San Francisco: Getting there & around

Orientation

San Francisco covers the tip of a 50km (30mi) peninsula in Northern California, with the Pacific Ocean on its western side and the San Francisco Bay to the north and east. San Fran is actually just one of many cities in the Bay Area; others include Oakland (east across the Bay Bridge), Berkeley (just north of Oakland) and San Jose (an hour's drive southeast of San Francisco, near the southern tip of the bay). Marin County and the Wine Country lie to the north, across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The most touristed part of the city resembles a slice of pie, with Van Ness Ave and Market St making the two sides and the Embarcadero the round edge. The steaming toppings of this homebaked slice are the classy shops around Union Square, the highrise Financial District, the classy Civic Center, the down-and-out but up-and-coming Tenderloin, swanky Nob Hill and Russian Hill, Chinatown, North Beach and the epicentre of tourist kitsch, Fisherman's Wharf. To the south of Market St lies SoMa, an upwardly mobile warehouse zone of clubs and bars that fades in the southwest into the Mission - the city's Latino quarter - and then the Castro, the centre of gay life.

The vast swathe from Van Ness Ave west to the Pacific Ocean encompasses upscale neighbourhoods like the Marina and Pacific Heights, ethnically diverse zones like the Richmond and Sunset Districts and the self-conscious timewarp of Haight-Ashbury. Three of the city's great parklands - the Presidio, Lincoln Park and Golden Gate Park - are also in this area.

Getting There

• bus

  Although a variety of bus companies have services between other Bay Area communities and San Francisco, Greyhound is the only regular long-distance bus company operating in the region. Their buses arrive and depart at the Transbay Terminal in SoMa. As an alternative to Greyhound, try the funky Green Tortoise bus line, a favourite of backpackers because it manages to combine getting there with enjoying yourself along the way.

• car

  Freeways crisscross the Bay Area, and once you're outside of the city you'll be glad to have a car. Highway 101 runs south to Los Angeles and north to Oregon, but its bayside stretch is a continuous traffic jam - sometimes stationary, sometimes high-speed, but always solid. Interstate 280, parallel and slightly to the west, is much more attractive and easier on the nerves. Highway 1 is the slow but scenic coast route. On the east side of the bay, Interstate 80 runs across the Bay Bridge north through Berkeley and inland through Sacramento, the state capital, on its way to Reno, Nevada. Interstate 580 swings inland from the East Bay to meet Interstate 5, the fastest route south to Los Angeles; the trip takes 6 or 7 boring hours. The 340km (210mi) route inland to Yosemite starts along Interstate 580.

• train

  Amtrak is the US national train system, and its Bay Area terminal is at Jack London Square in Oakland. A free shuttle bus connects with San Francisco's Caltrain station and the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero. Traveling north from Los Angeles, it's equally simple to transfer to Caltrain at San Jose and take that service to San Francisco. Amtrak's main Bay Area routes are the San Joaquin (Oakland - Bakersfield), the Capitol Corridor (San Jose - Oakland - Sacramento) and the Coast Starlight (Seattle - Oakland - San Jose - Los Angeles).

• plane

  The Bay Area has three major airports: San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland International Airport (OAK) and San Jose International Airport (SJC). Most international flights use San Francisco (at Oakland and San Jose, 'international' mostly means Mexico and Canada), but all three are important domestic gateways, so you should have little trouble finding a flight or connection to just about anywhere on the continent. Departure tax is included in the ticket price.

  From San Francisco International Airport, on the western edge of the bay, 22km (14mi) south of the city centre, the simplest way to get to the city is by the extended BART system. There are also bus-BART combinations, which are useful if you're heading to the East Bay. From Oakland International Airport, 13km (8mi) south of downtown Oakland, shuttle buses run between the airport and the Oakland Coliseum BART station, as well as into town, and there are taxis and private shuttles. San Jose International Airport - at the southern end of the bay - is a few kilometres north of downtown San Jose and just over an hour's drive from San Francisco. A free shuttle bus links the airport with a light rail system that runs to downtown San Jose. The easiest way to get from San Jose to San Francisco is to catch the 80-minute Caltrain service.

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Getting Around

• bus

  Along with the Muni light-rail and cable cars, Muni buses will get you almost anywhere in the city. A Muni passport allows unlimited travel on all Muni transports and is available from Visitor Information Centers, hotels and from businesses that display the Muni pass sign in their window.

• car

  A car is the last thing you want in downtown San Francisco: negotiating the hills and trying to find a parking spot are going to stress both you and your machine. For traveling further afield though - up to the Wine Country for example - a car can be invaluable.

• tram

  Where else can you travel in a tourist attraction from one tourist highlight to another? As well as getting you around its three downtown routes, a ride in one of San Francisco's old-fashioned, open-air, seemingly dangerous cable cars can be exhilarating fun. The subterranean rumbling on Market St is an underground light-rail run by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), that weaves its way through downtown San Francisco. Downtown, Muni stations are the same as BART stations.

• taxi

  Taxis are tough to secure in San Francisco; you may find phoning one easier than whistling or waving your hand on street corners, especially during peak hours, but even that's no guarantee.

• ferry

  Ferries are back in business, plying the waters from Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero Ferry Building to Alameda, Oakland, Sausalito, Tiburon and the bay islands.

• underground rail

  The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system is a convenient, economical subway system linking San Francisco with the East Bay.

• Disabled Travellers

  Berkeley, across the bay from San Francisco, is home to several pioneering disabled services organisations, so there are a great deal of resources and provisions for disabled travellers in the Bay Area.

  All the Bay Area transit companies, including BART, Muni, AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit, offer travel discounts for the disabled, and they have a jointly issued ID card to access these reductions. All Muni Metro and BART stations are wheelchair accessible. Muni's Street & Transit Map details which bus routes and streetcar stops are wheelchair friendly. The San Francisco Bay Area Regional Transit Guide, published by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, has a Disabled Services section. The major car rental companies are generally able to supply hand-controlled vehicles with one or two days' notice.

  If you need information about the wheelchair accessibility of local hotels, contact the San Francisco office of the Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living (tel: 415543-6222, 415-543-6698; www.cilberkeley.org). For visually impaired persons there are a few major intersections that emit a chirping signal to indicate when it is safe to cross the street. They are most common in Berkeley. For the hearing impaired many local TV stations include subtitles in their broadcasts.

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