Hubby and I did this trip 4 weeks ago. We are from New Zealand and for me it was exciting. It was a one day trip to San Diego and back to LA. I loved it. The scenery, everything. Smooth ride there, with a lot of obvious stops along the way to pick up and drop of passengers. The Pacific ocean, wonderful. The different locations, houses, people, everything. We loved the trip so much we are going to do it again next year. The only downer is the public toilets, Union Station and San Diego station. The one in San Diego was locked and had to look for someone to open toilets, and the one's at Union Station were disgusting due to homeless people using them.
This made for great reminiscing for me. Between 2001 and 2013 I rode all the AMTRAK rail routes west of St. Louis in 5 weekend to weekend trips (connections in Kansas Cty and Chicago at times going west). In 2004 I included taking the Surfliner back and forth from L.A. to San Diego as part of a trip. I stayed overnight in a nearby hotel to spent a full day in San Diego doing things such as 2 harbor tours and a land based trolley tour of the area. Learning the AMTRAK STATION in Anaheim is across the parking lot from the Angels stadium during this trip, I included in my last 2013 trip seeing an Angels afternoon game between connections of an early morning Southwest Chief arrival and a late day departure of the Sunset Limited heading back East. I saw a sunset like your timing on the Coast Starlight in a trip that was north of L.A.. As your video shows, this is a pretty good scenic route for a short run. Well done video.
I will be in LA in December and am hoping to take this train to San Diego as a day trip, I have never ridden on Amtrak before so I’m really excited! This was a great video, Thanks!
We've travelled from Scotland to SoCal many times over the years, and this is by far our favourite way to travel between LA and San Diego. Been a few years thanks to Covid, so thanks for sharing this and bringing back some good memories. :) Absolutely agree the business class ticket is worth the extra dollars. It's a great ride.
Thank you so much for sharing this nice video, it was very refreshing to me, I took the Amtrack from San Diego to LA, but never vice versa. Hope to see more of your content. Best regards.
I rode this route from Los Angeles to San Diego in August of 2000 with some friends. It was quite scenic indeed. The only disappointment we had was the weather along the coast that day. It was overcast for most of the day so a lot of the waves and beaches were shrouded in fog or low clouds. Other than that, it was nice and very enjoyable. I haven't ridden it since, but I will again very soon. Nice video!
Took the Surfliner between Santa Ana and SD in 2017 and it really is a great service. Sat on the wrong side of the train for sunset like a dummy but it really does have some awesome views. I'd love to see you do a video on the Lake Shore Limited or the Coast Starlight as I'm taking those (along with the CA Zephyr this summer!) Also really enjoyed your Zephyr video too!
Great video!!! We will be over to holiday in San Diego and are definitely gonna do this train journey on one of our days......looks amazing and think we will do business class......Thanks again.....cheers from Scotland!!!!
I ride Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners when I’m home in Chula Vista, CA for up to a week. I ride them to & from Los Angeles & Oxnard,CA alternating my visits every other Pacific Surflinerround trip.
i need to take the surfliner one of these days I have not been on one sents they replaced there old engines been mainly taking metrolink as they are cheaper on the weekends to ride then amtrak.
New subscriber, loved the video. Looking forward to binging your stuff and can't wait for the Business Class version of the Pacific Surfliner! I'm retiring soon and looking forward to doing alot of traveling by train. Plan to start on short trips like this then venture onto cross country. But as a San Diegan, this will be my first train venture, to LA then back again. Your vids not only help me understand what to expect, but bet me excited about my future trips!
You should do a video on how you can save money by taking the Metrolink and Coaster instead of Amtrak. For instance, you can take the Coaster #666 (1:20pm) from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to Metrolink #609 at 3:26pm to Los Angeles on a weekday. Total fare for regular adult is $23.25 and senior is $11.50. On Amtrak regular adult is $36 and senior is $33 (only 15% discount). On holiday weekend Amtrak fare goes up to $44 & $40 and Coaster and Metrolink doesn't jack up prices for holidays, so it is huge savings. And if you come back from you trip on Saturday or Sunday it is bigger savings because you can buy a weekend all day pass on Metrolink for $10. For all that savings it is only about 1 & 1/2 hours longer trip from San Diego. Coming back on the weekend, you can leave from LA 10:50am on weekend and the connection to Coaster is even better with 40 minutes layover and leaving at 2pm from LA will give you 28 minute layover. Personally, I go for the 40 minute layover, since the Metrolink could run late and that gives you better odds for making your connection if that happens.
