Travel

Flying in to San Francisco

The most convenient airport to fly into is San Francisco (SFO). It is a United hub, but also has lots of other international and domestic airlines. Recently, it also became a base for some budget domestic airlines such as Southwest and Virgin America.

Oakland (OAK) is a reasonable second option for US based travelers if you find a great deal, however it can be a bit of a pain to get from the airport to downtown San Francisco, especially if you want to take public transit.



From the airport to the city

From SFO, you have a variety of options.

BART: This is a shuttle train that goes from the airport to downtown San Francisco. It costs around $5 one way and is perfect if your hotel is in the Union Square or Soma area. If your hotel is in another area, such as Fisherman's Wharf, you'll need to take a taxi or another form of transit to get from the BART station to your hotel. BART runs fairly frequently - every 15-30 mins depending on time of day - and it takes about 30-40 to get to downtown San Francisco.

SHUTTLE BUS: There are a number of door-to-door shuttle services that operate from the airport. For most of these you need to book in advance (i.e. they do not accept walk-ups). The one we have used most successfully is SuperShuttle (http://www.supershuttle.com/). It costs about $17 for the first person and then $8 for additional people going to the same location. They have a pick-up point at each terminal at the airport and will drop you to the door of your hotel anywhere in the city. The pick-ups are fairly frequent - around every 15 minutes depending on time of day - and it takes about 30 minutes to get to downtown San Francisco.

TAXI: A cab from the airport to downtown San Francisco will cost you $35-$50 depending on where you are going (with the Union Square area being around $35).

RENTAL CARS: All the major rental car companies have franchises at the airport. There is a monorail to take you from the terminals to the rental car center. However, before you rent, remember that parking in San Francisco can be very very expensive - often $30 per day at downtown hotels. You may therefore want to rely on public transit and cabs while you are in the city and only rent a car for days when you want to leave the city (such as to go to Napa or Yosemite).



From your hotel to the wedding (and back)

Assuming you've heeded our advice and haven't rented a car, there are two easy ways to get from downtown hotels to the wedding location at Stern Grove.

The first is Muni, San Francisco's subway/street car system. The K and M lines run from Market Street to within a few blocks of Stern Grove. The ride will take about 45 minutes. One way cost is a flat charge of $1.50

The second option is to take a taxi - which will take around 20 minutes and will cost about $17 from downtown San Francisco.

Our recommendation, if you are staying downtown, is to take Muni to the wedding and a taxi home. We'll be working with a local taxi firm to have taxis available at the end of the wedding.