I need help from the Californians!

jambayleaf

Berkeley is basically San Francisco, except East Bay (as I understand it). So, say I chose this show to attend, do you stay in San Fran, or try to find somewhere near Berkeley? How much does cab or Shuttlebus cost of you were to stay in SF?

Santa Cruz. Any info? Looks like a small community with not alot to do there, but can anybody confirm this? Still looks nice.

Any help would be appreciated. My wife and I are trying to figure out what to choose.

PresIntense

No real need to stay in SF, unless you want to see the city. Any hotel near the airport with shuttle service would be more convenient for you. You can take the BART train to the Berkeley campus, and walk to Zellerbach Hall from there, damn, I wish Ed had chosen to play the Greek Theater, also on campus and sooooo much better. Santa Cruz is gonna be a drive no matter what, hopefully you can hookup with a car pool or something. It is a sleepy little beach town with a nice stretch of sand and a pretty cool boardwalk, don't know if that's open in April though. Hope I was helpful.

jambayleaf

You were helpful. Thank you! We've never been to SF, so I think we would want to hang out and see the sites a little, not just Berkeley. I guess we can do that pretty easy on the BART, huh?

walkunafraid

I don't live in Northern California, but I visit there often. From my experiences, the BART is the best way to go for Berkeley/SF; it will take you within walking distance of pretty much anywhere you want to go, and it beats the hell out of driving the confusing, chaotic streets of San Francisco.

My advice: stay somewhere outside of San Francisco (it will be cheaper), and use the BART to get to the city. You can walk and/or take the BART or cabs once you get into SF.

djonesr

I live 5 minutes from Santa Cruz. Boy Am I stoked to have Eddie come to my back yard!

Santa Cruz is an awesome place to visit. Quite a bit laid back, but still lots of stuff to do. It's a more nature type place in the day. Lots of restaurants and some kewl clubs at night.

Lots of hippies and hippie wanna-bees. You would have a good time if you came to Santa Cruz.

It's well over an hour drive to SF from Santa Cruz.

Staying in Berkeley is loads of fun too. It can also be a pretty unsafe area at night, depending on where you are.

Like others said, staying in SF might be pretty expensive, but the hotwire online sites can get you some pretty good hotel deals. But no doubt, SF is king of the tourist attractions if that's what you are looking for and you don't think you'll make your way to the bay area again.

jammergirl

I would reccomend staying in berkeley, there are some okay hotels around the campus. the only reason i say this is because the bart stops running about midnight, so right after the concert you might have to immediately run to catch the last train. might as well make a night of it and relax in berkeley!

chiquimonkey

there are hotels close to campus you might want to look into. like jammergirl said, the BART trains stop running at midnight, at least if you stay in berkeley then you don't have to worry about rushing

a little more spendy but nice
http://www.jdvhotels.com/durant/

french hotel on shattuck, small european-style place, in the heart of the gourmet ghetto so you can score some good breakfast in the morning

here's a link from the university site of places to stay
http://calparents.berkeley.edu/guide/visiting/stay.html

beware of motels on university avenue, they can be pretty sketchy especially at night

hope this helps!

SDHSClassof82

jambayleaf wrote:

Santa Cruz. Any info? Looks like a small community with not alot to do there, but can anybody confirm this? Still looks nice.

I wouldn't say it was sleepy - I guess compared to San Fran and Berkeley it is.

Santa Cruz is home to UC Santa Cruz and 15,000 college students. Lots to do. Wharf, skate park, surfing, hiking, mountain biking, redwoods, galleries, bookstores, restaurants, (very) small but lively downtown.

There are buses from the Bay Area but it would take forever. Rental car is a must. I'd count on 2+ hour drive time from Berkeley, 1 1/2 hour from San Francisco not during commute hours (7-9:30a and 4:00-6:30p).

There are several hotels around the beach and boardwalk which is walking distance to the Civic. I'd try the Ramada Limited. The Boardwalk amusement park is open weekends in the spring.

Pretty and unique small city.

boxwine_in_hell

Be careful. I've had to take a taxi from SF to Berkeley. The last BART train leaves at like 1am, so if you're out drinking you're screwed. It's like a $70 cab ride.

jambayleaf

All of the responses have been SUPER helpful. Thanks everybody for your input. Our decision is even more confusing!!!!

Thanks again, and good luck on Monday!

ZAPPER

You could stay in Berkeley somewhere - BUT - for about the same price - you could stay in emeryville, which is right in between Berkeley and Oaktown - but they have really nice hotels in Emeryville (opposed to nasty Motels on University Ave.) In emeryville, there is a Radisson, HJ extended stay, Holiday Inn, and a few others.

I would highly suggest staying in Emeryville, the location is central to everything, at the foot of the Bay Bridge, so you can head in any direction you want, where the 80/580/680/880 all meet. And to get over to CAL campus, you only have to take a bus, or BART it over 2 stops, forget about worrying about parking - you can even walk there from emeryville if you really wanted. (+ a little safer in emville - than Cal or Oak.

However, if you are willing to shell out a few more clams, you can stay in a SF hotel like W or Cathedral Hill or take your pick from tons of others.


And Santa Cruz isnt TOO far from the bay

See you all there assuming we west siders get tix!