Orange County is my backyard I'm from Laguna Niguel for years my mom would have to go up to Santa Barbara during the summer once a year and she would always bring me and my sister along and we would ride the train it was SO COOL as a kid riding this train Though I do remember a couple times when we did take the train it would be the day where the folks would moon the train lol my favorite part of the ride was going through the mountains in Ventura county before hitting the Simi valley station
Wow this is a terrific video thanks. We are in CA for a trip from the uk (3rd visit) and considering the train from LA to San Diego instead of hiring a car
I will definitely use your service whenI'm in Oceanside this X-Mas. Do you have a car for disabled? I also have an senior cat in her bag. Will this be permitted? I hope so! I'm only going for short runs, southto SD.
Great video very informative thank you , Question for you , If you took the same trip on a saturday from la to san diego , In coach , And you got up to go to the cafe car when you came back Would your seat still be there you think ? Or would someone else be sitting in it because it's that busy on the weekends
This is mildly upsetting. This is what I was expecting when I bought a ticket from LA to San Diego en route to Ensenada about 6 years ago. What I got was a commuter train with no assigned seats, that only went as far as Irvine. By the time I searched through 5 double Decker cars and finally found a seat, they were unloading us so we could take a bus the rest of the way. I was really looking forward to crossing the "trestles" trestles. Pretty much my only unpleasant Amtrak experience. I took Amtrak across country on multiple occasions in my youth, and it was always great. I was expecting the Pacific surfliner to be even better than the empire builder, which was awesome, especially the glacier national Park portion.
I don't know how many they can oversell, but I have experienced trains with every coach seat taken and dozens of standees. The worst times are weekends at the beginning and end of university holidays. I agree with the channel owner that business class is the way to go if you aren't on a tight budget. I haven't experienced assigned seats on business class, but they don't oversell so you're guaranteed a seat. You also get a snack and free beverages, including alcohol.
Coming from New Zealand in 3 1/2 weeks with my teen sons and going by train from LA to San Diego and then San Diego to Anaheim. Going on the 7am ish trip there and then 4pm the following day to Anaheim. How early should we arrive to check in and how do we best get a seat so we aren’t standing for 3 hours - in coach class? Are staff easy to find to help at all…. very nervous about the whole thing and finding where to go at the train stations. Also where do you store your luggage as we will have 3 suitcases and 3 carry on size bags……is it safe to leave your bags without watching them?
Hello Dan! My spouse and I will be taking this train next week. I was truly hoping to see if you'd done something on the Amtrak Starlight or the Cascades as we're doing those too...Yup, San Diego to Seattle all train, all the way!
Yes it is a commuter train so it only goes from LA to San Diego and has no sleeper cars and no observation cars. The long haul Amtrak routes have no business class but have sleeper cars, a dinning car, a baggage car/sometimes combined with a sleeper car, an observation car, and coach cars and those cars are called Superliner 1 or Superliner 2.
I love to explore the state of California by a train the next time when I go to California during my trip to California we didn’t know how it works in California
going to SD at the end of october but i want to go to LA for a day trip and make it back to SD the same night. if i take this train is it reliable? what’s the chances i get stuck in LA? i’m from a small town in alabama and don’t know how the trains work in big city’s. thank you
Thanks for your comment! I've never gotten a Taxi in San Diego, but they definately are around. There are also plenty of public transit options such as the light rail/.trolley and buses. I hope this helps!
