Train San Diego To Seattle – The West Coast Amtrak Coast Starlight route starts in Los Angeles and ends in Seattle (or you can take it in the other direction). You can board and/or disembark at any stop along the way. Portland to Seattle was the busiest stretch of my trip. The entire journey takes about 35 hours. Coast Starlight Amtrak Superliners, silver double-decker train cars served in various configurations.
A year ago, I signed up for the Amtrak Guest Rewards MasterCard from Bank of America. At the time, there was a 30,000-point sign-up bonus after spending $1,000 and a $79 annual fee. When I was in college, I traveled across the US on Amtrak for a few weeks, but it was by coach. After 15 years, I thought it would be fun to book a star-studded stateroom from Los Angeles to Seattle using the deluxe version.
Train San Diego To Seattle
I booked a one-way ticket for Labor Day weekend 9 months ago. I bought 30,050 points for one bedroom per passenger. The second passenger will be another 4,200 points. There was about $900 in cash.
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I checked the price again a few weeks before my trip and found that the same bedroom was now only 23,909 points. I called Amtrak Guest Rewards and to my surprise the agent was able to refund me the difference! I don’t think it’s policy to do this without a change fee, but I was very happy to get a refund.
All meals are included when booking a bedroom or room (junior version). You also have access to the Metropolitan Lounge in Los Angeles (and Portland if you start or end there).
The Coast Starlight departs Union Station in downtown Los Angeles at 10:10 a.m. daily. I arrived at 9:10am to check in and head to the Metropolitan Lounge ( review here ). Union Station in Los Angeles is beautiful and makes a great start or end to a trip.
When we reached platform 10 at 10 am, there was no train on the track. In fact, he didn’t arrive at the train yard until 10:10, so our departure was definitely going to be delayed a bit.
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Our train consists of one engine, freight car, crew car, three sleeper cars, one dining car, one business class car, one control car and two coaches. I was the first in the sleeping car. You can read my review of the bedroom here.
The conductor introduced himself and serviced the train throughout the journey. He worked for Amtrak for 14 years. Apparently that’s the way Coast Starlight works, so it’s mostly senior staff. He explained to let him know if we decided to have lunch in the car. Koop also gave a brief overview.
Then the kitchen manager comes to take the food reservation. You can read more about the dining experience here.
We were invited to order lunch before we crossed Simi Valley and reached the coast of Ventura.
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We were along the coast through Santa Barbara and at Vandenberg Air Force Base. On the section between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, two national park volunteers served as guides in observation cars. They were a lot of fun and featured lots of neat stuff like the rocket launch pad and Space X facility, as well as natural interest and history.
There is a snack/bar truck just below the observation deck. I never ate the food since meals are included in the car, but it looked like a typical meal.
Business and coach class vehicles are same. With Business Class you have more perks, like water and free Wi-Fi. However, I never saw the Wi-Fi working the entire trip.
In San Luis Obispo we made a long “fresh air” stop. Stops in major cities were usually about 20 minutes apart and passengers were allowed to get off the train. At short stops, you are not allowed to let anyone off unless it is the final destination. These stops were about 2 minutes long (enough to let people off and new passengers board).
File:amtrak California Map.svg
I made a dinner reservation for 6:30pm, which we finished by the time we reached Salinas via San Jose.
By the time we reached San Jose at 7:45pm it was getting dark so I went back to my room. I called the maid to make my bed at 10pm and was able to sleep soundly.
I wake up at 6:00 am to see where we are. As I open my door curtain, the sky is beginning to lighten, with Mount Shasta to the east of the train. Decided to go to the observation car before breakfast to see the beautiful scenery.
After breakfast I went to sleep for another hour. After a shower, I headed back to the track car as I passed through Winema National Forest and Look Out Point Lake.
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We arrived in Eugene only 15 minutes late, finishing lunch at 12:45. We continue parallel to Interstate 5 through Northern Oregon.
We arrived at Union Station in Portland on time around 3:30pm. This was the busiest stop of the trip; Many people disembark and travel further north to Seattle.
We crossed the Willamette River with a view of the St. John Bridge before crossing the Columbia River into Washington.
We could see all the mountains leading up to Mount Hood, then Mount St. Helens, and finally Mount Rainier. On the observation car from Portland to Seattle, we had a volunteer guide from the National Park to share the history of the area with an emphasis on the Mount St. Helens eruption.
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After Olympia, the train begins to snake along Puget Sound. The fairway in this section is just feet from the water’s edge. I saw a seal swimming by the train.
I ate dinner in my room and as the sun went down we drove under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to our last stop before Seattle.
After a Mariners game at Safeco Field, we arrived at Seattle’s King Street Station a few minutes early. Less than 36 hours after leaving Los Angeles.
At a time when all the glamor of domestic air travel has disappeared, it’s a nice change of travel that feels like a time capsule from another era. However, even Amtrak is changing. Earlier this year the Coast Starlight lost its parlor car, a throwback to another era of rail. It is difficult to know how long the train will run, as it continues in America. With beautiful scenery and a relaxed, TSA-free attitude, it’s worth the time and money to make a memorable trip aboard the Coast Star. Climb aboard and enjoy every moment of North America’s most beautiful train journey.
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Spanning 1,400 miles between Los Angeles and Seattle, Amtrak’s Coastal Starlight is considered by many to be one of the most scenic train routes in the country. I recently spent 22 hours on this train between Union Station in Los Angeles and Klamath Falls, Oregon. Here’s what I learned.
True, the views are spectacular, especially in Southern California. The train hugs the coastline for about 350 miles, so we saw plenty of sand, surf and rocks as well as local families enjoying a Saturday afternoon at the beach. As we traveled inland, the views changed to farming communities and wine regions like Paso Robles. Then came Northern California and Oregon with pine forests and snow-capped mountains. It was difficult not to look out of the window.
The coach seats are very comfortable, but the glass-domed observation car allows for spectacular views. At the front of the car, comfortable seats face outwards, allowing passengers to fully enjoy the view passing by. The rear of the car has cabin-style seats. Bring a deck of cards, dominoes or travel games to pass the time. It’s also a great place to eat from the cafe car, but the seats in this car are in high demand, so it’s no guarantee you’ll never get a seat (I had to check several times before finally getting a booth).
It’s not easy to meet other hikers while watching three kids, but we did meet a few who wanted to experience the starlight on the coast.
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It’s not easy to meet other hikers while watching three kids, but we did meet a few who wanted to experience the starlight on the coast. We met a man who was travelling
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