I have a couple general questions, which airport is the closest to Yosemite???? I can get great rates to Oakland, but then how far is the drive from there??? Also how far is the Oakland airport from the sites in downtown San Francisco??? I can't see being that close and seeing nothing in San Fran.

Are there any good websites out there regarding lodging etc in Yosemite?????

www.nps.gov/yose is a good site for Yosemite lodging.

Oakland is a good choice for an airport. I think that unless you fly into Fresno, which is the closest to Yosemite, either Oakland or San Jose is your best bet. The drive from Oakland or San Jose to Yosemite should take about 4 hours unless you leave the Bay Area during the afternoon commute or on a Saturday morning - then it will take longer because of traffic.

Oakland airport to downtown SF is pretty easy - you take a bus to the BART station and then the BART under the bay and into downtown SF. From there you can take other public transportation to any place in SF you want to visit.

Bill

If its any help to you, we flew from SF to Fresno and hired a car from there and drove into Yosemite via Fresno via the South Entrance. Lovely drive without too much traffic and excellent views as you enter the Valley.

I will get back to you regarding websites as we stayed in a superb cabin - i think it was called YosemiteWest.com (give it a try). The cabins are about a half hour drive down into the valley which we preferred as the choice is limited on the Valley floor (or closed if you go Feb/March).

Will get you some info soon.

Hi again

the website we used to find accommodation was yosemitewest.com which has several cabins for rent and a B&B. We stayed in one of the cabin for a few days and it was fantastic and the cabin was immaculate.

You may want to do what my wife and I did and that is buy all your groceries before you enter the Valley if you intend to rent a cabin as the choice in the Valley is limited and rather expensive as is gas.

Hope this helps

The closest airport to Yosemite is actually Fresno. However, the fares to to Fresno will usually be more expensive that to other Northern California airports. Your best choice for airport in terms of both price and proximity to Yosemite is San Jose International. San Jose is closer to Yosemite than Oakland.

A good website for lodging information at Yosemite is www.yosemitepark.com

Other than Fresno, which is the closest but probably the most expensive to fly into your choices are Oakland (approximately 181 miles to the park), San Jose (approximately 172 miles to the park and Sacramento (approximately 184 miles to the park). You also have to consider what day of the week and time you will be arriving. If it is a weekday during normal commute hours, it will take you a lot longer to get to the park from either San Jose or Oakland than from Sacramento. If it is off hours or during a weekend, it shouldn't really matter which airport you choose.

Tony has the actual figures. I was getting ready to post that Sacremento is much closer than San Jose or Oakland, but I'm sure Tony is right. It is just much easier from Sacremento.