It's 42 miles between San Jose to San Francisco. On a typical day, it might take between 1h 2min and 1h 5min from San Jose to San Francisco under normal conditions. If traffic is heavy, it could take around 1h 8min and costs will only go up due to traffic and congestion to drive to San Francisco by car. In these situations, we would highly recommend public transit if available.
We estimate driving cost by using a 20 mpg fuel economy, fuel costing $2.70 per US gallon, the one-way cost of the drive, excluding tolls, may be about $5.
The are 9 different ways across 3 unique modes of transportation to help you travel from San Jose to San Francisco. If you're only considering the price, you should check out the bus out of San Jose towards San Francisco, as it is the cheapest to San Francisco. It's common to find tickets for as low as $10. Greyhound operates from San Jose to San Francisco, so you book your trip with them! Book as soon as you can, as there may be limited availability.
The trip to San Francisco is an excellent trip for the day or a nice trip for the weekend from San Jose. The cheapest way to get from San Jose to San Francisco is $10 and the quickest way takes just 1 hour 30 minutes with the bus. Greyhound offers limited service between San Francisco and San Jose.We recommend booking the trip to San Francisco about one week in advance. Though you might be able to find and book a ticket from San Jose the day of, it is best to do this earlier as to be sure you have a seat to San Francisco.
While buses have recently gotten bad coverage because of cleanliness of bus stations or winter time accidents, they are can be very convenient for travel. The best part about traveling by bus to San Francisco is that it can be very cheap. That's because they usually have basic accomodations - WiFi and a restroom. Some of the San Jose/San Francisco buses' coverage has been overstated. The real thing to consider when taking a bus from San Jose is to consider the time of travel and the density of the cities that you're traveling to. If you are traveling by bus between San Jose CA and San Francisco during high traffic times, you can expect to have your trip altered significantly due to traffic. Further, if you are traveling during winter, the bus schedule might be thrown off due to inclimate winter weather. Be sure to plan accordingly!
The plus side of taking the train from San Jose to San Francisco? The accomodations, scenery, and lack of San Francisco traffic can usually be on point. Moreover, you can usually expect your average concessions - such as food and drinks. Most trains have WiFi these days as well. The worst part about trains are the price. While the train to San Francisco is often cheaper than flying, they are generally more expensive than buses. Train prices are usually set and do not vary as much as bus prices or flights or so the likelihood of finding discounts is pretty rare.
Cheapest Way | Bus — $10 |
---|---|
Fastest Way | Train — 49min |
Eco-Friendly Way | Bus — 6 lb CO2 |
Available Modes | 3 modes — bus, train and by car |
Distance | 42 miles |
Travel Companies | Greyhound, Amtrak |