bypassing san francisco north to south

[classa35pluscrv]

What is the best route to bypass sf from north on 101 down to Monterey?

[kazmir]

2 ways to go:

Take 101 south over Golden Gate Bridge. Stay in right lane and take 19th Ave through the city. 19th turns into Hwy 280. From there head south on 280 to Hwy 85 in Cupertino. Take 85 south to either 17 to go over the hill to Santa Cruz to catch Hwy 1 and head south to Monterey or take 85 to Hwy 101 south of San Jose to continue onto Monterey.

Other route is through East Bay. From 101 take Hwy 580 in San Rafael over Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Continue on 580 to Hwy 80, then in a couple miles take Hwy 880 towards Oakland (its an exit from the left hand lanes). 880 crosses 101 to go south to Monterey or if you continue on it until it turns into Hwy 17 to go over to Santa Cruz and onto Monterey.

Any way will have traffic from 6 am until 9 am and again from 4 pm until after 6 pm. Best to hit it in off hours. Should take 2.5 to 3 hours to go from San Rafael to Monterey with no traffic.

[JohnG3]

North of SF on 101 take the Richmond/Rafael bridge through Richmond/Oakland late morning or early afternoon, avoiding the morning and evening commute. I did that route several months ago on late morning weekday and it wasn't too bad.

Check Google Earth and "drive" the route at street level.

[kalynzoo]

Yeah, straight down the 101. It's doable. If you have a lot of time and are really San Francisco reluctant, you could take the 20 around Clear Lake and pick up the I-5 to Sacramento. Then head south of the 5 and cross back over to the 101 going to San Jose. Only worth while if your planning to spend a few days checking out Napa or Sacramento area. Otherwise, just take the 101.

[the_bear_II]

580 will take you around to the east and then get you back to the 101.

Or further to the east 680

In my opinion 101 would be the route I would take. Try to hit the Golden Gate after 10 am on Tues thru Wednesday or Saturday/Sunday or late at night for the least traffic. Take your time when you hit the Streets of San Francisco until you're back on the 101 freeway

[SCVJeff]

The only way to bypass the Bay Area is to get out of it. The 580, and the others east of the bay are often worse than just sticking on the 101. They're all miserable, that's why BART, etc. is so popular