How to arrive in San Francisco

Planning a trip Los Angeles to San Francisco. I am a little confused how it works Where do we get off, etc.

Any tips? What are our options? Any help is appreciated. I do not have a hotel yet, but we will either be near the Civic Center or Fisherman's Wharf area. Been many, many years since Ive been, so still "researching".

You can take the Coast Starlight from LA to Oakland, then a bus to San Francisco.

There are other trains but I'm not familiar with that routing.

Most rail minded folks would prefer the Coast Starlight, which is highly scenic and has a regular dining car. The drawbacks of it is that is a slow route and arrives in the Bay Area around 10pm, plus the bus ride across the bridge. If you want to get there earlier, then take the inland route, which involves an approx. 2+ hour bus ride to Bakersfield, then the train, with snack bar food ( although I think that is a cut above other Amtrak snack bars) then the bus across the Oakland Bay Bridge. While this route is faster, most would agree that the scenery is relatively boring, unless you are an aficionado of the agricultural fields of the Central Valley. There are some other coastal choices by taking a bus from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, but the Coast Starlight is the only train covering the entire distance on this route.

I have done the Coast Starlight several times LA to Seattle. Best done in two trips with s

Sorry, it slipped. Two trips with stop over in San Francisco is best. I think it was my favorite train trip ever.

I would take the Coast Starlight to Emeryville and then the bus connection to Fisherman's Wharf or the Civic Center.

SarahZ said:

I would take the Coast Starlight to Emeryville and then the bus connection to Fisherman's Wharf or the Civic Center.

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Minor correction. For the Starlight coming north from LA, the bus to San Francisco departs from Oakland Jack London, not Emeryville.

PRR 60 said:

SarahZ said:

I would take the Coast Starlight to Emeryville and then the bus connection to Fisherman's Wharf or the Civic Center.

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Minor correction. For the Starlight coming north from LA, the bus to San Francisco departs from Oakland Jack London, not Emeryville.

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That's what I meant.

Thanks for the correction!

The Coast Starlight is definitely the premier route. You might consider getting off in San Jose and taking Caltrain in to San Francisco. You'd get there around the same time, assuming the CS is more or less on time. You'll end up at the Caltrain station, which is a little out of the way, but there are good local bus connections to the Civic Center and Fisherman's Wharf. And Uber is always an option.

Either the San Joaquin or the Surfliner will get you to the Bay Area, albeit with a bus ride -- there's a bus connection between SLO and San Jose, where you can pick up Caltrain to SF. Ditto the comment about the food -- the cafe cars on California routes have much better food than the long distance trains.

If you take the San Joaquin Route, my recommendation is to get off in Richmond and transfer to BART, which will take you directly into SF, with more convenient stops.

Even though it's considered a Day Trip,I suggest taking the Coast Starlight in a Roomette.

You would have Lunch and Dinner ( included) and relax in the Wonderful Pacific Parlor Car on the Way to the Bay!

SarahZ said:

I would take the Coast Starlight to Emeryville and then the bus connection to Fisherman's Wharf or the Civic Center.

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Sarah - The transfer to bus from the northbound Coast Starlight takes place at Oakland, not Emeryville.

Oops/ More than one correction for Sarah!

greatcats said:

Most rail minded folks would prefer the Coast Starlight, which is highly scenic and has a regular dining car. The drawbacks of it is that is a slow route and arrives in the Bay Area around 10pm, plus the bus ride across the bridge. If you want to get there earlier, then take the inland route, which involves an approx. 2+ hour bus ride to Bakersfield, then the train, with snack bar food ( although I think that is a cut above other Amtrak snack bars) then the bus across the Oakland Bay Bridge. While this route is faster, most would agree that the scenery is relatively boring, unless you are an aficionado of the agricultural fields of the Central Valley. There are some other coastal choices by taking a bus from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, but the Coast Starlight is the only train covering the entire distance on this route.

Click to expand...

I went the other way (going from the Bay Area to SoCal). I did a Thruway Bus leaving San Jose to Santa Barbara around midnight and then switching to a Pacific Surfliner to LAX (or in my case, Irvine). The reverse should work, take a Surfliner to Santa Barbara, then a bus to San Jose, then a Caltrain to San Fran (or the same bus goes to Oakland's Amtrak). The advantage in this routing is you can travel it overnight rather than spend all day on the Coast Starlight.

Philly Amtrak Fan said:

greatcats said:

Most rail minded folks would prefer the Coast Starlight, which is highly scenic and has a regular dining car. The drawbacks of it is that is a slow route and arrives in the Bay Area around 10pm, plus the bus ride across the bridge. If you want to get there earlier, then take the inland route, which involves an approx. 2+ hour bus ride to Bakersfield, then the train, with snack bar food ( although I think that is a cut above other Amtrak snack bars) then the bus across the Oakland Bay Bridge. While this route is faster, most would agree that the scenery is relatively boring, unless you are an aficionado of the agricultural fields of the Central Valley. There are some other coastal choices by taking a bus from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, but the Coast Starlight is the only train covering the entire distance on this route.

