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I am current living at Vancouver. I am aiming to cross the border next week and travel all the way to San Francisco along U.S. Route 101, which goes along the coast.

Are there buses/coaches/trains or other public transportation that follow this route? Is it easy to just get in a bus and goes to the next city (between Newport to Coos Bay for example)?

I am concerned about the practicality, as well as the cost. It seems that one can go from Seattle to San Francisco by bus for about 100$ (ref) but it might be much more expensive if I want to go down to San Francisco step by step to enjoy spending some time in key cities along the way.

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    With some small exceptions I think this is doable. Keep in mind that 101 does not follow the coast through most of northern California, but you'll probably be too amazed by the redwoods to notice. And there is virtually no public transit on CA 1 through this part of the state. Some careful searching on rome2rio.com will turn up the local bus agencies you will need.
    – Michael Hampton
    Jun 30, 2015 at 3:14
  • Does it have to be a bus? Trains might be better on that route
    – Gagravarr
    Jun 30, 2015 at 11:17
  • Trains would be perfectly fine as well. I just did not expect trains to be a better choice. Thnks
    – Remi.b
    Jun 30, 2015 at 14:42

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For the first part of your journey, I'd suggest using the train. The Amtrak Cascades service runs between Vancouver and Eugene in Oregon:

Amtrack Cascades map from www.amtrakcascades.com/images/AmtrakCascadesMap.jpg

You can find their timetable on their website, but a few of the services are actually buses. I'd suggest trying for the train rather than the bus, as the views can be better!

You can save some money by booking in advance, but the fairly last minute tickets aren't too terribly priced, if you want to stay flexible with when and where you travel along the way

For the next part south, you could take the bus, or you could take the train. Amtrak run a daily service called the Coastal Starlight train, between Seattle and Los Angeles, which will get you from Oregon to Oakland (bus/BART from there to SF). Heading south, it does that section overnight though, which might not be so good for stopping off to see places. Booking for tomorrow for a seat is only about $75 from Eugene to Oakland, so not too bad for last-minute prices, but overnight in a seat might not be so much fun...

Alternately for that section, Rome2Rio offers some other options, including several Greyhound buses a day between Eugene and Sacramento. You could maybe look at using Greyhound to get you the next bit, with daytime travel and stop-offs as desired.

If you do take the bus to Sacramento, then there are frequent-ish Amtrak Capitol Corridor trains to get you to SF in about 3.5 hours for a fairly reasonable price.

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    The Cascades and the Coast Starlight are great rides, but they don't go anywhere near the coast between Vancouver and the Bay Area, and that seems to be one of the OP's goals (specifically mentioning the 101, Newport, and Coos Bay for example). It's a fine alternative, but then so is busing down the eastern track through Bend and Klamath Falls.
    – choster
    Jun 30, 2015 at 16:17
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After some time with Google, I believe the answer is no. There is no problem going inland via Sacramento, either by bus or train. I don't know Greyhound's stop-off policy. I believe with advance notice, Amtrak allows one. There are a great number of fine tourist attractions on that route, but it isn't what the OP asked for.

Greyhound runs a service up 101 from San Francisco as far as Eureka and Arcata, but I don't see any way further North, even on county bus systems. Mendocino County has buses from Santa Rosa (connected to San Francisco by Golden Gate Transit bus service, fairly frequent) that will eventually get you to Fort Bragg on the coast or Willits on 101, but they don't seem to connect to anything beyond (except at Willits, you could get Greyhound to Arcata).

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