Getting from Palo Alto to San Francisco
 

A group of four are staying in Palo Alto for a wedding but are going to San Francisco for the day on a Sunday.
What's the easiest and/or cheapest way to get there and back?
We will have a car, but I'm not wild about dealing with SF traffic. Also, I know parking all day will cost about $25 to $30 dollars.
We could also drive to Millbrae and pick up BART. However, for four people, I believe that will cost $30.40 (8x$3.80).
If we take BART, will we have to pay for parking at Millbrae on a Sunday?
If we drive, where would be a good place to park where we would be near the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf, or cable car access?
Which is likely to be faster on a Sunday -- driving to Millbrae and taking BART or driving all the way into SF by the Wharf or Ferry Building?
Help!!

Check out SamTrans (buses)if they go all the way to the city, or to Daily City BART only - if the latter, forget it.

Then BART would be the cheapest option unless Caltrain is more convenient.

From Ferry building (Embarcadero) you can walk to Fishermen's. From Caltrain station take a MUNI bus ($1.50 if younger then 65) 15, 30, 45.

You are right the cost will about even.

If you park your car in the city and leave it for the day it will run you 20-30 bucks in a central location. BART round trip for 4 will be about 30 bucks. I could be wrong but I think parking at Millbrae on the weekend is free.

You might be able to take CalTrain but then you would have to walk or take the bus into downtown area.

Assuming no 49er game traffic driving is actually probably faster than parking in Millbrae waiting for the next BART and then walking to the Ferry Building (if that is where you want to be). If you get stuck in city traffic it could be slower too...either way there should not be a big difference timewise. If you haven't driven in a big city then BART might be less nerve racking.

There are several lots along the Embarcadero that have parking.

Easiest--just drive and park someplace like the Embarcadero Center Parking Garage. Cheapest--get into town early and look for street parking in Embarcadero/Financial District as street parking is free on Sundays (if you can find it!!!).

Cal Train does stop right in downtown Palo Alto, and it goes all the way into the city. It runs every hour. You can catch a bus to the Ferry Building. The train takes a bit less than an hour - unless it is express - then of course it's faster. It will only take 35 minutes to drive to the Ferry Building...parking is not cheap - you'll probably get more tips and details as the days go by! Going to Millbrae or Daly City to take Bart is not a great idea imho. And you still have to get to the Ferry Building. The train or driving are the best ideas. Train has my vote.

Parking: I shouldn't have said it's not cheap. I actually don't know what it is on Sunday. It's hard to find, sometimes, but the earlier the better...and it's just that you don't know your way around and it can be stressful. There is a parking lot at the Ferry Bldg, and it's certainly more than a few dollars, but proably worth it. It gets filled up, though. Go early, if you drive.

If you are able to take BART into SF if you get off at the Emcarcadero BART station you just walk across Emcarcadero and the Ferry Building is right there at the end of Market St.

True, loveitaly.... can they just pick up BART at the airport - or is there a stop at Millbrae before the airport? Do you know? I keep forgetting that you don't have to go all the way to Daly city, which i always considered a really horrendous ordeal for a fun day.

Here is the BART website http://www.bart.gov/index.asp

Hi Cabo, I live in the southern end of the Sacramento Valley and use to live in the SF Bay Area so I am not as knowledable about BART parking etc. south of SF. But for sure one can take BART from SFO into SF.

Hopefully the BART website I posted will help you mscarls.

And by the way. There is the F Line trolley's that runs on Market St., and than on the Emcarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf., you can catch that when getting off of BART.

There's no reason to drive to BART or into the city. Just take Caltrain.
http://www.caltrain.com

I hadn't thought about CALTRAIN and appreciate learning about it. The one advantage is that we have to drive only a mile or two to get it. However, the disadvantages seem to be: the only "downtown" station is not convenient to anywhere we want to go, so we would have an extra cabfare or moderate walk; it runs only once an hour on Sunday, compared to BART's 3 times an hour schedule; the round-trip fare for the four of us on CALTRAIN would be $11.60 more than on BART (which would be worth it anyway, except for the previously mentioned disadvantages).
Are there other advantages to CALTRAIN that I am missing?

Well. I've done the walk lots. I guess if you want to drive to Millbrae you should. We can walk to the station in Atherton, so I was looking at it from that perspective.

mscarls, having lived in PA and now visit SF several times a year, I suggest you take CalTrain rather than deal with parking and driving in the city. There is no one place to park near the sites you mention. You'll be much happier taking Muni to where ever you want to go.

HINT: buy a Muni "1 day unlimited ride passport" at the CalTrain station ($11). [note: muni streetcars or busses are exact $1.50 and the cable car is $5]

Take the N streetcar to ferry building or Powell street (Cable car). Across the street from the ferry bldg (at the Hyatt) you can take the California Street cable car just for fun (it's not too popular with tourists, since it doesn't really go anywhere-but is quite a nice ride) . It does go to China Town, or just do a round trip. Also from the Ferry Bldg you can take the F streetcar to Fishermans Wharf. The cable car from the wharf goes back down to market street (there may be a few hundred tourists waiting in front of you to get on). At Market St. (underground) you can take the N (inbound) back to the ferry bldg [Embarcadero] or all the way back to the train station. I am not suggesting an itinerary for your one day trip-just showing some possibilities.

SF is a fantastic city with so much to see, you will have a wonderful time (if you don't spend half of it looking for a parking space and settling on a parking lot-and the other half complaining about the cost).

I'm reminded by my daughter who takes Caltrain to the city that it is by far the best idea for you~!

I too would take Caltrain and then get MUNI day passes to get around SF. I think this will end up being the easiest solution. The cost between driving (and parking, assuming you can't find free street parking, which I can sometimes find, but I wouldn't count on it), Caltrain, and Bart is probably pretty close. As others have said, you can buy day passes for SF public transportation (MUNI) at the Caltrain station and the N line is right there, which will take you downtown. The Caltrain station isn't in a centralized location, but it is a relatively short streetcar ride to where you want to go.

Whether you drive, take Bart, or take Caltrain, you will have to deal with transportation within SF - either moving the car and paying additional parking charges, cabs, or public transportation.

I find that after a day in SF, I am very happy to have taken Caltrain rather than driving. We usually walk quite a bit in SF, have been here and there looking at things, and are generally a little tired. It is nice to be able to just get on the train and relax rather than navigate out of SF and then drive home.

CALTRAIN is sounding better.

Are printed Muni system maps available at the CALTRAIN station? The map I printed from the Muni web site is rather small?

MUNI maps are not available, they are SOLD. Maybe $3. Just make sure you get a real MUNI map with bus lines in color. All others are not good.

Now, where they sell them? Maybe on the MUNI website they have locations listed? I know only one - the Cable Car turn-around on Powell @ Market, there is a ticket booth, they have maps there too.

http://www.sfmuni.com/php/routelist.php

Hi mscarls, here is the sfmuni website which may be of assistance to you.

Embarcadero Center gives you 4 hours free parking on weekends with validation. After that it's $3.00 per hour.

www.embarcaderocenter.com