Live Your Best Lives
  1. Travel FAQs
  2. United States
  3. California (CA)
  4. San Francisco

Visit San Francisco from Santa Rosa this summer

My partner and I are traveling from the UK this summer to Santa Rosa and would like to take a couple of days visiting San Francisco. We will have a hire car but don’t want to traveling directly into San Francisco and park. I’m looking for some advice to where is the best and most cost effective place to park a car outside of the city and travel in on public transport please.

Visiting San Francisco from Santa Rosa and avoiding driving directly into the city is a smart idea. Parking in San Francisco can be expensive and stressful, and traffic can be heavy, especially in the summer. Instead, you can park outside the city and use public transport for a more relaxed experience.

One of the best options is to use the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system. BART connects several suburban areas to downtown San Francisco and is cost-effective and reliable. You can look for park-and-ride stations where you can leave your car and catch a train into the city.

  • El Cerrito del Norte Station: About 1.5–2 hours from Santa Rosa, this station has a large parking lot and frequent BART service into San Francisco. The ride into downtown takes around 30–35 minutes.
  • Walnut Creek Station: Further east, but with large parking and good BART connections. Useful if you are coming down via I-680 or I-580.
  • Richmond Station: North side, closer if traveling from the northern part of the Bay Area. Large parking lot and frequent BART service.

Another option is to drive closer to the Golden Gate Bridge and use public buses or shuttles:

  • Marin County (Tiburon, Sausalito, Larkspur): Park in a paid lot and take ferries across the bay to San Francisco. The ferry ride is scenic and avoids city traffic entirely.
  • Ferry Building or Embarcadero vicinity: While parking here is expensive, combining BART or ferry access from the east side can minimize time spent driving in city traffic.

Additional tips:

  • Arrive early to secure parking, especially on weekends and during summer.
  • Check BART schedules and fares in advance; some stations offer discounted day passes.
  • Consider a hybrid approach: park at a BART station outside the city and use local buses or Muni within San Francisco to reach attractions.
  • Use apps like Parkopedia or SpotHero to find affordable parking near your chosen transit station.

By using park-and-ride or ferry options, you can enjoy San Francisco without the stress of city traffic and high parking costs, making for a much more relaxing visit.

More San Francisco Travel Questions

The attractions mentioned in this question

Golden Gate Bridge
Rich
San Francisco

Popular Destinations

Typhoon Museum
Jiuzhe Mountain
Zhejiang Provincial Museum
Xidi Village

Popular Travel Questions