Landing at the SanFrancisco airport around p.m. rush hour and need to head north over the Golden Gate bridge.
What’s the prefered route?
Mapquest gives me 2 routes with a 2 minute difference but they don’t account for traffic.
280 & Hwy 1 to the west or 101 to the east?
101 to the east will definitely get you tied up with all the Bay Bridge traffic. 280/1 is going to avoid all that, but it’ll lump you in with all the people who are trying to avoid all that… probably 101, I’d say.
Bring snacks.
The short answer is that both stink because both require you to travel on surface streets through the actual city of SF. Depending on time of day one may be a bit faster, but unless you are actually monitoring traffic, it’s a toss-up of a guess…
Hope the day is clear when you drive over the bridge - beautiful!!
ack. I meant to end with “probably 280, I’d say.” And yes, San Francisco wins all sorts of extra points for having no north-south thru freeways, even though the Golden Gate Bridge is a major commuter bridge.
Does either way score any scenery points? Never been to the area.
They are about equal. While the Hwy 1 option looks like it runs close to the ocean, it is actually a few blocks inland and runs on unscenic 19th Ave - this is probably a little faster than 101, and will take you directly to the Bridge via the Presido (scenic). 101 will take you thru the unscenic dowtown area and that can be probelmatic that time of day, and then along Van Ness to the Marina (scenic). As with everything traffic-related in SF - it all works fine until it doesn’t - any minor tie-up will cause a horrendous backup.
As posted - bring supplies and an empty bladder. Or, plan to stop for dinner somewhere along the way (Clement St between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio is a good eating street).
[QUOTE=Ethilrist]
Bring snacks.
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You may also want to bring a good book, a pillow and a lot of patience. Any chance of rescheduling your flight to arrive at say, 8 PM or noon? 
There truly is no good way to traverse SF in rush hour. The bulk of either route is on surface streets with lots of stoplights.
I’d pick 280/1 as 101 will get you balled up in Bay Bridge traffic from Hospital Curve or even the 280/101 junction, all the way up to Van Ness, and then you’re looking at a couple miles of crawling along the left side of downtown (the Financial District).
My vote for scenery is for:
[ol]
[li]I-280 N to John Daly Blvd, West.[/li][li]Hwy 35 N to The Great Highway N, to the Cliff House.[/li][li]East on Point Lobos Ave, continue on Geary.[/li][li]Left @ 34th Ave, continue north into Lincoln Park.[/li][li]Pass the Palace of Legion of Honor, then turn right towards El Camino Del Mar, and follow this road into the Presidio; continue N on Lincoln Blvd.[/li][/ol]
This takes you right to the GG Bridge entrance, has great views (look for hang gliders at Fort Funston), and is often free of traffic.
When I have to go to Marin County I usually take the Richmond-San Rafael bridge, but that doesn’t work for you very well. I much prefer 280 - 1, if only because it is much more direct. Lots of traffic lights, sure, but you don’t have to worry much about being in the proper lane.
However, turn on KCBS (AM 740) and check the traffic reports on the 8s. (08, 18, etc.) They’ll tell you if one of these routes is particularly bad.
I live in the north bay and coming home from SFO I’ll take 380 -> 280 North -> 1/19th ave and over the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you aren’t on a particular timeline, you may want to go only as far as the city and then stop for dinner - I can recommend some places around 9th & Irving that aren’t far off of your route and would make a nice break. Otherwise assuming you are going north of the bridge a ways and not just to Sausalito, you are looking at about 4 hours of travel - from the bridge to my house 50 miles north of the city it can take 1.5 - 2 hours if I start out at 5:45pm and can’t take the commuter lane.
Thanks for all the replies.
I made the trip this past Thursday and took the 280 & Hwy 1 way through the Presidio. Smooth sailing to tell you the truth.
However, north of the Golden Gate to Novato was the nightmarish portion. I was headed to Petaluma.
In fact, San Francisco has torn down freeways, mostly as a result of damage from the 1989 earthquake, rather than re-building them. The result for people living in the city has been a big improvement. Sorry if this has inconvenienced people traveling from the Peninsula to Marin. I like having livable neighborhoods instead of fast pass-throughs for out-of-towners.
My recommendation is also 280 and Hwy 1 (19th Ave). There is a nice vista point as you approach Golden Gate Park where you can see the bridge over the greenery.
Roddy