into the city.

Assuming you have your hotel booked, I%26#39;d recommend just going to the hotel, unpacking, having dinner, and collapsing after the flight. And, the jetlag will be telling you that you%26#39;re still on Belgian time.

The most convenient way into the city is by taxi. Noticeably cheaper -- about $15-$18 per person -- are the shuttle vans operated by companies like SuperShuttle and others. They drive around the airport loading passengers and luggage until full and then, one by one, drop them at their hotels. The cheapest way into the city is BART, the areas%26#39;s subway system. It%26#39;s convenient if it stops at a station near your hotel, and very inconvenient if it stops nowhere near your hotel. (Shuttle and taxi drivers know where the popular hotels are located, but it%26#39;s smart to have the street address available just in case. I stayed a few times at a small, nice hotel that taxi drivers seemed never to have heard of.)

With young children, after such a long flight, I%26#39;d avoid BART -- it could easily be standing room only during that time of day -- and go for a van or a taxi, probably depending on how the kids were doing.

I would avoid renting a car at the airport and driving in, if a car is in your plans. Rent one in the city. And note that hotels charge a sizeable fee for space in a parking garage.

Yes, best not to have a car in the city. Wait until you are ready to leave on the rest of your trip.

If you are coming from Belgium to spend 3 weeks here, you are likely to have more luggage than you can comfortably take on public transit. Airport shuttles are cost-effective for 1-2 people; more than that and a cab is a better alternative, because cabs charge per trip, not per person.

Coming up from the airport is counter-commute in the afternoon, The customs and luggage rituals will keep you occupied for awhile. By the time you leave the airport, traffic might have thinned out a little. In any case, to answer your question qhether there is a nice area to stay between the airport and the City, the answer is no. It%26#39;s well worthwhile to come right into town, get settled in your hotel, have a good rest if you%26#39;re ready, or a good dinner. If you slept on the plane, depending on where you are staying, you might even be up to an evening stroll.

How much are those shuttles to get to Union Sq. How much are the taxis? Does anyone know if you can rent a car in the city and drop it off at the airport? I will be solo when arriving from airport to city. I am spending 2 nights in SF and then renting a car and going to Tahoe for a week and then back to SF to fly out. Thanks

A taxi from the airport to downtownt would be around $35. They charge per trip, for any number of passengers and their luggage. I think the maximum number of passengers in a regular cab (not a van) is 5.

Shuttles are about $16 per person, and some companies have a discount rate for parties of nore than two people. But on the whole, once you have three people or more, a cab is more economical. Also, a cab is entirely yours, but with a van you ride with other parties and everyone is taken to their destinations in order of location, so you might be the last dropped off.

The rates do not include gratuities.

I agree with Frisco Roadrunner. If you%26#39;re going to be tired from the trip and have small children and luggage, do yourself a favor and take a cab into SF.

You would not, by the way, want to be ';Coming from the airport into SFO,'; because that would mean you would be going in circles isnide the airport grounds... unless you intend to stay at an airport hotel, or unless the airport you first speak of is OAK, but who would want to go from airport to airport? [ IATA Code San Francisco International Airport = SFO ; Local lingo for San Francisco = SF ]