Traveling From San Francisco to Stanford

Stanford is arguably one of the most beautiful campuses in the country and is extremely hard to get into. Unfortunately, I can’t teach you how to get into Stanford, but I can certainly guide you on how to get to Stanford.

The commute between San Francisco and Stanford is an easy route regardless of whether you have a car or not. I was lucky enough to make this commute with and without a car earlier this year, and I can now show you the best way to commute with both.

Can you commute to Stanford from San Francisco?

In short, yes! There are plenty of ways to commute from San Francisco to Stanford regardless of whether you have a car. Driving is a short 40-minute ride while taking the train is a slightly longer 1.5-hour commute.

Driving San Francisco to Stanford

As mentioned earlier, driving from San Francisco to Stanford takes right around 40 minutes but could vary depending on traffic. During rush hour, the drive can exceed an hour so be wise on when you make the trip.

Many routes connect San Francisco and Stanford, but two routes are the fastest. Taking US Route 101 or Interstate 280 southbound from San Francisco are by far the quickest two routes. For those in an electric car, there are several Tesla Superchargers as well as DC fast chargers along the way.

Connecting Without a Car

No car, no problem! As San Francisco has the 2nd best public transportation in the country, connecting San Francisco to Stanford is easy without a car. I’ll talk about the best ways to connect, answer common questions, and share my experience of traveling from San Francisco to Stanford.

Does BART run to Stanford?

BART only goes part of the way to Stanford. From San Francisco, board a BART train to Millbrae and once there switch to Caltrain. BART sadly can’t take you all the way to Stanford, but can be utilized for much of the journey and to connect with Caltrain stations. Both the Caltrain and BART use the same clipper card meaning switching from one to the other is super easy.

Does Caltrain Connect to Stanford?

Caltrain does connect to Stanford. From San Francisco, take the southbound Caltrain from San Francisco Station to Palo Alto Station. Don’t worry, Stanford’s center is just a mile from this station.

Alternatively, you can take BART to Millbrae before transferring to Caltrain. This typically takes longer but might be more convenient if you aren’t near the San Francisco Station.

Does Caltrain Allow Bikes

Caltrain does allow bikes and has separated train cars just for bikes. These cars have designated places to store your bike making it an easy and seamless experience. As portrayed through my Golden Gate Bridge biking experience, the Bay Area is very bike-friendly and has plenty of bike infrastructure near both stations. Bringing a bike might be wise to mitigate commute times between both Caltrain stations.

What About Waymo

You might have recently heard that Waymo can now operate throughout the Bay Area, but unfortunately, the company hasn’t expanded its service beyond San Francisco just yet. I did use Waymo to get to the San Francisco Station as The LINE is over a mile away, so it can work for part of the trip.

How do I go from SFO to Stanford University?

Although SFO isn’t the closest airport to Stanford, connecting between the two is really easy. The drive takes around 30 minutes without traffic while the train takes just over an hour. To get to Stanford by train, take BART’s red line south to Millbrae before catching a southbound Caltrain to Palo Alto Station.

Bottom Line

Connecting from San Francisco to Stanford is easy and convenient regardless of if you have a car. If you’re a local looking to make a regular commute or if you’re a tourist like me who wants to make the trip, I’d say it’s absolutely possible and quite easy.