San Fransisco Guide
Getting Around
While you can get around with ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft, we encourage you to use San Francisco’s generally robust public transportation system. The main options are MUNI (a bus and underground metro system within SF), BART (a subway system through Eastern SF that connects to the larger bay area, like Berkeley/Oakland), and Caltrain (a train system with 2 stops in Eastern SF that connects down the Peninsula to South Bay, like Palo Alto and San Jose).
Depending on the line, MUNI buses come every 8-20 minutes. BART trains also come roughly once every 15 minutes. Caltrain is mainly a commuter rail and has more frequent trains around commute hours, and trains roughly once an hour on weekends.
FAQ
Q: How do I pay for fares?
Use a Clipper card, which you can load and use across every type of transit in the Bay Area. While you can buy a physical card, you can also get a mobile Clipper Card connected to Apple Wallet/Google Pay and simply tap your phone at the boarding gates.
While MUNI takes Clipper card payments, they also have a MUNI mobile app . For those riding MUNI 2 or more times a day, we recommend buying the $5 day pass available on the app. Each MUNI ride is $2.50 one way (good for 2 hours of transfers), except for the historic Cable Cars which are $8.
Q: What transit options are there to the Fairmont?
- From Powell Street BART station: The Fairmont is a 18 min walk (0.7 miles) from Powell Street BART station. The walk is uphill and gains 250 feet in elevation. You may also take the PH/PM cable car to California street.
- From 4th/King Caltrain: Take the newly built MUNI T metro line (also called the Central Subway) at 4th/King to the Chinatown - Rose Pak station (end of line). Then it’s a 9 minute (0.3 mile) walk uphill and gains 170 feet in elevation to the Fairmont.
- MUNI: The 1 California stops at the Fairmont at Clay & Mason. The PM (Powell-Mason) and PH (Powell-Hyde) cable cars also both stop in front of the hotel.
Q: If I come from SFO, how do I get to the Fairmont?
The easiest way is to call a rideshare or taxi. If you want to take public transportation, first take the free SFO airtrain (that comes every 4 minutes) to the SFO BART station and go north (on either the yellow or the red line) to Powell Street BART station. The BART ride is 29 minutes and costs $10.