Click to expand...

I went the other way (going from the Bay Area to SoCal). I did a Thruway Bus leaving San Jose to Santa Barbara around midnight and then switching to a Pacific Surfliner to LAX (or in my case, Irvine). The reverse should work, take a Surfliner to Santa Barbara, then a bus to San Jose, then a Caltrain to San Fran (or the same bus goes to Oakland's Amtrak). The advantage in this routing is you can travel it overnight rather than spend all day on the Coast Starlight.

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I'd rather spend a day relaxing on the Starlight than being jammed into a bus, especially at night :lol:

TiBike said:

. Ditto the comment about the food -- the cafe cars on California routes have much better food than the long distance trains..

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This got my curiosity....wonder why that is? Why don't the long distance trains have as good as the California trains? Different menu? Different vendors? Larger budget?

railiner said:

TiBike said:

. Ditto the comment about the food -- the cafe cars on California routes have much better food than the long distance trains..

Click to expand...

This got my curiosity....wonder why that is? Why don't the long distance trains have as good as the California trains? Different menu? Different vendors? Larger budget?

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Different menu due to state funding.

KauaiJohn said:

Sorry, it slipped. Two trips with stop over in San Francisco is best. I think it was my favorite train trip ever.

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We have taken the CS a couple of times up to Portland, OR. When we pass thru near San Francisco I always think of going there . What deters me is the late and distant arrival. However, we are going for this time!!

These are the choices. Any that you would NOT recommend for late night?

It's really a question of where your hotel is. There's not much down by the temporary transbay terminal. If I had a reason for being down there at night I wouldn't worry about going, but I wouldn't just sorta wander around there either. The other three stops have hotels reasonably nearby, and I wouldn't particularly worry about any of them. Fisherman's Wharf is likely to be the one with the most going on later in the evening. The financial district stop is near enough to the Embarcadero, so it probably wouldn't be completely deserted. The stop farther up on Market Street -- the shopping center stop -- probably won't be jumping in a good way.

railiner said:

TiBike said:

. Ditto the comment about the food -- the cafe cars on California routes have much better food than the long distance trains..

Click to expand...

This got my curiosity....wonder why that is? Why don't the long distance trains have as good as the California trains? Different menu? Different vendors? Larger budget?

Click to expand...

I don't think it's a direct result of state money – in other words, the state isn't subsidising the food – but more a matter of higher service standards that come with state and local management. The three California routes are run by joint powers authorities, which are essentially local/regional agencies. There's more accountability. You'd be surprised at the number of legislators and senior administration officials who ride the Capitol Corridor, for example. But it's also different for passengers -- if you have a complaint, you can reach an elected official with at least some responsibility for the system.

But there's also a competitive aspect -- the California Amtrak trains are competing with cars and buses, and other trains, for passengers.

Adult supervision and a little competitive pressure do wonders.

Too bad passenger's who are captive customers across much longer distances can't enjoy that better cuisine. (sigh)...

I prefer the fisherman's wharf stop because it's close to some nice convenient hotels.

I have a similar question. My dad and I are doing CHI-SAS-LAX on the Texas Eagle and connecting to the Coast Starlight. We are booked all the way to Seattle (AGR v1.0 2-zone award) but decided to terminate in SF and spend the weekend there.

I got a very reasonable hotel near the airport which will be convenient for BART to the city and for our departure by air, so I'm guessing that getting off in San Jose would be the best bet. Assuming CS is reasonably on time I guess we'd take Caltrain to Burlingame or Millbrae and uber from there to the hotel.

Does that sound about right?

SteveSTX said:

I have a similar question. My dad and I are doing CHI-SAS-LAX on the Texas Eagle and connecting to the Coast Starlight. We are booked all the way to Seattle (AGR v1.0 2-zone award) but decided to terminate in SF and spend the weekend there.

I got a very reasonable hotel near the airport which will be convenient for BART to the city and for our departure by air, so I'm guessing that getting off in San Jose would be the best bet. Assuming CS is reasonably on time I guess we'd take Caltrain to Burlingame or Millbrae and uber from there to the hotel.

Does that sound about right?

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Depends on where your hotel is, but yeah, if you're heading to SFO airport, Caltrain from San Jose is faster. The San Bruno station might be closer to your hotel, though. Another option is to get off in Millbrae and walk across the platform to BART and go from there. If your hotel is convenient to a BART station, that might be fastest (of course, it could be the Millbrae station it's convenient to .

Last Caltrain departs from San Jose at 10:30, FYI. Hope that your CS isn't late!!