I'm coming to San Francisco in February. Staying Wednesday and Thursday and have to be in by 11am on Friday. I know I can't drive along the coast because time is limited .. My question is, is it better to drive half way night before and where is best to stay over night or leave very early in the morning like 5am? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you so much. Never been to San Francisco and don't know what to expect,

SF to LA is a 6 hour drive, so if you need to be in LA by 11, you'd be cutting it very close to leave Friday morning. I'd leave the night before, maybe stay overnight at Harris Ranch.

Fly.

Thank you. Will look up Harris ranch. How long is from Harris ranch to LA?

I wish but Can't fly its 6 of us flying to San Francisco from Canada. Would be to expensive and already have cars rented.

One thing to worry about -- in Feb you can hit very heavy fog on I-5 - and then there can be snow over the Grapevine. I would leave SF by mid afternoon on Thursday and get as far south as possible so you don't have to drive as far in heavy fog early Friday morning . . . BUT pay attention to the weather reports. IF Snow is expected over the Grapevine you would have to drive down 101 instead.

The 712 San Joaquin leaves Emeryville at 10:05AM and arrives at Bakersfield about 4PM. You then get the 5812 bus for about 2:20 to Union station about 6:30PM. The fare is $59/adult (over 12). Under 12 is half price.
Try to arrive on Thursday before 11PM.

Where in LA do you need to be? Downtown? LAX? Santa Monica? Disneyland? It can take two hours or more to get from the northern edge of "LA" to the center.

When could you get away on Thursday? You could easily encounter traffic leaving SF as easily as you could entering LA.

I'd definitely drive on Thursday and I wouldn't stop part-way there unless forced to by weather conditions.

Harris Ranch to L.A. is between 2:40 to three hours depending on how fast you drive.

If you are leaving Thursday night, I wouldn't stop either unless you need to be at a meeting or something that requires you to be well rested. When I used to drive from SF to LA, I typically left around 11 pm and would get into LA/Los Felize before 5am or so. Earlier still if I was going to Pasdena.

Our fastest time ever was 5:15 from Burlingame to Hollywood.

sf--going 85mph plus down 5 late at night/early morning does that������; not that we would ever suggest doing so��

I do hope the OP comes back -- w/ the winter we are having, the chance of snow over the Grapevine is not an insignificant issue . . .

My record is 5 hours even from Pasadena to the Golden Gate Bridge. Not a lot of trucks on I-5 that morning.

Which radar detector do you use?

Looks like the OP is one and done.

I thought 85 mph was the minimum speed on I-5

Hmmm, at aconstant 85mph, I should get from my house to the Rose Bowl in 4:45!