<p>I'm from the Los Angeles area and I really want to visit Berkeley before making my decision, but I don't know the best and cheapest way to get there. </p>
<p>Plane tickets: $180 per person, one-way + hotel = $$$
Train: takes FOREVER and costs almost as much as plane tickets
Drive: My dad wants to avoid this if possible. (8 hour drive = not fun)</p>
<p>I’ve always gone by driving with family and friends.</p>
<p>driving is the best way imo. i’m from la and drive up to norcal often and the 8 hour drive isn’t that bad actually.</p>
<p>The drive can be fun especially if you take the coast…</p>
<p>Any places you recommend staying that are nice but not too expensive?</p>
<p>^if you have any family that live in the Bay Area, that would probably be easiest</p>
<p>Not sure where you’re looking for flights. Got to southwestair.com. (Southwest airlines). I looked, for example, at 4/17. You can go round-trip for $140 per person from LAX to Oakland. You can easily fly from So Cal to the Bay Area and return the same night; no hotel involved. Be sure to check flights to Oakland (not San Francisco). From Oakland you can take BART to Berkeley or rent a car.</p>
<p>I looked at 4/10 and from burbank to oakland was $458 for two people round trip.
Which stop from BART is closest to the school?</p>
<p>I just went to Southwestair.com (southwest airlines) website. If you schedule lax to oakland on 4/18 (Sat, Cal Day) it is $100 per person round-trip. You need to play with the dates. If you don’t want to go up on Cal Day, try to pick another weekday mid-month and you should get a good fare. It’s worth a day off school for a visit. I think the closest stop is Shattuck Ave, but it is easy to find out when you’re there.</p>
<p>closest Bart is downtown Berkeley bart</p>
<p>Wow, that’s much cheaper! Thank you!</p>
<p>yea southwest is the way to go.</p>
<p>how would I get from downtown berkeley bart to the campus? is it walking distance?</p>
<p>Yes it is walking distance.</p>
<p>[Visitor</a> Services - Traveling to Campus](<a href=“http://visitors.berkeley.edu/public_transit.html]Visitor”>Directions & Parking | Visitor Services)</p>
<p>yea walking distance. about 5min walk or so.</p>
<p>Give it a few years. 2 hours and 30 minutes on the bullet train!</p>
<p>Haha, that’s not going to help me now!</p>
<p>a few years?
more like a few decades!</p>
<p>Anyone else going by means of bridges???</p>
<p>The drive from LA should take no more than 6 hours unless you leave LA during peak traffic hours. It is an easy way to come and go as you please without being tied to an airline schedule, but parking in Berkeley can be challenging so try to walk as much as possible while in town.</p>