Travel

Flight

San Jose International Airport

San Jose Airport is the closest to Santa Cruz. It's a 45 minute drive in along Highway 880 and Highway 17. Note that Highway 17 is pretty winding - have your motion-sickness-prone passengers sit in the front.

Flight

Oakland International Airport

Farther north than San Jose airport. About an hour to an hour and a half drive down to Santa Cruz. No nice views along this route, unfortunately.

Flight

San Francisco International Airport

About as far as Oakland Airport from Santa Cruz. If you have time and are renting a car, driving down to Santa Cruz along the coast on Highway 1 is pretty spectacular. It's about an hour and a half drive through Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.

Hotel

Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley

Hotel

Hotel Paradox, Autograph Collection

Hotel

four points

House Or Rental

AirBnB

There are plenty of AirBnB rentals in Santa Cruz that are comparable in price to the 3-star hotels in the area.