Driving the Route
The most direct route is I-580 West to I-5 South. It's about 470 miles and usually takes 7 to 8 hours without traffic. The carpool lane on I-580 west of Gilroy can move fast even during rush hour, which is worth using if you're leaving the Bay Area early morning. Exiting onto Highway 101 through San Luis Obispo instead of staying on I-5 saves you the shoulder-warmup feeling, but adds maybe 20 minutes to your drive and goes through more towns with speed traps. I've done this drive probably two dozen times across the years. The real problem nobody warns you about is the 41-mile stretch between Coalinga and Paso Robles on I-5 where there's no alternate route and roadwork happens constantly. Last October, a lane closure pushed traffic into a single slow lane for nearly three miles and I was sitting there for 45 minutes. My workaround was pulling into the rest area at Kingsburg, checking Caltrans alert maps on my phone, and taking CA-99 South instead of I-5 all the way down to the Bakersfield interchange. It added maybe 15 miles but cut two hours off the delay. The San Joaquins line from Stockton connects to the Surfliner at Sanderson, which gets you to LA. That puts the total trip at roughly 10 to 12 hours depending on connections. The fare runs about $60 to $120 one way if you book ahead. The Amtrak California Sleeper is another option but the schedule is limited and it often costs more than driving if you're solo. You also need to factor in getting from Santa Clara to the Stockton station, which means driving or taking a VTA bus first.
Greyhound and FlixBus run this route too. Expect 9 to 11 hours and fares in the $40 to $80 range. The buses don't have as much legroom as the trains. You also get stuck behind trucks on I-5 with no way around it. I took the FlixBus once during a heat wave when the AC gave out somewhere near Shafter. Not a great memory. You can't really do anything about it except hope the next stop has working air conditioning.
Flying
SJC to LAX is about a 1.5 hour flight. The actual flying time is short, but once you add airport transit, security, and boarding, the whole process usually takes 4 to 5 hours door to door. Southwest flies this route frequently and United too. If you have a pre-Check credential, skip the TSA main line. It shaves off 10 to 15 minutes usually. The thing people forget is that LAX is a nightmare to get into from. If you're staying in downtown LA or Santa Monica, Factor a train or bus ride from the airport that can take another 45 minutes during peak hours. Sometimes driving from LAX to central locations takes longer than just taking the train from Santa Clara to LA Union Station. Gas for a midsize sedan at 25 mpg with gas averaging $5.50 a gallon around here comes to roughly $103 one way. Tolls aren't huge on this route. The I-680 Express Lane near Gilroy charges about $1 to $3 depending on time of day. Parking in LA varies wildly. Downtown LA garages run $25 to $40 a day.Street parking is scarce and you'll get ticketed if you miss the signage. If you're staying in West LA or Santa Monica, look for residential permits or hotels that include parking. That alone can save you $200 on a week-long trip. The I-5 can get brutal during holiday weekends. Labor Day weekend 2023, I watched a Google Maps estimate jump from 7 hours to 11 hours two miles south of Grapevine. Leaving Thursday night instead of Friday morning cut my trip from a painful 11 hours down to about 7.5. It's not a trick, it's just knowing when the volume hits.
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What Works and What Doesn't
Driving is the most flexible and usually the cheapest for one or two people. Flying wins if you have a layover-heavy schedule or someone in your party can't sit in a car for 8 hours. Trains and buses make sense if you want to read or sleep through part of it and you don't mind the longer time. The train is comfortable enough but the connection timing is tight and one delayed train throws the whole thing off. If you're traveling with a group of three or more, splitting a rental car and gas almost always beats flying because you're paying for multiple seats plus baggage fees. At four people, you're looking at maybe $140 in gas and parking versus $600 to $800 in flights. The math changes pretty quickly once you factor in car rentals for the destination too. I-5 is straightforward but monotonous. I-101 has more scenic sections through the coastal mountains and passes through smaller towns with better food stops. The drive takes about the same time. I usually pick I-101 when I want to stop somewhere along the way and I-5 when I just want to get there. There isn't a meaningful difference in safety between the two. Both have sections that demand attention, especially around Tejon Pass where grades and weather can create hazardous conditions in winter.
One more thing. If you're driving and you plan to use Waze or Google Maps, keep your phone mounted and plugged in. Cell service drops for long stretches between Cholame and Coalinga. Downloading offline maps before you leave Santa Clara will save you from panic when the screen goes blank for 20 minutes.
