# Getting from Los Altos to San Francisco



## fwd1 (Jun 11, 2006)

GD (under 25) will be in Los Altos and wants to go to San Francisco for weekend.  Not being able to rent a car what public transportation could she use.  
Checked the internet and it seems that BART does not go that far out.
Don't know what we would do without the help of Tug members.
Thank you for any help you can give us.
Florine


----------



## Icc5 (Jun 11, 2006)

She can go to the train which is near San Antonio Road and Central Expressway in Mountain View.  That is the only way I know and I live in Los Altos and work in Mountain View.  I think it is Caltran or something like that.
E-mail me at BBGACH@sbcglobal.net if I could be of more assistance or information and put TUG in the header.
Bart


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 11, 2006)

Enterprise will rent to her for an additional amount per day.
Liz


----------



## LisaH (Jun 11, 2006)

Bart is right (Hi, neighbor!) She can take the Caltrain from Mountain View to San Francisco. Once she arrives, she can either take a taxi ($5-10 depending on where she wants to go) or hop on a muni bus. Here is the weekend Caltrain schedule:
http://www.caltrain.com/pdf/Holiday_Schedules/CT_Weekend_Holiday_Schedule_01-2006.pdf


----------



## Icc5 (Jun 11, 2006)

Hi Lisa, haven't seen you on in a while.  Thanks for the backup and schedule.
Isn't it great when we can help other people?
Bart


----------



## JustPlainBill (Jun 12, 2006)

Check the Caltrain schedule here: http://www.caltrain.com/timetable.html. The train has only one set of tracks, so the earlier trains are the expressess and the later ones are the milk runs that stop everywhere--it can take a long time to get to San Francisco on a milk run.
P.S. There are also some expresses in the late afternoon if she wants to go to the City then.


----------



## fwd1 (Jun 12, 2006)

Can I impose on you again and ask what station in Mountain View to take and what station in San Francisco to get off at to be nearest Fisherman's Wharf.

Would you perhaps know the Muni bus to take from the station in San Francisco to get to Fisherman's Wharf.

Thank you so much.  
Florine


----------



## Blues (Jun 13, 2006)

Others more familiar with the systems may want to correct me (Fern?).  But I believe there is only one Caltrain station in  Mountain View, named "Mountain View".  Pick up Caltrain there, and take it to the end of the line in SF.

Looking at the Muni map at http://transit.511.org/providers/maps/SF_928200511719.pdf it looks like the best busses to take from the SF Caltrain station to Fishermans Wharf would be either the #10 or #30 Stockton.  The Caltrain station is in the lower righthand corner of the map.


----------



## isisdave (Jun 13, 2006)

The last time I wanted to get from the train to the Wharf, I took a number 30 bus from the (only) train station, which is at 3rd and Townsend, to Fisherman's Wharf.

Despite the fact that this was in 1968, the route is still the same, according to the www.sfmuni.com website.  You should check this out for a good map too.

The bus runs every six minutes most of Saturday.  It continues on past the Wharf, so if you won't recognize where you are you should sit near the front and ask the driver to make sure you get off at the Wharf. Lots of people will get off there, but they might get off at one of several stops in the tourist area. You can easily walk through this area.

I think the fare in 1968 was a quarter.  It's only $1.50 now, which is right in line with the Consumer Price Index. There's a one-day pass for $11 if you're planning more than seven trips, which would be pretty hard. Three days for $18 if she's staying overnight.

She'll have fun. She should take a sweater.  Mark Twain remarked that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. The fog is likely to roll in by late afternoon.

A tourist should definitely NOT take a car to San Francisco. Parking is impossible and expensive.

Will she need a place to stay? There are some nice boutique hotels in the Union Square area at around $125.  It's been too long for me to recommend any but someone else will.  Cheaper places exist, perhaps at the north end of Van Ness near the Marina.


----------



## Lee B (Jun 13, 2006)

Mountain View has two Caltrain stations, Mountain View and San Antonio.  Depending on where she is in Los Altos, one of them would be the more convenient.  The Mountain View station is on the main downtown street, called Castro Street.  The San Antonio station is near a transit center where lots of buses stop.  You buy a Caltrain ticket from a machine according to the zone you will go to.  Keep the ticket handy for a fare inspector, if asked.

The VTA bus #23 goes right through Los Altos and on to the San Antonio station, by the look of things on the VTA system map.  The 23 runs often enough to be useful.  See www.vta.org .

She should consider taking Caltrain only to Millbrae, instead of all the way to S.F.  The Millbrae station has BART, which she can use to get to S.F. Market Street, which is downtown, rather than the Caltrain station, which is south of there by a bit, and kind of light industrial in nature.  She still would need Muni to get to the Wharf, but she could try the cable car from Powell and Market, which has a bart stop.  The bart station is below ground there, so she would take the escalator up to Market and probably see a line of tourists waiting for the cable cars.  I think you buy a cable car ticket before getting in line.

The bart ticket machines are intimidating to first-timers.  You first see how much the fare will be to your station, then put that much into the machine and press the button to print a ticket.  You can put a little more in and then push a + - button to tell it what value you want for the ticket and the machine will make change (most of the time).  I try to carry lots of coins and ones so that I can insert the exact amount.  Now you take that ticket to the gate machines, looking for one with the green arrow (not the red symbol), and insert the ticket into the front of the machine.  It will give back your ticket, which MAY be in the same slot you inserted it, or it will pop up on the top of the machine.  Take the ticket back and the gate will open for you.  Keep the ticket to let yourself out at your exit station.  This time, if the value was just right, it will open the gate without giving back the ticket.  If the value wasn't enough, it won't open so you will go to the Add Value + machine to beef up your ticket.  The machine will say how much you owe to exit there.

BART ticket machines take plastic, but they charge you for a $20 a ticket which is far more value than you will need.

People are almost always in a hurry at bart stations, so instead of making them angry while you figure things out, ask somebody to talk you through the process.  Everyone will appreciate it, and nobody will curse (like I did once, when the train left without me).  Bart is electric, smooth and fast.  Caltrain is diesel pulled so takes longer to accelerate and decelerate.  Both are safe and pretty comfortable.  Bart cars are roomier.

On weekends, Caltrain makes all stops, so don't even think of finding an express.  From Mtn View it would be under an hour all the way to S.F., and Shorter to Millbrae.


----------



## fwd1 (Jun 13, 2006)

Thanks to all the Tuggers who shared such great information.  It is such a help when you are going somewhere for the first time.
Florine


----------