🚶🚆✌️👍 ✋ Extra, good job 👌 Wow nice view, I like to see new places ✌ Great movie 👍 Bravo 👋 And I have a new movie from a walk around the city 😊 Regards, DJ Janusz from Warsaw Poland ✌ 🇵🇱✋
Hello, I've never taken the surfliner, but I want to in the future. If I take it from Anaheim business class to old town San Diego, which one do you recommend? Can I buy tickets either on line or at the station? Do they sell round trip tickets? I went to their website but It's all very confusing to me. Help! lol
I should have taken this route in the 80's when I went to visit my father's uncle and his wife, it would have been an excellent choice. The final time I went to Los Angeles I decided to visit Disneyland, big mistake, I missed the main st electrical parade (this was when the still had it), and suffered a day of kids abandoned at Disneyland so the parents could procreate more kids.
Of all routes in the States, this really should be a real, dedicated High Speed area from LA through Orange and into San Diego. Unfortunately, our politicians are hacks.
I remember taking the Pacific Surfliner to San Diego for a day trip and it was worth every penny.
It’s a wonderful trip, I agree!
Hubby and I did this trip 4 weeks ago. We are from New Zealand and for me it was exciting. It was a one day trip to San Diego and back to LA. I loved it. The scenery, everything. Smooth ride there, with a lot of obvious stops along the way to pick up and drop of passengers. The Pacific ocean, wonderful. The different locations, houses, people, everything. We loved the trip so much we are going to do it again next year. The only downer is the public toilets, Union Station and San Diego station. The one in San Diego was locked and had to look for someone to open toilets, and the one's at Union Station were disgusting due to homeless people using them.
So glad you enjoyed your ride on the Surfline, and hope to visit beautiful New Zealand some day soon
I truly appreciate Amtrak when returning home on Sunday evenings. Watching freeway traffic congestion as I sip a soda and relax.
This made for great reminiscing for me. Between 2001 and 2013 I rode all the AMTRAK rail routes west of St. Louis in 5 weekend to weekend trips (connections in Kansas Cty and Chicago at times going west). In 2004 I included taking the Surfliner back and forth from L.A. to San Diego as part of a trip. I stayed overnight in a nearby hotel to spent a full day in San Diego doing things such as 2 harbor tours and a land based trolley tour of the area. Learning the AMTRAK STATION in Anaheim is across the parking lot from the Angels stadium during this trip, I included in my last 2013 trip seeing an Angels afternoon game between connections of an early morning Southwest Chief arrival and a late day departure of the Sunset Limited heading back East. I saw a sunset like your timing on the Coast Starlight in a trip that was north of L.A.. As your video shows, this is a pretty good scenic route for a short run. Well done video.
I will be in LA in December and am hoping to take this train to San Diego as a day trip, I have never ridden on Amtrak before so I’m really excited! This was a great video, Thanks!
Thanks!
Thank-you for sharing your trip, and the great shots of Los Angeles’ Union Station
We've travelled from Scotland to SoCal many times over the years, and this is by far our favourite way to travel between LA and San Diego. Been a few years thanks to Covid, so thanks for sharing this and bringing back some good memories. :)
Absolutely agree the business class ticket is worth the extra dollars. It's a great ride.
Thank you so much for sharing this nice video, it was very refreshing to me, I took the Amtrack from San Diego to LA, but never vice versa. Hope to see more of your content. Best regards.
I rode this route from Los Angeles to San Diego in August of 2000 with some friends. It was quite scenic indeed. The only disappointment we had was the weather along the coast that day. It was overcast for most of the day so a lot of the waves and beaches were shrouded in fog or low clouds. Other than that, it was nice and very enjoyable. I haven't ridden it since, but I will again very soon. Nice video!
A great option if you take cruises from San Diego. I plan to travel from the east coast to San Diego for cruise in the near future.
Enjoyed the vid. I especially love trains; not so with planes. Thanks for including the costs.
I truly enjoyed the video. It was very informational and fun. Thank you for this upload.
This is a great alternative from driving since you get much better views and it's nice and comfy
04/29/2023. Great video. Two thumbs up, way up. Would like to see your video on this same train but in the business class section!!!
