junklordsupreme asked:

Hi hi hi HI! question, if that's alright!

I'm thinking of planning a trip from Chicago to San Diego, do you know if a simple and effective route exists? And if it would be comfortable?

I was looking up flights, just for reference, and it would cost $1000 for two round trip tickets!!!! That's bananas and I hate planes!

Thank you! Have a great day!!!!

amtrak-official answered:

This will be over 1000 dollars but the route is California Zephyr -> coast starlight -> pacific Surfliner. It should be comfortable though

[sepdet]

@junklordsupreme @amtrak-official while I understand the Zephyr and Coast Starlight are possibly the most scenic routes in the whole country, that's significantly out of the way and probably more expensive.

I recommend a roomette on my beloved Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles, which includes good food and nice views and armchairs/bunk beds, and then the Surfliner down to San Diego. [Edit: or, you can do what I do and hop off at Fullerton in Orange County, one stop before Los Angeles. The Surfliner comes through Fullerton on its way down to San Diego. Saves a little time, although LA's Union Station has more amenities.]

Note: check https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/alerts/travel-advisories/#trackclosuresand — it looks like everything's open right now, but earlier this year they were having to bus passengers past a closure where rocks and dirt kept trickling onto the tracks... hills take a year or two to stabilize after the amount of rain we had last winter.

Luggage limits are also listed on that page. I seem to recall there's places to leave suitcasedown at the bottom of the stairs, but double check… I'm sure somebody's got a video on YouTube reviewing the surfliner.  It's a fun train, ocean views almost all the way.

Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

Learn about ongoing construction projects that contribute to improvements in rail travel in Southern California, and stay ahead of planned s

pacificsurfliner.com

Amtrak tickets are much cheaper the farther ahead you book them.

[amtrak-official]

Yeah, Southwest Chief is the way to go, I genuinely just forgot about it then answering the ask

[penn-central-official]

Forgets his own children

[amtrak-official]

True, California Zephyr, Cascades and Acela are my most favorite children