Travelling to Redwood City
About Redwood City
Redwood City is situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, next to the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Area is a densely populated region south-east of San Francisco, where many hardware vendors have facilities or offices. It's also the home to many well known universities and institutions like Stanford, Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and others. Although the area itself is urban, on the west side there is a hill range separating the Bay from the Pacific Ocean - this hill range, as well as the coast line, is very attractive for visits - as is the hill range east of the Bay. And of course San Francisco is a fascinating town well worth spending some time.
To end all confusion about Redwood City versus Redwood Shores - the conference location and hotels are strictly spoken in Redwood Shores, which is north of the Bay coast highway 101 - Redwood City itself is south of the 101. However, Redwood Shores is simply part of Redwood City, and therefore most facilities specify the latter name. You will find both names on most maps.
Getting to Redwood City
Redwood City is near to three airports. The major airport and international hub is SFO (San Francisco International Airport), from where it is only 11 miles (17 km) to the facilities. Somewhat further off is San José airport (SJC), which is 22 miles away. In all cases taking a taxi or shuttle bus is the most convenient choice. The Sofitel hotel offers a free shuttle service on demand. Of course you can rent a car at any of the airports, and will have a whole range of choices there - especially at SFO. There is no need to book this in advance.
You can take buses from SFO, or use BART (subway) and CALTRAIN (train) - this is certainly more adventurous but will consume considerably more time, we know by own experience. You can check this out by clicking here. Oracle, our local host, has additionally specified that SamTrans (San Mateo County's Transit Agency) provides public bus service between the Millbrae BART station (one BART subway stop away from SFO) and Palo Alto with three stops on Oracle Parkway - one of which is directly in front of the Oracle Conference Center.
Maps
An overview map of where Redwood City is, is shown here. More detailed, zoomable maps, are rendered by e.g. searching for "350 Oracle Parkway", the TC location -- both hotels are within 1 mile on the "Twin Dolphin Drive" which you will find immediately on the same map, south of the red-star indicating 350 Oracle Parkway.
Driving Instructions
Our kind local host Oracle provided us with the following driving instructions for the TC location:
Southbound: Take Highway 101 South (toward San Jose) to the Ralston Ave./Marine World Parkway exit. Take Marine World Parkway east which will loop you back over the freeway. Make a left at the first light onto Oracle Parkway. 350 Oracle Parkway will be on the right.
Northbound: Take Highway 101 North (toward San Francisco) to the Ralston Ave./Marine World Parkway exit. Take the first exit ramp onto Marine World Parkway. Make a left at the first light onto Oracle Parkway. 350 Oracle Parkway will be on the right.
Parking: The Conference Center has a designated parking lot located directly across from the building. If the lot is filled there is also additional parking in any of the parking garages located near by. No parking permits are needed.
