No idea where to post this so i'll try here. Can anyone tell me how long it might take to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco? Is it possible to do it in a day? Sorry to say but your huuuge country just throws out all my attempts at a sensible estimate! :-)

Thanks!

I just looked it up for you at www.mapquest.com  and it says it's about a 5hr trip.

Thank you!! My saviour. It's for that new story I'm working on which I should be able to start posting fairly soon.

Glad to be of service. I'll be looking for your new story!

The last time I took that drive, it was closer to six hours.  This is taking into account a couple of stops on the way, and we were traveling in the day time when traffic is a little heavier.

Must have been fun! :-D Well, Spike's driving and I'm sure he'd break the speed limit... So maybe I'll go somewhere in the middle of 5 and 6 hours. Thank you for the added wisdom!

Continuing from this... How could you get from LA to SF by public transport? Is there a train or would coach be the best bet? And how long do you think they would take? Very in-depth research for about one sentence of story! :-)

It would probably be a bus. I don't live in California, but I know you can take buses from Philly to New York, so I assume you could take a bus form L.A. to San Fransisco.

I'm guessing the most logical public transportation would be a Greyhound bus.  I'm sure there are trains, but they would be more expensive.  Also, someone could take a plane.   There are often pretty good deals for short plane trips to S.F. or Vegas.

How long do you think a bus would take? And a plane? Thanks for all the help by the way.

Bus would probably take about the same about of time as a car. Plane might take around forty minutes, but I'm guessing with that.

The train takes the coastal route and is very beautiful and fun, and has a dining car and viewing car all that. Lots of nooks and crannies for Spuffy fun, if you lean that way. Also, you can get a room, with either shared or private bath. It leaves LA at noon and supposedly gets into Oakland (across a bridge from SF) at around 8PM. It is always late, though, so arriving at midnight isn't all that strange. It's pretty cheap, less than $100, last I checked. Besides the Coast Starlight, there are other Amtrak train/bus combos that route you through either Bakersfield or Paso Robles (inland or coastal) which leave at other times of the day.

The greyhound is still around, but can take longer than the train, unless you make sure you get an "express". The non-express stops in every podunk along the way, and there of lots of podunks! It might be a little cheaper, but much less pleasant, than the choo-choo. The clientel on the west coast leans toward the down-and-out, alas.

The LA-SF train does not go to SF. Amtrak has no tracks to SF. The train drops off in Oakland (or Emeryville) where you  transfer to a bus, which takes you over the Bay Bridge to the scenic Ferry Building at Market and Embarcadero in about 20 minutes. The drive over the bridge is spectacular, especially during the evening (sunset!) and night (city lights!). Stop me anytime with my "taking the train to SF" obsession. It's giving me a plot bunny!

Wow, thanks for all that info. Sadly, the Spuffy is after the journey... and my Buffy is too depressed to notice the scenery. But still very interesting. I may well go for the plane option.

Oops, that was me above, saying thanks.

Did the drive recently, and it is really boring. Nothing along the way - not even many towns. A few fields of fruit trees, and some windmills were the highlights, (except for the refrigerator in the middle of the road!) Traveled along the coast a little near Malibu, it's pretty, but very slow. Also a little scary if narrow roads, cliffs and sharp turns are not your thing.

I like the coastal route much better than ever taking the 5Fwy up north. The 1/101 drive is much prettier.

It's pretty easy to get a flight from LA to SF, too.

CM