OAK · Layover Guide
Oakland
Stop in Oakland.
Best layover: 3–24h
LayoverScore™
Base city score. Your route score varies by savings and timing.
Exit realism
Comfortable window
Enough room in Oakland for a real stop. Keep the buffer at the end anyway.
Landside playbook
If time slips
- Drop the last stop. Go straight to the train, taxi rank, or ride pickup you already chose.
- Add 15 minutes to map ETAs for the return leg at rush hour.
- One ticket for the whole trip protects you when the inbound is late. Separate tickets do not.
Worth knowing
- Do not stack three stops. One solid block in the city beats a rushed loop.
- Do not treat one map time as gospel for immigration lines. Pad on your first pass through this hub.
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Places to stay
Search hotelsLayoverScore™ breakdown
Score 60 · Discover 45 · Ease 26
Why Oakland scores 60
Getting there
BART $2.5 · Uber/Lyft $22
min to center
train- 01BART train to downtown (25 min, $2.50)
- 02Uber/Lyft to downtown (15-25 min, $18-30)
- 03AC Transit bus (35-45 min, $2.50)
- 01Jack London Square waterfront dining and historic First & Last Chance Saloon
- 02Lake Merritt urban lake loop with Bonsai Garden and bird sanctuary
- 03Oakland Museum of California's art, history, and natural sciences galleries
- 04Temescal Alley boutique shopping and Blue Bottle Coffee origin spot
- 05Swan's Market food hall with local vendors and craft cocktails
Experiences in Oakland
Timed tours and tickets for Oakland are listed on our partner site.
Open listingsOpens in a new tab.
Need a room for your layover? Browse hotels near the airport.
Where to stay →Drop your luggage. Don't drag it around the city.
Bounce Luggage Storage - Jack London Square
Jack London Square
$6/bag
5 min walk
Waterfront Hotel
Jack London Square
$89/day
3 min walk
From the terminal to the good part.
BART
to downtown Oakland
Coliseum station connector to airport, runs every 10-20 min
25 min
$2.50
Uber/Lyft
Variable with traffic, pickup at Terminal 1 & 2 curbs
18 min
$22.00
BART to San Francisco
to Embarcadero/Powell
Easy day trip to SF if you have 8+ hours
45 min
$5.50
Oakland Museum General Admission
All galleries plus special exhibitions
Free first Sundays
$16
per day
Getting there
Get an Uber from the airportAt the airport
- 01Relatively small and easy to navigate
- 02Local food options including Plank and Pyramid Alehouse
- 03Quick TSA lines compared to SFO
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