From the east, the entrance to the Bay Area is superhighway Interstate 80, which wends its way all the way from New York several thousand miles to pass through Lake Tahoe and Sacramento and end up in San Francisco.
From the south, the lovely Highway 101 runs from Southern California through the Central Coast to Silicon Valley and up the Peninsula to San Francisco. Some people prefer Highway 5, which travels more directly through the San Joaquin Valley to highway 580 and then into the Bay Area through the East Bay.
From the North Coast or the Pacific Northwest, the story is similar. Coastal highway 101 is more scenic, while highway 5 is efficient but somewhat boring. Interstate 5 intersects interstate 80 in Sacramento, however, when coming from the north, Interstate 505 can be used to bypass Sacramento and get to the Bay Area quicker.
Parking rates in San Francisco can go up to around $30. You can park at BART parking lots:
For example:
Park in Colma parking garage $2 all day, free weekends and round trip BART from Colma to Moscone Center would
cost $6.50 for one person, so two people could park and train for $15 as opposed to $25 for all day parking at the center.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Bay Area (California)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Bay Area (California) - updated May 2024
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Bay Area (California) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
