mrslinda

Train travel from LA to Santa Barbara Posted by: mrslinda on Mar 2, 11 at 9:02pm
Posted in: Travel Tips & Trip Ideas

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My husband and myself are travelling to LA in middle to late May from England. We have been to the USA quite a few times but never California. My husband does not want to drive in LA and so we are thinking of having a couple of days to see the sights locally and then taking the train to Santa Barbara for another couple of days after which we plan to pick up a car for the remainder of our trip going north to San Francisco, stopping wherever we fancy en route and then through Yosemite and Death Valley (taking 4 days) to Las Vegas. We have already booked to stay at The Homestead in Ahwahnee and at Furnace Creek ranch.
We are older than Madonna but younger than Mick Jagger and so looking forward to this trip. (Sounds so much better than middle aged or empty nesters) We have travelled quite a lot and not ready for the predicable kind of tours just yet) After a few days the jet lag will be over so I would really like to get this first part planned. We haven't booked anywhere to stay yet in LA so is it best to stay somewhere quite close to the station and is this a good idea anyway, or will we be missing out by taking the train and not driving. Not sure which part of LA to stay in but close to the Station may be a good idea. We are planning to take a tour while we are there also.
Any suggestions will be great.

POlson

As you will likely hear from other fodorites, LA is a tough city to tour without a car. A couple of suggestions: You could stay in Pasadena and take the Metro Gold Line to Union Station. In Pasadena, you can visit Old Town, see a performance at the Civic Center or Pasadena Playhouse, visit Norton Simon Museum, Asia Pacific Museum, take a cab to the Huntington Gardens and Library, see a movie at Gold Class Cinemas (leather seats), shop (Distant Travels travel bookstore, Sur la Table cooking supplies, Container Store, Apple store and Pasadena Antique mall at El Paseo are a few favorites), and eat at any number of good restaurants (Akbar - for Indian; Cafe Bizou; Chado - good tea; Johnny Rockets - for burgers). In Downtown, you can visit China Town, Olvera Street, museums, see a concert at Disney Music Hall, take an architectural tour, go to LA Live. I think there may also be a Metro line from Downtown to Hollywood (Red Line) - in Hollywood you can see the Chinese Theater, El Capitan theater, Hollywood walk of fame, good view of Hollywood Sign from Hollywood & Highland mall, go bowling at Lucky Strike (you seem young at heart).

It will be a little harder to get to the beach/westside without a car but it really depends on what you want to see. You also mentioned that you want to take a tour so you might look into where the tour originates.

Once you figure you out where you want to base in LA, we can offer some hotel suggestions but a few to get you started - in Pasadena, there is a Westin, a Marriott Residence Inn and a Sheraton among others. In downtown, I would only suggest the Biltmore (great old hotel with history) but others may have better/other suggestions.

Surfergirl

I absolutely LOVED your characterization of your age! Does that place you more in the Beatles teenybopper, David Cassidy or Bay City Rollers teenybopper age group?!?

Speaking as one who is probably your age, who lived in England during the UB40/Duran Duran years, and has many UK friends who visit me here in LA, I'm going to give you my recs based on my experience and the comments of my English mates. BTW, we were in England last summer and drove up and back from Brentwood to Edinburgh, and LA driving is kind of like the current driving conditions of the M25.

First, I think your plan is a sound one. The train ride from Union Station to Santa Barbara is a really nice one, and I like the SB train station.

As for hotels -- there isn't an English friend of mine that doesn't gravitate towards Santa Monica. They love it there, and we have quite a huge population of English transplants living in Santa Monica. There shouldn't be a problem getting to Union Station from any of the upscale hotels in Santa Monica, in fact a number of them have their own cars, limos, or vans that will take you there. So, SM would be my first suggestion, and you could utilize the Big Blue Bus to get you around town.

If you do want to stay downtown (and keep in mind that if you're coming on a weekend, it's usually dead down there, unless there's some protest going on at City Hall), I'd suggest the Omni Hotel on Olive -- it's squeezed in between a bunch of office buildings, but next door to Angel's Flight (which is up and running again), around the corner from the Disney Concert Hall, and about a 10 minute stroll to the nearest Metro station that will get you to Union Station. You can use the Dash bus system (used to be 25 cents, but my husband mentioned it's gone up -- maybe 35 cents) to get around the entire downtown area, including to the Staples complex, which has a variety of restaurants, brew houses, two theatres (the Nokia Theatre and Club Nokia), a fabulous Lucky Strike bowling alley, and the Staples arena if your into basketball or big named rock n roll concerts. Actually, we'll be at the Club Nokia on May 21st (a Saturday night) to see Echo & the Bunnymen. A great little venue.

