By ship
The Alameda-Oakland Ferry (http://www.eastbayferry.com) has departures from both Pier 41 and the Ferry Building in San Francisco, weekdays year-round and weekends except for mid-winter. Its Oakland terminal is at the foot of Clay St. in Jack London Square. On summer weekends there are also trips to Angel Island (http://www.angelisland.org/, an island park in the middle of the bay, formerly an immigration station.)
By plane
Oakland International Airport IATA: OAK is served by many domestic and international carriers. There is private shuttle service $10-25 to hotels in Oakland and San Francisco, and public transit service AirBART (http://www.bart.gov/guide/airport/oak.asp, and AC Transit (http://www.actransit.org) Line 73 or Line 805) to the Oakland Coliseum BART Station which takes exactly 12 mintues from the airport to the Oakland Coliseum Bart Station which is adjacent to the similarly named Amtrak Capitol Corridor station.
Other air travel options include the San Francisco (http://www.flysfo.com/) IATA: SFO and San Jose (http://www.sjc.org/) IATA: SJC International Airports. SFO, with its BART station, is the more convenient of the two and also sits closer to Oakland. Those flying into SJC may have to battle significant traffic, pay for an expensive van or taxi ride, or take VTA's Airport Flyer Route 10 (http://www.vta.org/schedu...) to the Santa Clara Caltrain Station, then Caltrain to the Millbrae Intermodal Station, and then BART toward Oakland. From SFO and Millbrae, BART provides direct service to West Oakland, Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, and Coliseum stations; those traveling to other Oakland stations, such as Oakland City Center/12th Street, must change trains no later than West Oakland.
For private pilots, Oakland Airport ICAO: KOAK has a separate General Aviation area "North Field", essentially the equivalent of another airport to the north of the commercial facilities, with separate tower, taxiways, and radio frequencies. Its long runway is frequently used for jet travel, and Oakland makes a far better GA destination than San Francisco's ICAO: KSFO complex, heavily trafficked field.
By train
Oakland is served by the regional rail system Bay Area Rapid Transit BART (http://www.bart.gov/) and the nationwide, long-distance rail service Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com/), with the Bay Area's largest Amtrak station located in the neighboring city of Emeryville.
BART (http://www.bart.gov/) is a subway/elevated rapid transit system of the Bay Area. It connects Oakland to San Francisco, the Peninsula, Contra Costa County, and the far northeastern reach of Silicon Valley. There is plans of also extending a BART line to San Jose. Prices on BART vary by the distance you need to travel; a one-way ticket to Oakland is usually $2-4.
The following Amtrak lines serve the Oakland station at Jack London Square, an easy twenty-minute walk away from the center of Downtown:
Capitol Corridor
(http://www.amtrakcapitols.com/) San Jose to Auburn via Sacramento). The route also includes a stop at the Oakland Coliseum/Airport Amtrak station, adjacent to the Oakland Coliseum BART station. The Oakland Coliseum/Airport Amtrak station has no station agents. Passengers may board the train and buy the tickets from the conductor at no surcharge.San Joaquins
(http://www.amtrakcaliforn...) Oakland to Bakersfield, CaliforniaCoast Starlight
(http://www.amtrak.com) Seattle to Los AngelesThe California Zephyr route Emeryville, California to Chicago starts and ends at the nearby Emeryville Amtrak station, accessible on public transit by AC Transit (http://www.actransit.org/) line 31 and by the Emery-Go-Round shuttle (http://www.emerygoround.com/) to the Macarthur BART station in the Temescal neighborhood.
AC Transit Route 73 (http://www.actransit.org/...) day and Route 805 (http://www.actransit.org/...) owl provide fast, frequent, inexpensive, 24-hour bus service between the Oakland Coliseum BART station and the Oakland International Airport. Amtrak Capitol Corridor customers pay $0; ask your train conductor for a Transit Transfer. BART customers pay $1.75; take a BART-to-bus transfer from the white machine, before leaving the paid area of the BART station. The second part of either transfer is valid for a discounted return trip within several days. Otherwise, AC Transit's regular cash fare is $2.
AirBART is a direct bus shuttle between the Oakland International Airport and the Oakland Coliseum BART (http://www.bart.gov/) train station. The shuttle costs $3 for adults and $1 for children, seniors and persons with disabilities. AirBART accepts fare payment in the form of prepaid BART tickets, available just inside the BART station's entrance; you can also pay by inserting three $1 bills into the machine on the bus.
By bus
Specific AC Transit Transbay bus routes (http://www.actransit.org/...) run between San Francisco's Transbay Terminal and different parts of Oakland. Some run as often as every 15 minutes. The Transbay All Nighter Route 800 (http://www.actransit.org/...) serves San Francisco's Market Street, the Transbay Terminal, Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond. Additional All Nighter (http://www.actransit.org/...) routes link other areas with Oakland, after BART shuts down for the night.
Greyhound (http://www.greyhound.com) has a terminal conveniently located in downtown Oakland, on San Pablo Avenue near 20th Street. It's notorious -- be careful.
By car
From San Francisco, Highway 80 east over the beautiful Bay Bridge leads to Highways 580, 880, and 980, which go to east, west, and downtown Oakland respectively.
From Marin, Sonoma, and other counties along the northern coast of California, take US-101 to Highway 580 and cross the Richmond Bridge. 580 leads directly into Oakland.
From Monterey, Salinas, and the Central Coast, follow US-101 to San Jose and connect to Highway 880, which leads to Oakland.
From Tracy, Modesto, and the Central Valley's southern portion Southern California, too, take the scenic Highway 580 over the Altamont Pass.
From Stockton, either follow the Altamont Pass route or take Highway 4 through Contra Costa County to Highway 242, then to Highway 680, which connects to Highway 24.
From Contra Costa County, Highway 24 through the Caldecott Tunnel leads to north Oakland.
From the northern East Bay, Vallejo, Fairfield, and the greater Sacramento, Highway 80 west leads directly to Oakland.
Most northern entries to Oakland go through the heinous MacArthur Maze, a spaghetti-like mashup of four freeways trying to merge and pass each other. It's got terrible traffic during commute times 7AM-10AM, 4PM-8PM, so you might want to avoid driving on the freeways at these times.