staceynicole

Two friends and I in our early twenties are looking to travel to CA this January for 8 days. We definitely want to go to San Francisco because we think we'd love the city, but also want to tour Berkeley and Stamford grad schools.

Then we want to spend the second half of our trip enjoying warmer weather in southern California where our friend who will be in L.A. can easily join us. We will NOT be renting a car because we can't drive. Any itinerary ideas? We are definitely interested in art, culture, museums, and walking tours of different neighborhoods, as well as relaxing. We probably wouldn't want to spend more than a few hours seeing the typical hollywood tourist stuff.

So far I've figured out that we should take amtrak from SF to LA - any suggested stops on the way? Any ideas of places in southern CA that have interesting things to do and don't require a car? Any tips on getting to Stanford and Berkeley and what to do around there?

Thanks!

Michael

What is worth seeing between SF and LA is the coast or the Parks in the Sierra. The train goes between them. Forget any stop between the two and go straight to LA.

Tomsd

Unless you are going to rent a car and drive down the beautiful coast hiway - 2 days/nights recommended for doing that - just fly from SF to LA - as there are many flights - it only takes an hour - and it's not that expensive.

In the SF Bay area - take BART over to Berkeley/UC - and check on the local train/commute service down to Palo Alto/Stanford.

In LA - the public transportation - bus service is pretty good and they also have a metro/subway.

tomfuller

Take the Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Santa Barbara.
Barring delays, you arrive in Santa Barbara about 6PM which is better than LAX at9PM or later.
Spend at least 20 hours in Santa Barbara and then take a Surfliner train on into Los Angeles the next day.
There are several places including Fisherman's Wharf where Amtrak buses pick up in San Francisco to take you to EMY to get on the Coast Starlight.
The zoo and the mission are both worth seeing in Santa Barbara.

november_moon

"So far I've figured out that we should take amtrak from SF to LA - any suggested stops on the way?"

Or you could just fly - there are cheap flights with Southwest from SFO and OAK to southern CA airports - it will be much quicker than taking the train. If you do want to travel by train and stop along the way, I would choose Santa Barbara, as already mentioned.

"Any tips on getting to Stanford and Berkeley and what to do around there?"

For Berkeley, take BART: http://www.bart.gov/

For Stanford, take Caltrain: http://www.caltrain.com/

tomfuller

The question is if you want a quick flight looking down at the ocean or do you want the view from ground level for about 10 hours from the train?
If you can fly for $62 or less per person, by all means fly.
If you do fly to Los Angeles, you still can take a Surfliner train up to Santa Barbara. The Surfliners also go south to San Diego.

november_moon

"The question is if you want a quick flight looking down at the ocean or do you want the view from ground level for about 10 hours from the train?"

Tom - You may not have intended this, but the way you phrased this makes it sound as though the train runs along the coast the entire trip. SF to LA by train requires a bus at least to Emeryville and then train the rest of the way. Emeryville to LA is an almost 13 hour trip. It is inland most of the way - the only portion of the Coast Starlight route the has a view of the ocean is a bit around Pismo Beach and then from about Lompoc to Ventura where the train turns inland again. The journey takes significantly longer than 10 hours and the portion of the route with an ocean view is nowhere near 10 hours long.

tomfuller

The 10 hours I was referring to was the bus (25 minutes from San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf to Oakland Jack London) and the Coast Starlight OKJ to SBA (9 hours 5 minutes).
Spend 20 hours in Santa Barbara and take the 2:03 PM Surfliner (864) on to LAX. The station in Santa Barbara is about 2 blocks from the pier.
There is a good bit of CA 1 that is inland with no view of the ocean.

november_moon

Yes. Well that makes complete sense now.