Best Day Trips From San Francisco: What Works Without a Car

The short answer. Without a car, go to Sausalito or Angel Island by ferry, or cross to Berkeley and Oakland by BART or ferry. Those four need no booking and no driving. Muir Woods is the one most visitors want and it takes planning, because the park wants a reservation for parking and for the shuttle and the shuttle isn’t running right now. Wine country, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Half Moon Bay are written up as drives, and Yosemite is a very long day.

Roam San Francisco read 13 guides on day trips, all in English, and several of them assume you have a car. Ten name Muir Woods and ten name Napa or Sonoma. Ten name Monterey and Carmel, and ten name Half Moon Bay. Nine name Sausalito. All of that is the guides’ picks. The fares, hours and booking rules come from each park’s or operator’s own page, read on 12 November 2026, and the guides’ travel times are theirs and not checked here. Oakland and Berkeley are separate cities across the bay, not part of San Francisco, and are listed here because they’re the easiest trips off the peninsula.

What the guides agree on

Muir Woods. Named by 10 of 13 guides read. It’s a redwood grove in Marin, and the part they all stress is that you need to plan how to get in.

Wine country. Named by 10 of 13 guides read. Napa and Sonoma, usually together.

Monterey and Carmel. Named by 10 of 13 guides read. Almost always as a drive of about two hours each way.

Half Moon Bay. Named by 10 of 13 guides read. A coastal town south of the city, and one of the nearer drives.

Sausalito. Named by 9 of 13 guides read. The ferry from the Ferry Building is the way they send you.

Santa Cruz. Named by 9 of 13 guides read. Written up as a drive of 90 minutes or so, with the transit option taking much longer.

Point Reyes. Named by 8 of 13 guides read. A national seashore in west Marin. Most guides give a drive time and nothing else.

Angel Island. Named by 8 of 13 guides read. A state park island reached by ferry.

Stinson Beach. Named by 7 of 13 guides read. On the Marin coast, often paired with Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais.

Mount Tamalpais. Named by 7 of 13 guides read. The mountain above Mill Valley, usually in the same breath as Muir Woods.

Yosemite. Named by 7 of 13 guides read. Six of them say it’s a very long day and suggest a tour or a night away.

Silicon Valley and San Jose. Named by 7 of 13 guides read. Four of them give Caltrain.

Berkeley. Named by 6 of 13 guides read. The BART trip.

Big Sur. Named by 5 of 13 guides read. A long drive that several fold into a Monterey trip or a night away.

Sacramento. Named by 5 of 13 guides read. By train or bus.

Oakland. Named by 4 of 13 guides read. By BART or ferry.

Tiburon. Named by 3 of 13 guides read. A ferry town beside Angel Island.

Wine country is easier by car or tour. Said by 7 of 13 guides read. They point out that vineyards are spread out and that getting between them is the problem and not getting there.

Santa Cruz, Monterey and Half Moon Bay are written up as drives. Said by 7 of 13 guides read. Three guides add a transit route for Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay, and all of them are slower.

Book Muir Woods ahead. Said by 4 of 13 guides read. The National Park Service’s rules are below.

Easy without a car

Sausalito by ferry. Golden Gate Ferry lists Sausalito at $8.50 one-way on Clipper or a contactless bank card, and $14.00 for a paper ticket. The ferry leaves from behind the Ferry Building. Sausalito is a waterfront town just north of the Golden Gate, and three of the guides add a bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge with the ferry back. The ferry timetable is limited and changes with the season, so look up the last boat back before you go.

Angel Island and Tiburon by ferry. Golden Gate Ferry lists Angel Island at $10.00 on Clipper and $15.50 on paper, and Tiburon at $8.50 and $14.00. California State Parks says park entry is $3 for adults and $2 for youth, that bikes are allowed with a helmet required under 18, and that the park is open from 8 a.m. to sunset. It also says winter weekday service is limited, and from Tiburon the Angel Island Tiburon Ferry runs on a charter basis in winter, so check the timetable before you set out. The Angel Island State Park place page and the Tiburon page list the rest.

Berkeley by BART. Downtown Berkeley station is at 2160 Shattuck Avenue, and BART says it’s close to the UC Berkeley campus. From a downtown San Francisco station, take the Red Line toward Richmond. The guides put the ride at about 25 minutes. From the station you can reach the UC Berkeley Campus and Campanile, and the Berkeley guide lists what else is there. Berkeley is its own city, so check venue hours on each venue’s page.

