AIR TRAVEL
The San Francisco Bay Area (click for map) has three large airports with scheduled passenger service. SFO and OAK are the likely choices for a trip to Napa, which is in the northern part of the area.
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the Bay Area's major international hub.
- Oakland International Airport (OAK) is popular for domestic flights, and has an increasing international presence. Norwegian offers nonstop 787 service between OAK and London-Gatwick, Oslo, Stockholm, and Barcelona. British Airways will begin nonstop 777 service between OAK and Gatwick by the timeframe of the meeting.
The Bay Area's third significant airport, San Jose International (SJC), is some 35 often-traffic-jammed miles further to the south, and would usually not be in the running for a trip to Napa unless you have additional business at Stanford/SLAC or in Silicon Valley.
Sacramento International Airport (SAC) is a mostly-domestic airport that may be more convenient for some. It is comparable to SFO or OAK in its distance from Napa, albeit in a different direction.
GROUND TRANSPORTATION
Most travelers would opt for either a rental car (to save money and reduce traffic and pollution, you may wish to compare notes with colleagues to see if sharing a car is feasible) or an "airporter" door-to-door shuttle.
- Napa Airporter (http://napaairporter.com/our-rates/) is $75 each way or $135 round-trip, not including gratuity, to and from SFO, OAK, or SAC.
- Evans Transportation (http://www.evanstransportation.com/rates_scheduled_airporter.php) is $60 not including gratuity, cash only, each way to and from SFO or OAK.
The meeting venue is 62 miles from SFO, 54 miles from OAK, and 67 miles from SAC. The drive takes about an hour and a half off-peak; allow an extra hour (at least!) in commute traffic. Resources such as Google Maps or 511.org give realtime traffic estimates for various routings.
It is possible, but quite unwieldy (a 5-6 hour trip involving multiple forms of transportation), to get from these airports to Napa by public transit.
