I am taking the Coastal Starlight > Emeryville to get on the California Zepher the next am.
Again we arrive at approx 10:30 pm
Quest is there a BART train to SF that will link us to ride Cable Cars and some hotel in Union Square area?
What would people suggest to do?
I have not booked a hotel, plan to use like Hotwire.com or Orbitz.....
I just want to make good use of riding what ever trains and cable cars I can while passing through.
Thanks for your suggestions in advance Loadstone
Posted by Kiernan (Member # 3828) on :
I suggest you get a ticket on the Coast Starlight to San Francisco and that will give you a bus ride to the Ferry Building or Fishermans Wharf. If you're staying in San Francisco you can get a ticket from San Francisco on the California Zephyr and you can ride the bus from the Ferry Building or Fishermans Wharf.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Great advice, Kiernan. I don't think a lot of people realize that you can actually still buy an Amtrak ticket to San Francisco even though Amtrak trains don't go there. (I'm old enough to be able to remember pulling in to Third and Townsend on the SP Daylight.)
Loadstone--
Be prepared for the cable car ride to be a bit expensive. I think it's now up to $5.00. It's become more of a tourist attraction than transportation. There might be some sort of "all day ticket" available, though. I would also suggest a visit to the Cable Car Museum.
San Francisco, like all cities, has hotels in every price range. Expedia or Orbitz are good places to start your search and then you might want to try individual hotels that interest you. Sometimes you can get a better price by contacting them directly. I've found that to be true especially the closer you get to your departure.
Have a great trip!
Frank in cloudy SBA
Posted by stlboomer (Member # 2028) on :
That's rather a lot to do on an overnight visit, particularly if 14's late arriving. Why not just stay in Emeryville? There are a number of hotels within a short distance of the station. On Expedia you can search for hotels by proximity to an address.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
Okay, MUNI has day passes and weekly passes that also work on the cable cars without a surcharge. One caution: board at either end of the line. THe cars are often so crowded that you can't get on at intermediate points.
The Raphael Hotel near Union Square used to be pretty reasonable, and it's well located. I also got a good room rate at the Fairmont on Nob Hill one winter when not many tourists were about.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
Oh, and if you elect to stay in Emeryville, there is a nice Woodfin Suites adjacent to the train station. You pay a premium rate for the suites on the west side, with a view of the bay, but on the east side you pay less and get a great view of the UP main line.
Posted by tommers207 (Member # 3930) on :
Booking to SF on the CS would be the best option. There are 3 Bart stations that somewhat connect with the Amtrak stations in the area but the only one that connects with a CS stop is Jack London Square and the Bart station is about 10-12 blocks away. I don't know that much about Oakland but from what it looked like during the day, I'd probably not want to take that walk late at night. I guess you could catch a cab to the station. I'd also check to see how late the cable cars run. If possible I'd say stay 2 nights in SF and then catch the CZ. SF is a cool city and the food alone is worth the stay of another night.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Back up a minute. If you arrive in Emeryville at 10:30pm (assuming the train is on time, which it probably won't), and you're picking up the Zephyr the next morning, you won't have time to see San Francisco if you want any sleep.
I don't even know if the cable cars run that late at night, but I doubt it. In the morning you'll be too rushed to catch the bus back to EMY to care about cable cars.
So if you want to see SF, allow a full day between trains. Otherwise, I'd stay at one of the hotels across the tracks from EMY and save your energy for sightseeing in the Sierra and Rockies.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
I agree with Mr. Toy on this one especially after re-reading your plan. Give yourself at least one full day in San Francisco.
We've always found that it's easier to board the Cable Car at California and Market on the California St. line rather than the Powell St. line at Powell and Market. And don't expect to be able to board at Union Square. The cars are almost always full by the time they get there. You can also do well boarding near Fisherman's Wharf. Not as frantic.
The walk from Jack London Square to the nearest BART station is doable but I wouldn't do it after dark. There is a city bus that makes the run up Broadway and man, for all I know, originate at the Amtrak Station.
In San Francisco (Do NOT call it Frisco!) we have stayed at the King George and gotten pretty good rates.
Frank in sunny but muggy SBA.
Posted by Kiernan (Member # 3828) on :
I stayed at the Jack London Inn and walked back and forth to both nearby BART stations lots of times after dark. The walk to the downtown Oakland station goes past the police station and I suspect that's fairly safe.
And Frank, I remember meeting my grandmother at the Townsend Street station and the end of her cross-country trip. It must have been after 1957 because that's when the ferries stopped meeting the trans-continental trains.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Kiernan--
Thanks for jogging my memory. My mother and I used to take the Daylight to San Francisco each summer and I think it must have been 1957 that I convinced her that we should take the San Joaquin Daylight so that we could ride the Ferry before they discontinued them. We hit a truck outside Modesto and were delayed just long enough that they bused us instead! That was also the year, I believe, that I talked her into flying home on PSA from SFO to BUR. I think the fare was $11.00 and we flew on an unpressurized DC4. We bounced around over the Tehachipis and I got off at BUR swearing I would never fly again.
I've stayed at the Inn on the Square (Best Western) which is very near the Jack London. I walked to the BART station during the day but took the bus at night. True, you do pass the Police Station but also the jail. There's a pretty good Korean place across from the Jack London and one of the seafood places has a very good "Early Bird" dinner deal during the week.