Oakland by ferry or BART. SF Bay Ferry runs from the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal to Jack London Square in 15 to 25 minutes, depending on direction, for $5.10 one-way from 1 July 2026. Jack London Square is the stop. The Oakland guide lists the museum, the lake and the theatres.

Alcatraz. Three guides list it, and it’s a half-day trip from the city and not a journey out of it. The National Park Service says the only way there is the ferry run by Alcatraz City Cruises from Pier 33. The guides that mention it say to book ahead. See Alcatraz Island.

Muir Woods

Muir Woods National Monument is the trip people ask about most, and the one with rules. These are the National Park Service’s, from nps.gov:

• Parking reservations are required for personal vehicles, and booking is at gomuirwoods.com. They frequently sell out, especially on weekends and holidays.
• Reservations are also required for the seasonal shuttle, which runs from local ferry terminals to the main entrance.
• Hikers and bikers don’t need a parking reservation, and neither do people who arrive by taxi or rideshare.
• There’s no cell service in the park, so download your reservation before you arrive. If you take a taxi or rideshare, you’ll need a plan for a ride back.
• The park is open every day of the year, with seasonal hours. Pets aren’t allowed.
• The entrance fee is $15 per person for ages 16 and over, per the fees page. The parking and shuttle reservation fee is separate, and the page doesn’t list the amount.

Without a car you have three options. The first is the shuttle, but the reservation site, gomuirwoods.com, says it runs from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal on weekends and federal holidays from early spring through September, and that it isn’t in service now and resumes in spring 2027. The second is Marin Transit Route 61, which the NPS says stops about 1.5 miles from the park and 800 feet above it, which makes a hike of about 3 miles round trip with a steep climb back. The third is a taxi or rideshare, which the NPS says needs no parking reservation. Check the NPS directions page for the current routes.

Stinson Beach, Mount Tamalpais and Point Reyes

These three are north of the Golden Gate, and the guides mostly treat them as drives. Marin Transit’s Route 61 runs between Sausalito and Bolinas via Marin City, Mount Tamalpais and Stinson Beach. It has a limited number of trips a day and several hours between some departures, so it’s a plan to build around its timetable and not the other way round. Two guides route you through Sausalito, by ferry or by the 150 bus, and then onto Route 61 for Stinson Beach, and one puts the whole trip at about two and a half hours.

For Point Reyes, the National Park Service says the park is about 30 miles north of San Francisco and that public transport to the Bear Valley Visitor Center is the West Marin Stagecoach from San Rafael. The page doesn’t describe how to get to San Rafael from the city. Mount Tamalpais State Park is above Mill Valley, and the Marin Headlands are at the north end of the bridge.

Napa and Sonoma

Ten guides name wine country, and seven say a car or a tour makes it easier. The Visit Napa Valley site says downtown Napa is about 50 miles north and takes 1 to 2 hours by car depending on traffic and the day. Without a car it describes the SF Bay Ferry to Vallejo and then a VINE bus from the Vallejo Transit Center, a block from the ferry terminal. It also describes the Amtrak San Joaquins train to Martinez and a Thruway bus into Napa.

SF Bay Ferry’s Vallejo page lists a crossing of about 60 minutes from Gate E1 at the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal, for $10.00 one-way from 1 July 2026. That gets you to Vallejo and the bus, and from there it’s still a long way between wineries. For Sonoma none of the guides gives a transit route that holds up, so plan on a car or a tour.

Santa Cruz, Monterey, Half Moon Bay and Big Sur

The guides that give driving times put Half Moon Bay at about 40 minutes, Santa Cruz at around 90 minutes, and Monterey and Carmel at about two hours. Three guides give a transit route for Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz, and the longest put it at two and a half hours or more with changes, and none of the pages for those routes was read, so treat the figures as the guides’, not confirmed. Big Sur is the longest of the four, and several guides turn it into an overnight. These are the trips where renting a car for one day is the sensible answer, and the getting around guide explains why you can skip it for the rest.

Silicon Valley and Yosemite

Seven guides name San Jose, Palo Alto or Stanford. Caltrain lists a San Francisco station and stops at Palo Alto and San Jose Diridon, and it’s a train trip and not a drive. Yosemite is a different kind of trip. Six of the 13 guides say it’s a long day by car and suggest a tour or a night away, and seven name it at all.