Took the Surfliner between Santa Ana and SD in 2017 and it really is a great service. Sat on the wrong side of the train for sunset like a dummy but it really does have some awesome views. I'd love to see you do a video on the Lake Shore Limited or the Coast Starlight as I'm taking those (along with the CA Zephyr this summer!) Also really enjoyed your Zephyr video too!
Great video!!! We will be over to holiday in San Diego and are definitely gonna do this train journey on one of our days......looks amazing and think we will do business class......Thanks again.....cheers from Scotland!!!!
Awesome video. Thanks
I ride Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners when I’m home in Chula Vista, CA for up to a week. I ride them to & from Los Angeles & Oxnard,CA alternating my visits every other Pacific Surflinerround trip.
6:24 - I like that chime
That crew seems genuinely awesome
The conductor making the announcements was hilarious!
Wonderful adventure and footage captured San Luis Obispo and San Diego, CA thumbs up 591
i need to take the surfliner one of these days I have not been on one sents they replaced there old engines been mainly taking metrolink as they are cheaper on the weekends to ride then amtrak.
New subscriber, loved the video. Looking forward to binging your stuff and can't wait for the Business Class version of the Pacific Surfliner! I'm retiring soon and looking forward to doing alot of traveling by train. Plan to start on short trips like this then venture onto cross country. But as a San Diegan, this will be my first train venture, to LA then back again. Your vids not only help me understand what to expect, but bet me excited about my future trips!
You should do a video on how you can save money by taking the Metrolink and Coaster instead of Amtrak. For instance, you can take the Coaster #666 (1:20pm) from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to Metrolink #609 at 3:26pm to Los Angeles on a weekday. Total fare for regular adult is $23.25 and senior is $11.50. On Amtrak regular adult is $36 and senior is $33 (only 15% discount). On holiday weekend Amtrak fare goes up to $44 & $40 and Coaster and Metrolink doesn't jack up prices for holidays, so it is huge savings. And if you come back from you trip on Saturday or Sunday it is bigger savings because you can buy a weekend all day pass on Metrolink for $10. For all that savings it is only about 1 & 1/2 hours longer trip from San Diego. Coming back on the weekend, you can leave from LA 10:50am on weekend and the connection to Coaster is even better with 40 minutes layover and leaving at 2pm from LA will give you 28 minute layover. Personally, I go for the 40 minute layover, since the Metrolink could run late and that gives you better odds for making your connection if that happens.
I enjoyed your video thank you for sharing !! Does the Pacific Surfliner from La to San Diego , ride in the freeway at anytime or through tunnels ?
Love the “quack” from the conductor at 6:40
Whoever drives instead misses out these breathtaking views!!!
Orange County is my backyard I'm from Laguna Niguel for years my mom would have to go up to Santa Barbara during the summer once a year and she would always bring me and my sister along and we would ride the train it was SO COOL as a kid riding this train Though I do remember a couple times when we did take the train it would be the day where the folks would moon the train lol my favorite part of the ride was going through the mountains in Ventura county before hitting the Simi valley station
Wow this is a terrific video thanks. We are in CA for a trip from the uk (3rd visit) and considering the train from LA to San Diego instead of hiring a car
Thanks for this Docu-footage 😎👍
How about the Surfliner heading in the OTHER direction? From LA to Santa Barbara and on to San Luis Obispo?
I will definitely use your service whenI'm in Oceanside this X-Mas. Do you have a car for disabled? I also have an senior cat in her bag. Will this be permitted? I hope so! I'm only going for short runs, southto SD.
Great video very informative thank you , Question for you , If you took the same trip on a saturday from la to san diego , In coach , And you got up to go to the cafe car when you came back Would your seat still be there you think ? Or would someone else be sitting in it because it's that busy on the weekends
Is the Santa fe depot near tj?
What do you do with your suitcases
This is mildly upsetting. This is what I was expecting when I bought a ticket from LA to San Diego en route to Ensenada about 6 years ago. What I got was a commuter train with no assigned seats, that only went as far as Irvine. By the time I searched through 5 double Decker cars and finally found a seat, they were unloading us so we could take a bus the rest of the way. I was really looking forward to crossing the "trestles" trestles. Pretty much my only unpleasant Amtrak experience. I took Amtrak across country on multiple occasions in my youth, and it was always great. I was expecting the Pacific surfliner to be even better than the empire builder, which was awesome, especially the glacier national Park portion.
