Winter break rides home from UC Davis: after finals
Finals end December 11 and winter quarter starts January 4. The busy days, the train, Yolobus to SMF, and the trip back, planned now.
Fall quarter instruction at UC Davis ends Friday, December 4. Finals run Monday, December 7 through Friday, December 11, and the term ends on the 11th (University of California term dates). Winter quarter instruction begins Monday, January 4, 2027 (same page). In between, the campus calendar lists the Winter Holiday as December 24–25 and December 31–January 1 (UC Davis).
So this break has a clear start, a clear end, and about three weeks in the middle. If you read our Thanksgiving guide, the basics carry over. This one is about what is different in December.
Your last final picks your day
At Thanksgiving everyone leaves on the same few days. In December, people leave when their last final is done. Someone finished on Monday is gone by Tuesday. Someone with a Friday final leaves that evening or the weekend of December 12–13, along with everyone moving out of the dorms.
That makes two crowded windows: Friday the 11th after the last exam slot, and the weekend right after. If you can leave a day earlier or a day later, you skip most of it.
Living on campus? Check your hall's closing date and time on the Student Housing notice before you pick a departure. Move-out is the hard deadline, not your last exam.
Bay Area: the train, with holiday days marked
The Capitol Corridor stops at Davis and runs to Richmond, Emeryville, Oakland and San Jose (Capitol Corridor). Over the break it runs its weekend schedule on Christmas Day, Friday December 25, on New Year's Day, Friday January 1, 2027, and on the day after, Saturday January 2 (Capitol Corridor).
The timetable posted today took effect December 8, 2025 (Capitol Corridor), so check the times for your exact day close to the date. If you are headed to San Jose, the same page lists construction work at San Jose Diridon from October 19 through December 2026. Train, bus and car for the Bay are compared in Davis to Berkeley or SF.
Central Valley and LA: Gold Runner from Sacramento
Heading south? The Gold Runner train (the old San Joaquins site now forwards to it) serves Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Merced and Fresno down to Bakersfield. It does not stop in Davis, so you board in Sacramento (Gold Runner). From Bakersfield, its Route 1C bus goes to Santa Monica with a stop at UCLA, and Route 1 runs from Fresno to San Diego (Gold Runner).
Gold Runner had no December holiday notice on its schedule page today (Gold Runner). Check it again before you buy a ticket for December 24, 25 or 31.
Flying out of SMF
Yolobus 42A and 42B run to Sacramento International every 30–60 minutes, seven days a week, from 5:00 AM until midnight, and stop at both terminals on the arrivals level (Yolobus). A single ride on the 42 is $2.25 (Yolobus).
On Christmas Day and New Year's Day, Yolobus runs a Sunday schedule, and the 42A/B is one of the routes that operate (Yolobus). Coming back from the airport, Yolobus suggests the 42B to UC Davis with a transfer at County Fair Mall, or the 42A, which takes longer but needs no transfer (Yolobus).
If you are flying from the Bay instead, the ground leg for each airport is in SFO vs OAK vs SJC. Each airport has a page on TAGO that shows how many people are heading that way: Sacramento International, SFO and LAX.
Plan the January trip back now
Winter instruction starts Monday, January 4 (University of California term dates). That puts most returns on Saturday, January 2 or Sunday, January 3, right after New Year's. On the train, January 2 is a weekend-schedule day (Capitol Corridor).
So plan or post the way back when you sort the way home. If you are flying in, pick a landing time that still leaves a 42 back to Davis. If you are riding with someone one way, settle the return before you leave.
For airports and other places on TAGO, the trip back sits in the same ask as the trip out: one ask carries two dates. For a general ride to a hometown, that is not the case, so post the return as its own trip.
Share the cost with people going your way
Cars leave Davis in every direction after finals, and most cars on any road have empty seats. A seat in one is a trip that was happening anyway, with the cost shared.
That is what TAGO is: a carpool for students. You sign in with your .edu email, post
where you are going and when, and see who else is going the same way. What a rider
contributes can never exceed the IRS standard mileage rate for the day of the trip. The
method is in how ride costs split. Routes and names
stay private until you sign in with your .edu.
Nothing guarantees a car or a seat on your date. It depends who is going, so post early, and settle the pickup point, time, luggage and cost in one thread. Driving home with empty seats? Read what changes when people ride along.
The break checklist
- Last final: find your exam slot. Finals run December 7–11.
- Housing: check your hall's closing date and time.
- Pick train, bus, flight or car for each direction.
- Check holiday schedules for December 24–25 and December 31–January 2.
- Back by Sunday, January 3. Classes start Monday, January 4.
- Post both trips now, the way out and the way back.