<ul>
<li><p>See if you can fly into San Jose airport or San Francisco airport since they’re closer.</p></li>
<li><p>If possible, spend an extra day there and head into San Francisco and possibly head to Santa Cruz and/or Half Moon Bay. This would cost more, of course, but it would give him (and you) more of an idea of the area in case he decides to go to Stanford later. It might make or break the decision for him. San Franciso is the other side of the San Fran airport from Palo Alto - i.e. it’s San Francisco, then the airport, then Palo Alto heading southeast on the freeway.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Earlier in the thread there was a list of hotels/motels to stay in nearby Stanford. I would recommend against the Motel 6. We were just there a few weekends ago, and it seemed like every area (common areas as well as our rooms) had an off odor to it. Registration smelled like stale fish! I promised my family I would not be quite so cheap with the accomodations next time!</p>
<p>If you’d like to try Burmese food (a kind of Chinese-Indian-Thai fusion) there’s a fun place in downtown Palo Alto called Rangoon. Or if you’re bringing a lap top, lots of places have wireless access, try Yelp.com for the area.</p>
<p>If you haven’t been to SF before, it’s worth it to take a BART ride into town, since the weather is usually pretty good come this time of year.</p>
<p>BART doesn’t go anywhere close to Stanford. He should take an airport shuttle. (San Jose would have been a way closer airport, by the way; if you can switch, do so. San Francisco is also closer.) SuperShuttle (Google for phone number and rates) is one popular shuttle that should be able to take him from Oakland to Stanford.</p>
<p>I’m not from CA…others here are. BUT if you fly into San Jose, there is a free shuttle bus that goes from the airport to the Caltrain station (transportation hub) in San Jose. From there, you can get just about anywhere in the bay area (yes…may be some walking at the other end). DD goes to Santa Clara and flies into San Jose from the east coast…and uses that free shuttle. SCU is right across the street from that transportation hub.</p>
<p>Thumper’s a little bit inexact. The shuttle bus that goes from the airport goes to the transit center in Santa Clara, not the larger transit center in downtown San Jose. That transit center has a few buslines, plus Caltrain, the railroad that goes from San Jose to San Francisco, stopping in Palo Alto just across the street from Stanford.</p>
<p>So, bottom line, if someone flies into San Jose, they can take a shuttle to Santa Clara, then catch Caltrain to Palo Alto and walk down Palm Drive to get to the center of Stanford. Not too bad.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang…I knew someone would know the exact route!! DD has done this from that transit center across the street…but I really didn’t know quite what she did.</p>
<p>After weighing various prices, we’re sticking with flying into Oakland (only $4 more but with no layover or transfer). I think I can then take the free shuttle to the Caltrain station, take that into Palo Alto and get off at the California Avenue stop.</p>
<p>Sound about right?</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s help. And especially the sweet PM from a certain poster who offered to go above and beyond. The world is full of wonderful people.</p>
<p>I don’t envy you; it’ll take you hours to get from Oakland to Palo Alto. The San Francisco BART station is a mile from the CalTrain station, so bring rolling luggage. Check the CalTrain schedules if you plan to travel off-hours.</p>
<p>when I posted about the CalTrain to Palo Alto, I forgot that at the time I did this things were different due to construction. Plus, once you get to Palo Alto, there’s no place to stay within walking distance.
Sounds like you’ll do best with cheap rental car included. If it’s over a weekend, look at the “last minute deals” on Travelocity.</p>
<p>Call Super Shuttle. It will cost you over $100 to get from Oakland Airport to Palo Alto. I vote rebooking into San Jose(SJC) Airport. You didn’t do your homework and now you realize you added at least 2-3 hours of land travel time. Plus you have to do it again to get back home. I guarantee no one can give you a ride to the airport- no one in their right mind booked Oakland Airport voluntarily. Reboot and start over. You’ve learned your lesson. Good Luck.</p>
<p>With a rental car you could head into San Francisco if you have a free evening or afternoon. If you haven’t been there it’s worth going to see because it’s a city with unique architecture. A rental car would definitely be the easiest and most flexible.</p>
<p>Oh come now. I live near Stanford and I have had my daughter fly in and out of Oakland when we got the best price or the best departure or arrival time. It’s an easy-to-navigate, small-scale airport. Google maps says it takes 34 minutes to drive there from my house, which would be true with no traffic. By public transportation it takes longer (about two hours), but it’s not too bad if you have a spirit of adventure and a book to read. And there are certainly people who would give rides - as I do to my kid :-).</p>
<p>True, Calreader. I live near Stanford too, and sometimes when family members visit they book through Stanford. But it’s a pain in the neck to drive there from the South Bay, and in my opinion a person would be lucky to get from Oakland to Stanford by public transportation in two hours elapsed time. I’d allow three hours if I were doing it. Do you know a better way than BART to SF and then Caltrain?</p>
<p>Well, there is a bus (the “M” line) that goes from the Union City BART station across the south end of the bay to Redwood City, but unfortunately it doesn’t go to Palo Alto and the available times are limited. So for maximum time flexibility, the best public transportation seems to be BART to Millbrae (via SF) and then Caltrain.</p>
The world is full of wonderful people.</p>