If you aren’t fond of driving like me, you look for alternatives when you travel. I love taking the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train from Union Station in Los Angeles to San Diego, or up the coast to Santa Barbara.
Trains are romantic, let you relax along the way, and beat all the traffic. That’s a plus for an Angelino like me. I always love visiting Union Station in downtown LA because it’s newly restored and gorgeous.
I bought business class tickets once, but to be honest, the only difference between that and coach seating is that they give you a box of train treats. It was a nice touch, but who needs the extra calories? Save a few bucks and take coach instead.
The Pacific Surfliner is affordable and runs between San Luis Obispo and San Diego which is 351 miles. It is a wonderful way to see the Southern Californian coast and its scenic beauty.
Each train station along the way is unique in its architecture. Fullerton and Santa Ana are old Spanish styles and Irvine and Anaheim are shiny and modern.
The train station at San Juan Capistrano stops at Heritage Village just a block from the old mission. It’s an amazing day trip from Los Angeles with boutique shops, arts and crafts, and excellent restaurants.
Whether you are heading South toward San Diego or North toward San Luis Obispo, make sure to sit on the sea-side of the train to enjoy the beautiful ocean views.
Most of the passengers ride on the upper deck which can be a little challenging if you are hauling luggage. The lower berth is reserved for the elderly or those with mobility issues.
There is a café on the lower deck where you can get breakfast, sandwiches, beverages, beer, and wine. It isn’t fancy but very convenient.
For someone who lives in a “driving” city like me, taking the train is a treat and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Do you like riding on trains? What is your favorite “train” destination? Please leave a comment below.
The train trip sounds like so much fun!
It was Pennie. I love taking the train.
I LOVE trains! Husby and I are planning a cross-Canada trip via VIA Rail. So looking forward to it!
Thank you for sharing this, Rebecca! So much fun!
That sounds amazing, Diane. I have heard the Canadian railway is pretty spectacular!
How. much fun does THAT look like???
It was pretty fun, Carol!
I haven’t been on a train in years. I’d love to do one that’s more scenic. I used to just grab the commuter trains from Connecticut to NYC whenever we wanted to go in for a show or a museum trip.
Scenic trains are the best. I would love to take the Canadian Rockies train or something like that. I also don’t mind taking the subway because it’s easy.
California does a better job w/its passenger rail then any other state, imo, and subsidizes ticket prices far more then say, NY does, or Oregon/Washington.. At least when I was riding Amtrak often, the man who managed Amtrak California had done a deal (money payments) w/the host freight RRs (Amtrak owns very little of its own track/rail lines, just some in the north east & Michigan) so that on time performance of several of the CA Amtrak lines was superior to that of the major airlines– up to 98-99% OTP. The food is better then on many of the other Amtrak routes, except for Amtrak Cascades and the Acela.
I used to take the Cascades (PNW Amtrak), Empire Builder (from PDX to Chicago) and the Lakeshore Limited (CHI to Penn station, NY) fairly often. Took a few other of the long distance trains occasionally or only once. Unfortunately, I never managed to ride the southern route across the US before the big storms/hurricanes, that hit Alabama & messed up the track. I think the host RR has repaired the track sufficiently for freight but not for passenger rail, although various govs of Alabama and perhaps MS have tried to get that route restarted–they miss the tourist dollars they got from rail passengers. Maybe it’ll happen now w/the infrastructure bill. Until then, thanks to decreased levels of funding and draconian (and pointless) Congressional requirements, Amtrak’s food service has suffered and some needed repairs aren’t happening. Some of the rail stock Amtrak uses and has repeatedly refurbished dates from the 1950’s. It needs to be replaced w/good quality rail stock, although I’d be sad to see the Parlor cars disappear (if they haven’t already). The parlor cars are half cafe w/booths & half a sitting area. Depending on what Amtrak’s doing (or can afford to do), people in the sleeper cars can eat in the parlor car rather then the dining car, from a slightly different menu. Occasionally the parlor car activated (had staff for) using the bar in the PC to offer some drinks. Only people w/sleeper reservations could use the parlor car. The parlor cars date from Amtrak’s creation–when it took passenger service from the private RRs, they were part of the rolling stock Amtrak took over. Private rail decided they couldn’t make sufficient profit to continue providing passenger rail, Congress decided that passenger rail was too important a mode of transport to let it die & created Amtrak. However, in the 1970’s, Amtrak ended quite a few routes, some of them much missed. Years later, a group of passenger rail supporters kept the Texas Eagle running–it runs from Chicago to San Antonio (connecting service to LA via the Sunset limited).
The Empire Builder and a couple of other long distance trains go through some wonderful scenery. You see alot of the US you might not otherwise see, and all in relative comfort and w/out having to pay attention to road traffic.
Last semi-long distance Amtrak train I took was from NY Penn to Richmond, VA, business class (worth the cost) & back two days later. A nice trip, far nicer and less hassle then flying would’ve been and way way less hassle then driving.
Glad you enjoyed your trip. I’ve never ridden–I’d like to someday. I’ve taken the Coast Starlight from Oregon to LAX and also admired LA’s Union Station.
Wow! Such great information about Amtrak. And great to know that California rocks with trains. Thanks, so much!