SF to San Jose-East Bay Route

A trip along the East Bay to San Jose links these cities via the following segments:

1. San Francisco to Alameda Ferry Terminal (by ferry)
2. Alameda Ferry Terminal to Oakland Airport Hilton
3. Oakland Airport to Hayward
4. Hayward to Newark
5. Newark to Milpitas
6. Milpitas to San Jose Caltrain (back to San Francisco)

Segments:

1. Ferry Building to Alameda Ferry Terminal:

If you are coming from San Francisco, check the ferry schedule for trips to Alameda Ferry Terminal, where the walk begins. Allow yourself two hours for the trip as the ferries do not run frequently.

Note: If you are starting from the East Bay you can skip this step.

2. Alameda Ferry Terminal to Oakland Airport Hilton Hotel (7.7 miles, 2.5 hours’ walking time):

Walk through Alameda to the Oakland Airport. Book your first night at the Hilton Hotel. It’s best to use national chains so you can cancel reservations if for any reason plans change or you don’t make it by 6pm the day of your walk.

You can deviate along the Central Avenue strip and walk through some of the great Victorias in Central Alameda. Just keep your target destination in mind at the key junctions where major turns have to be made and so you don’t drift too far off course. (You can do this on most legs of the walks, and you can get off the main roads if you are familiar with the neighborhoods, but mind the dead end streets and road blocks that might result in backtracking.)

3. Oakland Airport Hilton Hotel to Hayward Fairfield Inn (10 miles, 3 hours, 17 min., without breaks):

Leaving the Oakland Airport Hilton Hotel, you will travel along Doolittle Drive past the Golf Course for about 3 miles, then zigzag over to Hesperian Blvd past the Hayward Airport for another 3 miles or so, and then through Chabot College. The final leg is along Gettysburg Avenue to Industrial Blvd.

We stopped at the Tomodachi Sushi Bistro for lunch and then the Favorite Indian Restaurant for dinner. The Hayward Fairfield Inn is next to the Illumina site.

4. Hayward to Newark (11 miles, 3 hours 30 min.)

Continue along Industrial Blvd and Union City Blvd. to Newark Blvd. You will go through some bedroom communities to NewPark Mall, where the Newark Chase Suites are located.

5. Newark to Milpitas Larkspur Landing Hotel (11 miles, 3 hours, 37 minutes)

This segment will take you along Boyce Road, Cushing Parkway, and Dixon Landing Road, and N. McCarthy Road.

We had lunch at Joe the Greek Cafe for lunch and Romano’s Macaroni Grill for dinner in Milpitas. We stayed at the Milpitas Larkspur Landing Hotel.

6. Milpitas to Caltrain Station in San Jose (8 miles, 2 hours, 43 min.)

This shorter segment travels along McCarthy Road, E. Brokaw, and N. First Street in San Jose. You can choose to go along N. 4th Street, where there is more commercial activity, or along the more residential streets that parallel N. First.

If you start early in the morning, you should be able to finish this segment by lunchtime, with plenty of time to have lunch, relax and revel in successfully completing your walk from San Francisco or Alameda to San Jose!

You can transfer to BART back to the East Bay from the Millbrae Station or continue to San Francisco and disembark Caltrain at either the 22nd Street or 4th Street Station.

We had lunch at SPS Bistro and Wine Restaurant in San Jose and returned from the Caltrain Station to San Francisco.