I'm looking for airfare from Minneapolis to SF in March and right now the cheapest fares go to San Jose. Our son could pick us us in San Jose and drive us into SF but he travels constantly for work and if by some chance he is out of town, is there public transportation of some sort from San Jose to SF? Thanks!

Funny my cousin JUST called to say they are flying into San Jose, and to ask how to get to SF....you can take Cal-Train. You take a shuttle from the terminal to the Cal-Train station, then the train (link below for schedule and fares) to 4th and King in San Francisco, then any number of options (trolley, bus, taxi, your son) once you are in SF.

http://caltrain.com/schedule.html

sf7307 is correct. You take Caltrain.

To get from San Jose Airport to the Caltrain station, go to the shuttle stand at the airport. Depending on which terminal you arrive at, Terminal A or C, the shuttle stand might be at a location that engenders quite a bit of walking, so travel light.

Here's a map of SJC and the shuttles area:

http://www.sjc.org/travelers/ground_trans.html

Once at the Shuttle Stand, take the Number 10 bus that is headed for SANTA CLARA (don't take the one that is headed for San Jose, it will NOT end at a Caltrain station)

"SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
VTA SJC Airport Flyer (Route 10) takes you between the Santa Clara Caltrain Station and the San Jose International Airport. The Airport Flyer is free and operates seven-days-a-week every 15 minutes from 4:30 a.m. until midnight."

Once at the Santa Clara Caltrain station, you can buy a ticket for San Francisco. There may not be an agent, just a machine, that sells ticket.

Take Caltrain all the way to the VERY END, to Second Street and Townsend, in San Francisco. From there, you can take city public transportation or get a taxi to your hotel.

Wow. Thanks for the quick answers. Sounds like we are set if we decide to fly into San Jose.

great....now I've got that song stuck in my head!!!!!

And I didn't until you mentioned it. Grrrr

sorry.......

if you prefer the BART (suburban - above ground except in the center of SF) train to Caltrans, take the VTA #180 Express Bus from the airport to the Fremont Bart Station (BART = Bay Area Rapid Transport).

Circling through Fremont and Oakland to get from SJ to SF doesn't make sense to me. You'd take a 30min bus ride to Fremont, then a 50-60min BART ride into SF.

You'd basically be looping around the entire south bay instead of bee line from SJ to SF.

Sure, but what's the rush? You see more, and maybe OP would like to know about this option since it hadn't been mentioned.

After a long flight, I would not like to go all the way around to see the "sights" of Fremont or Oakland from BART. Those "sights" are practically nonexistent, IMHO.

What's there to see? Generic, faceless suburbs? Subdivisions? Office parks?

sf7307, are those four question marks of yours there because you are asking? Sincerely, or smartassically?

I just did that trip. I saw hilly expanses, the dry reddish ones and the wooded Oakland hills, I saw nice residential areas with trees and backyards, I saw views of the Bay, I saw a mix of industrial, highrise, maritime, and - yes - bland suburban vistas, plus the views from the bridge. In other words, I saw what that part of the world looks like, in all its variety.

This is a travel website. Isn't that what we travel for, to see new parts of the world?

Not bad for the price of a BART ticket.

I was being sarcastic, and I appreciate you replying in a more measured tone, but I still think it's not a logical route to take -- just flying into San Jose when you're going to San Francisco is bad enough! It makes more sense to do that trip on the return than on the arrival.