I guess where you stay depends a lot on your interests, and whether you want to be in more of a relaxed, chill area (like SM) or work/big city area.

tracys2cents

With such a short time in L.A., and no car, it would depend on what exactly you hope to see and do while there. As far as the train, it might depend on what day of the week you are leaving for Santa Barbara, traffic is definitely worse on weekday mornings, and if you leave Sunday morning you would have no trouble driving at all, it is straight freeway and there is little traffic before 11am on Sundays.

www.discoverlosangeles.com

mrslinda

Thank you all so much for your responses. I think that Santa Monica sounds like a good choice so I will send this very cold Friday evening trawling through the internet. We just have to visit Hollywood and is there a woman alive who does not want to visit Rodeo Drive (and do a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman). The walk of fame is on the list and The Chinese Theatre. The planning of this trip is so exciting. I do want to visit some of those wonderful shops too in Pasadena. The mention of an antique mall there will keep Husband happy. I have to say that growing up in England in the 60s/70's I really never thought that I would actually visit California and I still love the music from that ira. I had a huge picture of Scott Walker on my wall when I was about 13, but The Beach boys,The Mamas & Papas and The Byrds still sum up California to us.

tracys2cents

Make sure that you visit the Griffith Observatory. Currently there is a shuttle on weekends from Hollywood if you don't have a car. But you definitely should have a car if you are staying in Santa Monica and want to see Hollywood and Pasadena all in just a couple of days.

Watch "Rebel without a Cause" before your visit to Griffith.

tomfuller

If you like your trip on Amtrak to Santa Barbara, you could come back to LAX and use the Amtrak bus to Bakersfield and ride the 713 San Joaquin to Emeryville and the short bus trip into San Francisco. If you rode the Coast Starlight from Santa Barbara, you would be arriving in San Francisco after midnight.
You could rent your car in Stockton or Fresno for your trip into Yosemite. You should do your trip to Death Valley as a long daytrip from Las Vegas.
If you ride the San Joaquin southbound into Bakersfield, you can get an Amtrak bus into Las Vegas (via Barstow).

paula1470

Just to back up what tracy2cents said about Santa Monica. I like that area but if you stay there it it difficult to see the rest of LA without a car. There is no metro going from Santa Monica to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. The only public transportation is a bus which can be very slow going and you may have to change several times. If you don't want to get a car, then I'd stay in Pasadena, Downtown LA or even the Hollywood area by Hollwood Blvd/Highland so that you will have close proximity to the metro system.

Guenmai

I'm from L.A. County and personally would either rent a car or be prepared to spend a lot of wasted time on public transportation. L.A. County is 800 square miles big (500 square kilometers).

I don't find it a big deal to drive in L.A. And there's a lot of easy and free parking around the county. And as for Santa Barbara, a friend and I zip up there, in the car, on Fridays to do lunch and then come back home. It takes us less than an hour and a half to get up there by car. L.A. is not Europe. I lived in Europe and know how people take trains and public transportation every where. Happy Travels!

Catzgarden

The Amtrak train ride from Union Station to Santa Barbara is one of the most picturesque and interesting rides anywhere in the United States.

You will see some of inland Southern California (LA and even Fillmore - where many old westerns were filmed in the 30s and 40s), but for most of the trip, you'll skirt the ocastline. You'll see vistas that cannot be seen from the highway. The trip is pleasant and beautiful, and your full attention can be spent on enjoying the sights, not worrying about traffic.

Once in Santa Barbara, the Amtrak station is right downtown, on State Street, the center of the downtown area. You'll be about two blocks from the beach to the south, with all of State Street shops, restaurants, bars, movies, etc, to the north.

You can easily catch a cab at the train station, or - take the "Wharf Woody" trolley, for 25 cents, and ride it all the way up State Street.

You have lots of hotels to choose from by the beach - and there are some great downtown hotels, as well. It's the perfect home base from which to enjoy your stay in Santa Barbara - whether you spend time at the beach, take a side trip to wine country, go to the museums, the zoo, the art galleries - you'll have the time of your life in our beautiful little city. Visit my blog: cartas.typepad.com - and learn more about the City of Santa Barbara - and the lovely area surrounding us.

car_free_traveler

If you do take the train to Santa Barbara, check out this website:
http://www.santabarbaracarfree.org/
I was able to get 20% off both my train tickets and my hotel through their offers.

I visited the Furnace Creek area once in 3rd week of May and had to leave by 8 a.m. the day after arriving, the heat was so punishing.

Other than that caution, your trip sounds like loads of fun.

dwooddon

This idea does not fit your original question and it may not fit your interest but, here it is for your consideration. Instead of staying in Los Angeles, consider San Juan Capistrano,about 45 miles south of LA. From SJC station, there are direct trains to Santa Barbara several times a day, going through LA's Union Station enroute.

San Juan is in the heart of old California. It is one of the original Mission towns settled by the Spanish coming from Mexico and still retains much of that influence. Mission San Juan Capistrano itself is one of the finest examples that still exist of the Missions along the El Camino Real and is well worth a visit. A few feet from the rail station, Old Town San Juan is one of the earliest remaining examples of the settlements that formed around the missions.

The beach town of Dana Point is just a few miles from SJC with its long sandy beaches, its marina, and its many dining choices. It is also close to the Hyatt Regency at Laguna Niguel and a couple of other upper end hotels. SJC is also only a few miles from the Cleveland National Forest if you'd like to explore a huge mountain forest park within the sprawl of the LA metropolitan area.

If you like up-scale shopping (or window shopping), Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are just north on the coast highway a few miles. Between the two, I can't think of anything you could find in the world you could not find in them.

Like most other places in So Cal, it is hard to navigate without a car, however, the traffic problems bear no similarity to the areas closer in to LA.

Whatever you decide to do, have a wonderful trip.

tomfuller

I bookmarked the carfree Santa Barbara site for the Amtrak 20% discount. My son just got accepted to UCSB and we will be taking the train all the way to Santa Barbara from Oregon sometime this fall/winter.