Cruising the Central Coast by the

Concerned about rising gas prices and wasting time sitting in traffic? There is an alternative way to explore the Central Coast: Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight!

Long before U.S. Route 101 was commissioned as a highway in 1926, the region was connected to the rest of California by the Southern Pacific railway. When the road through the Gaviota Pass was still just a narrow dirt track, Southern Pacific had established a train route from Los Angeles through Ventura and Santa Barbara, to San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and beyond. That route still exists and has been operated by Amtrak since the 1970s. These days, you can hop on the train in L.A. and in just a few hours be on the Central Coast, walking on a quiet beach or exploring the vibrant downtown areas of wine country.

Amtrak currently runs five trains a day each way between Los Angeles and the Central Coast. One in each direction is the Coast Starlight. It leaves L.A. each morning, reaching Santa Barbara by midday and San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles in the afternoon before continuing to northern California and beyond. On the way south, it stops in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo in the afternoon, Santa Barbara