durangobabe03

I am rethinking a trip I have planned for the second weekend in February. I am going to a knitting symposium in Santa Clara but plan on being in SF whenever the symposium is not "on." Does it make more sense to get a hotel room in SF ( I will be flying into SF from MSP)and then taking a train to Santa Clara each day? Perhaps I could avoid renting a car this way? My 21 year old daughter will be with me and I would like her be able to explore the city when I am in Santa Clara. If this is a good idea, where would be a good hotel to stay at that would be close to the Cal-train? Thanks for all your answers.

WeaverBarbie

Public transportation around the SF Peninsula isn't great. It's a hodegpodge of separate local systems. The Santa Clara Convention Center is very close to the light rail system that serves the South Bay, but miles away from the nearest Caltrain station. You could take Caltrain and then connect to a bus. Or you could take Caltrain all the way to San Jose where it shares a station with the light rail at Tamien, about 19 stops south of the Santa Clara Convention Center. Neither option is ideal.

Sout Bay light rail link:
http://www.vta.org/schedules/light_rail_schedules.html

Caltrain:
http://www.caltrain.com/schedule.html

San Mateo County, in between San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, has its own transportation system, SamTrans.

Will you be in the area for longer than just the weekend? If you have only a short time here, you might save a lot of valuable time by renting a car.

bbqboy

Get a car. It's a tremendous tool with which to explore the Bay Area, and in your case, a time saver. You take it, leave the daughter to explore the City on foot and transit. It will save you precious time that you can use.

Betsy

One consideration may be the time of day you'd be driving to/from SF, though you'd be opposing the general rush hour traffic, the drive can be very congested. If you're driving outside morning and afternoon rush hour, then renting a car might make more sense. But you definitely don't need a car in SF. In fact, parking the thing will be expensive in SF and maybe at the Convention Center too.

I'd opt for CalTrain. You can connect with the light rail (Santa Clara VTA) system in Mountain View (the stations are adjacent and the area is very safe), then get off at the Convention Center, just a few stops away.

Here's a regional transit planning tool:
http://www.transit.511.org/

Ditto

If you are planning to get a rental car and park at San Fran. Hotel (downtown) parking is about $40-50 / a night. When I was go there, I get a hotel near the airport (SFO). Marriott and other high end hotels charge about $13 a night. Some are free.