Fly or drive from San Diego to San Francisco?

[zerocool84]

fly


gas is near 4/gal and parking is a bitch in SF.
I drove from SF <-> LA and it sucks. Long drive.

It's really not that long but the nothingness in between the two is what kills it.

 

[vital]

would driving using the PCH in 1 day be a good idea? I'm expecting 8-10 hrs straight?

 

[zerocool84]

would driving using the PCH in 1 day be a good idea? I'm expecting 8-10 hrs straight?

That's the worst way to go. It's a nice drive for sight seeing but the worst to actually drive. Go up the 5.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

PCH from San Diego takes a very very long time. Save the PCH drive for a fun weekend/week with the woman.

 

[BoomerD]

Gotta agree. If you drive, take the five...From San Diego, it's a bit more than 6 hours, depending on traffic.
I live about 450 miles north of SD. We used to drive down to visit our son who was stationed at Miramar. Took 6 to 6-1/2 hours if I didn't hit any rush hour traffic.

Mileage to SF is about the same...but you've also got Bay area traffic to contend with...and parking.

Unless your itinerary requires you to do much daily travel, fly and take public transportation/cabs.
I hate driving in San Fran...narrow streets, too many cars, too many FOB's who can't drive for shit, no place to park.

 

[thegimp03]

I'd fly. ~1 hr flight is much more convenient than driving, and might be cheaper these days depending what kind of gas mileage your car gets.

 

[Sukhoi]

You could also think about taking US-101 up if you decide to drive. It's maybe an hour slower (but more scenic) than I-5, and a lot faster than the PCH. Would have a decent amount less traffic than US-101 too. When you get to the Bay Area take I-280 rather than US-101 up the Peninsula to SF.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

would driving using the PCH in 1 day be a good idea? I'm expecting 8-10 hrs straight?

You can do it in 1 day, but it is better to take your time and do things along the way. The best part, IMO, is north of Morro Bay until about Monterey. That's where you see Big Sur and all the cool scenery. As others have said, it can be a rough drive, as it is very hilly with lots of sharp curves. It is an awesome time though.

 

[marvdmartian]

Call your hotel, see if they offer free parking. If they don't, fly. You can take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from the airport into the city, if you don't want to spring for a taxi. Check their routes, and you'll see the yellow line goes right into and out of the airport.

So far as the drive goes, I drove from Castro Valley (about 25-30 miles outside of SF) to San Diego (32d Street Naval Station), back in 87. 485 miles, one way. The national speed limit was still 55 back then, but once you hit the 5, you were a slow poke if you were doing less than 80. Just keep an eye on the truckers, as they're talking to each other on their CB's, and will slow down in plenty of time for the occasional speed trap. When they slow down, you do....when they speed back up again, you do too.

The only thing that can possibly slow you down then would be a bad accident (with all the looky-loos), or fog (can get pretty thick in the central valley).

Oh yeah, and I did that drive in 7 hours, with no stops, and slowing down to 65 once I hit L.A. (I was getting sleepy by then). If I'd stuck with the truckers, I probably would have made it half an hour faster. :whiste:

 

[vailr]

Then there's Amtrak...
Weekly specials are only offered Monday->Friday:
http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/WeeklySpecials

 

[SSSnail]

Depends on what you're coming here for, but generally flying in is a much better bet. Once you're here, it's very easy to take the BART into the city, about $8.50 for that trip. Once in the city, buy a weekly MUNI pass (if you're staying that long) and consult http://www.sfmta.com/cms/home/sfmta.php for routes and hours of operation. With that pass you can hop on and off all MUNI carts and cable cars, etc... SF is not that big, so taking cabs to anywhere is not expensive, if you can't find a bus route.

If you must drive, then ask your hotel for packaged stay and valet deals. Depends on your budget, stay at boutique hotels near Union Square, they offer very good rates and are mostly very convenient for walking around. I've stayed here http://www.personalityhotels.com/# before, and they're actually OK for the money, two blocks from Union Square.

What are you coming up here for anyways?

 

[yhelothar]

The PCH is a loong twisty road. If you have a nice fun to drive car.. it's a blaaast to drive. If you have a camry, and you don't have a passion for driving, it'd probably be annoying to drive.

It took about 12 hrs for me. You'd wanna stop at a few vista points. If I didn't stop, it'd probably take about 11hrs.

 

[Sukhoi]

Here's a link to the Muni 1, 3, 7 day passes. http://128.121.89.101/cms/mfares/passports.htm

They're sort of expensive unless you're going to ride the cable cars a lot ($5/ride). The buses are $2/right so you're probably just better off paying cash for the buses. Also FYI the California cable car line is down until around July and replaced with a bus.