San Diego Travel Answers

The Pacific Surfliner from Union Station LA. Easy shuttle service from the airport to the train station and an easy, comfortable ride to your destination. We usually only go as far as Oceanside close to where our relatives live. amtrak.com/servlet/ContentSe...

This may be a better Link than the one above which seems to have "rearranged itself" - amtrakcalifornia.com/index.c...

I have taken the train a couple of times and it's very nice and quite cheap. There is also the Greyhound, but be ware that the Greyhound station in L.A. is not in the best part of the city to say it polite.

The train station is far from the airport. Check out www.hotwire .com for cheap car rentals. check in the early morning foe booking. Have seen constantly fares as low as 8.95 per day. In heavy traffic, it will take you just as long to get to LA train as it would take you to drive down to SD. From LAX take free shuttle to Sheratton Hotel airport. and try to get cheap rental OR a ride down the 405 Fwy.

I have done the journey both by train and by road from LAX towards San Diego The shuttle between the airport and the station was straightforward - took no more than 30-40 minutes even in heavy traffic. The train took nowhere near as long than the two hours plus or more that it takes to drive as far as Carlsbad . It was a comfortable and relaxing journey. The drive down the "5" can be a nightmare - the "commute" seems to last all day with heavy traffic and there are often hold ups because of accidents or road checks.

We went by road rented a car at LAX not a long journey. Just over 2hours!

I would normally agree that going from LAX to San Diego by car would be the best way. I would have to say that taking the train would be the best for a visitor who would otherwise have to rent a car. It's not too expensive and you wouldn't have to worry about traffic. It doesn't seem that the train is that much quicker than driving myself, but as mentioned, driving by car through LA/Rush-Hour traffic can be quite daunting and nerve-racking and take quite a bit more time. The train might take only about two hours to Oceanside/Carlsbad, but will take about 45 minutes more to reach downtown San Diego. Also, on their website they have an Old Town stop. Don't take that one even if your hotel might be nearer to it. The Old Town stop is not always a possibility, where the Santa Fe Depot is and just across the street from the Santa Fe Depot is a San Diego Trolley station that would take you up to Old Town if that's were you were going.

"best" and "cheapest" are not always the same thing. At least with the train there are fairly scenic sections along the coast. The airport to station bus service runs every half hour from 5am to 1am, or every hour outside that period. It is operated by FlyAway bus Service. lawa.org/welcome_lax.aspx?id... Information for LAX to Los Angeles Union Station service is about 1/2 way down the page.

Yes - that was the word I was not remembering - The Flyaway. It has worked like a dream for us. On the occasions we have been met and driven back to the aitport by our American relatives - LAX to Carlsbad has never been less than two hours!