If anyone has experience with train and/or bus travel between SoCal and Davis, please chime in!
I’m just beginning to research train and bus routes between L.A. and Davis so our D will have an option for commuting back and forth over short-term breaks. We live in Camarillo (50 miles north of L.A., in Ventura County) and I do believe there’s a train that goes all the way from L.A. through our area to Oakland, but what happens then? Is it necessary to transfer to another train which would then head east through Davis to Sacramento? Or is taking a bus a better option?
You can take the Coast Starlight to Oakland and transfer to the Capitol Corridor train, which will take you to Davis. I’m not sure how well the two lines’ schedules correlate though. It may be a very long trip.
According to the Amtrak site she’d pick up the Pacific Surfliner in Camarillo, take it to Santa Barbara where she’d transfer to a bus which would then take her to San Jose. Then she’d transfer to another train (Capitol Corridor or California Zephyr) which would take her to Davis. We’d really like to avoid the bus and transfers; I’m hoping there’s a more direct route. I’ll have to check out the route for the Coast Starlight, and see if it comes near our area.
My son’s roommate made the trek from Davis to Pasadena which took him about 10 hrs along with having to change to a bus in Bakersfield. No easy route to Davis unless she flies from a local airport (Santa Barbara) to San Jose and then picks up the Capital Corridor train to Davis or flies from Santa Barbara airport to Sacramento and then use the Davis Airporter to shuttle her to Davis.
My son flies out of Ontario with Southwest to Sacramento and has the Davis Airporter shuttle him to campus. I have a Southwest Chase credit card to accumulate points towards airline tickets. Has worked great for us these past 4 years.
Unless I’m missing something it looks like the Coast Starlight is the better choice for us; goes directly from L.A. to Davis (and onward to Sac, then all the way to Seattle), no transfers necessary. We can pick it up at the Oxnard station. From Oxnard, Davis is an 11 hr. 41 min. ride. Plenty of time to study