Which trip for which day

Half a day, no booking. Sausalito by ferry, or Berkeley by BART.

A full day on the water. Angel Island by ferry. Take lunch, because the park’s café is seasonal.

Redwoods. Muir Woods, with a reservation if you drive and a plan for the return if you don’t. Check the shuttle status first.

Wine. A tour, or a car. If you want to try without either, the ferry to Vallejo and a bus is the route Napa’s own site describes.

Coast and beaches. Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz or Point Reyes, and a rental car for the day.

Something for the evening. Oakland by ferry for dinner or a gig, and BART home while it’s still running. The events page lists Oakland and Berkeley shows under their own names.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best day trips from San Francisco without a car?

Sausalito and Angel Island by ferry, and Berkeley and Oakland by BART or ferry. Those are the four that need no booking and no driving. Muir Woods is possible without a car, but the shuttle isn’t running now.

Can you get to Muir Woods without a car?

Yes, with effort. The National Park Service says hikers, bikers and people arriving by taxi or rideshare don’t need a parking reservation, and it lists Marin Transit Route 61 as a bus that stops about 1.5 miles away. The seasonal shuttle from the Larkspur ferry terminal resumes in spring 2027, per its reservation site.

Do you need a reservation for Muir Woods?

For a personal vehicle, yes. Parking reservations are required, and so are reservations for the shuttle. Hikers, bikers and rideshare or taxi riders don’t need a parking reservation. The entrance fee is $15 per person for ages 16 and over.

Is Napa a day trip from San Francisco?

Yes. Downtown Napa is about 50 miles away, and Napa’s own site says the drive is 1 to 2 hours. The guides that name it mostly suggest a car or a tour, and seven say so outright.

Is Berkeley or Oakland a day trip?

Both are close and both are separate cities from San Francisco. BART gets you to Downtown Berkeley in about 25 minutes by the guides’ count, and SF Bay Ferry takes 15 to 25 minutes to Oakland’s Jack London Square.

Can you visit Alcatraz as a day trip?

Yes, and it’s half a day. The ferry from Pier 33 is the only way there. Book ahead, as the guides say.

See what’s on while you’re there on the events page, or open the map to see the day trips beside the city.

Sources: 13 guides in English, and 14 official pages

Guides in English

• The 20 Best Day Trips From San Francisco (Without a Car)The Mandagies
• Day Trips From San Francisco Without a CarHostelling International USA
• 23 Best Day Trips from San Francisco (By a Local)Travel Lemming
• 5 Absolute Best Day Trips from San FranciscoFull Suitcase
• 33 Best Day Trips From San FranciscoThe Planet D
• The 15 Best Day Trips From San Francisco (2026 Guide)Nomadasaurus
• 35 Great Day Trips from San FranciscoEverybody Hates a Tourist
• Day Trips From San Francisco Without a CarSnap Happy Travel
• Best Day Trips from San Francisco: Redwoods, Wine Country, Islands & MoreNomado Travel
• The 11 Best Day Trips from San FranciscoTerritory Supply
• Best Day Trips from San FranciscoAAA TripCanvas
• Day Trips from San FranciscoA Lady in London
• 3 Car-Free San Francisco Day TripsThe Bold Italic

Official pages

• NPS, Muir Woods, know before you gonps.gov
• NPS, Muir Woods, feesnps.gov
• NPS, Muir Woods, directionsnps.gov
• Muir Woods reservation site, shuttlegomuirwoods.com
• Golden Gate Ferry, faresgoldengate.org
• California State Parks, Angel Islandparks.ca.gov
• BART, Downtown Berkeleybart.gov
• SF Bay Ferry, Oakland and Alamedasfbayferry.com
• SF Bay Ferry, Vallejosfbayferry.com
• Visit Napa Valley, getting therevisitnapavalley.com
• Marin Transit, route 61marintransit.gov
• NPS, Point Reyes, directionsnps.gov
• NPS, Alcatraz, directionsnps.gov
• Caltraincaltrain.com

Places in this guide

Photos show the actual places, licensed under Creative Commons and credited to their photographers.

Sausalito Marin and the Bay Photo: Thank You (25 Millions ) views Golden Gate Bridge Marina and Presidio Photo: Tom Hilton Angel Island State Park Marin and the Bay Photo: Ken Lund Tiburon Marin and the Bay Photo: nestor ferraro Jack London Square Oakland Photo: Tony Webster