Riverside to San José runs about 1 times a day, with the first departure around 07:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €323.74, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 10h 19m over 4,612 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €323.74, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for October 12, 2026
€323.74
- 167%Moves across the booking window
167%When it runs, leaving Riverside
Typical first and last departure on this corridor.
- 07:30First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 1Services per day
- 0%Run direct
07:30
07:30
1
0%Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €868.79Wed23
- about €1,111.89Thu24
- about €863.84Fri25
- about €712.59Sat26
- about €851.19Sun27
- about €638.89Mon28
- about €456.29Tue29
- about €589.39Wed30
- about €732.94Thu1
- about €547.59Fri2
- about €644.39Sat3
- about €612.49Sun4
- about €408.99Mon5
- about €408.99Tue6
- about €384.24Wed7
- about €534.39Thu8
- about €489.29Fri9
- about €423.84Sat10
- about €492.04Sun11
- about €323.74Mon12
- about €325.93Tue13
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into San José. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in San José for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from UCR Railway Station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search San José on Booking.com
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When to book Riverside to San José
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €399.0990 days
- €451.3360 days
- €401.2945 days
- €360.0430 days
- €325.9321 days
- €408.9914 days
- €456.297 days
- €863.843 days
- €868.791 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 21 days ahead, at €325.93.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 167 percent. The most expensive point is €868.79, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 21 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 21 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Riverside to San José and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
1 hours ahead on arrival. The clock moves even though you do not.
The shape of it
4,612 km
4,316 km as the crow flies, 7% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south-east.
Who lives at each end
317,261 → 335,007
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 0% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 100% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 4,612 km against 4,316 km in a straight line, a detour of 7 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Los Angeles. The gap between arriving and leaving is 93 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 10 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
The fare from SJO into San José is set by whoever drives it.
A car waiting when you land in San José
Settled in advance, so the ride into San José costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from SJO with Daytrip
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Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near UCR Railway Station
Most of the points near UCR Railway Station open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check San José on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Riverside to San José
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Riverside to San José?
The fastest journey from Riverside to San José takes 10h 19m door to door, of which 7h 5m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 10h 50m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Riverside to San José?
The cheapest fare from Riverside to San José is €323.74, as of September 22, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €547.59. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Riverside to San José?
The cheapest way from Riverside to San José is by train, at €323.74 for one passenger on October 12, 2026. That journey takes 10h 35m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Riverside to San José?
Fares from Riverside to San José bottom out around 21 days before departure, at €325.93. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 167 percent, measured on September 22, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Riverside to San José?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Riverside to San José, at €408.99. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 22, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Riverside to San José?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Riverside to San José, at €339.14 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Riverside to San José?
2 operators sell services from Riverside to San José across 1 mode: Alaska Airlines, Amtrak California. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Riverside to San José?
0 percent of the services we sell from Riverside to San José are direct. The rest connect at Los Angeles, with about 93 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Riverside to San José use?
Services from Riverside to San José by train leave from Riverside station and arrive at Juan Santamaría International Airport SJO. Allow about 1h 57m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Riverside to San José?
1 of the 2 operators we sell from Riverside to San José allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record names this operator on this pair, carried through unchanged.
Prices come from the supplier wherever we hold a live quote. Elsewhere we show an indicative price built from the real distance, the real operator and a fare curve over lead time, day of the week and season. Those are labeled Estimated fare and cannot be booked.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Riverside to San José on September 22, 2026: 4612 km of route against 4316 km in a straight line, 1 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €323.74, and 10h 19m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in San José is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of San José and across Costa Rica
Day trips that leave San José in the morning and cover a good part of Costa Rica by evening.
See San José on CivitatisOr browse GetYourGuide
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The two ends, compared
Riverside reaches 53 places in 3 countries on services we hold, over distances from 44 to 4,316 km. San José reaches 40 places in 17 countries, from 83 to 9,393 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Riverside
- 53Places you can leave for
- 3Countries
- 5Operators
3
5Arriving in San José
Leaving San José
- 40Places you can leave for
- 17Countries
- 25Operators