Next you should eat the jalapeño cheeseburger from the cafe car it is really good since I ate it.
which side of the train has the ocean view?
So if there are 30 seats Amtrak can sell 300 tickets?
I don't know how many they can oversell, but I have experienced trains with every coach seat taken and dozens of standees. The worst times are weekends at the beginning and end of university holidays. I agree with the channel owner that business class is the way to go if you aren't on a tight budget. I haven't experienced assigned seats on business class, but they don't oversell so you're guaranteed a seat. You also get a snack and free beverages, including alcohol.
At what point during the ride did they check your ticket? Is it honor system based? Do they actually scan your ticket?
Is it cold sitting on the train? I'm going from LA to San Diego just before sunrise...
Coming from New Zealand in 3 1/2 weeks with my teen sons and going by train from LA to San Diego and then San Diego to Anaheim. Going on the 7am ish trip there and then 4pm the following day to Anaheim. How early should we arrive to check in and how do we best get a seat so we aren’t standing for 3 hours - in coach class? Are staff easy to find to help at all…. very nervous about the whole thing and finding where to go at the train stations. Also where do you store your luggage as we will have 3 suitcases and 3 carry on size bags……is it safe to leave your bags without watching them?
Hello Dan! My spouse and I will be taking this train next week. I was truly hoping to see if you'd done something on the Amtrak Starlight or the Cascades as we're doing those too...Yup, San Diego to Seattle all train, all the way!
Can we buy a ticket for a round trip on the same day?
Does the Surfliner only go between L.A & San Diego or what?
Yes it is a commuter train so it only goes from LA to San Diego and has no sleeper cars and no observation cars. The long haul Amtrak routes have no business class but have sleeper cars, a dinning car, a baggage car/sometimes combined with a sleeper car, an observation car, and coach cars and those cars are called Superliner 1 or Superliner 2.
No bar area?
Which side is better for view?
Right side going towards San Diego, left side going towards LA. I'm assuming you would rather look at the ocean than a cliff?
I love to explore the state of California by a train the next time when I go to California during my trip to California we didn’t know how it works in California
So when do the check your tickets?
going to SD at the end of october but i want to go to LA for a day trip and make it back to SD the same night. if i take this train is it reliable? what’s the chances i get stuck in LA? i’m from a small town in alabama and don’t know how the trains work in big city’s. thank you
Are the taxi's easy to get at old town station?
Thanks for your comment! I've never gotten a Taxi in San Diego, but they definately are around. There are also plenty of public transit options such as the light rail/.trolley and buses. I hope this helps!
Very nice video 📹 👍
Thanks for watching!
Once a year for comic con international
helo woul dlove to see u do the coast starlight eventruley peace
I liked your video, thank you.
🚶🚆✌️👍
✋ Extra, good job 👌
Wow nice view, I like to see new places ✌
Great movie 👍 Bravo 👋
And I have a new movie from a walk around the city 😊
Regards, DJ Janusz from Warsaw Poland ✌ 🇵🇱✋
Hello, I've never taken the surfliner, but I want to in the future. If I take it from Anaheim business class to old town San Diego, which one do you recommend? Can I buy tickets either on line or at the station? Do they sell round trip tickets? I went to their website but It's all very confusing to me. Help! lol
Did I hear the woman making the PA announcement growl?
She said “quack” at 6:40
8:09 good snacks
8:10 yum
I should have taken this route in the 80's when I went to visit my father's uncle and his wife, it would have been an excellent choice. The final time I went to Los Angeles I decided to visit Disneyland, big mistake, I missed the main st electrical parade (this was when the still had it), and suffered a day of kids abandoned at Disneyland so the parents could procreate more kids.
Of all routes in the States, this really should be a real, dedicated High Speed area from LA through Orange and into San Diego. Unfortunately, our politicians are hacks.
Yep