Can you travel in Calornia without a car? For most destinations
the answer is "Yes!. California's public transportation system
is among the best in the United States.
There are few other places where you'll find the variety of public
transit modes available in California; everything from historic
cable cars to modern metros. You can cruise 26 miles across the
sea to Santa Catalina Island or ride an excursion train through
the Redwoods.
Amtrak trains serve all major cities and the state of California
operates a network of feeder buses that connect with the trains.
Greyhound and other intercity bus lines reach every corner of
the state and many counties operate rural service to isolated
communities on a daily or weekly basis.
Nearly every city with a population of 25,000 has a local transit
system operating on weekdays, with most cities over 100,000 operating
daily service. In major cities there is frequent service on major
lines extending late into the evening. Service operates 24 hours
a day in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
With all these different transit options, visitors, newcomers
and even long-time residents can find the state's transit systems
as difficult to navigate as the L.A. Freeways. In California By
Train, Bus & Ferry, you will discover how to get to hundreds
of popular destinations without the hassle of driving. You will
also find detailed information about all fixed-route intercity
and local transit operators in California.
The guide contains many of the improvements suggested by readers
of the first three editions of the California Transit Guide, including
a new user-friendly format that greatly simplifies planning transit
trips and a new color map section.
For the most elegant in wine tasting and touring, take a ride
on the Napa Valley Wine Train, served directly by Amtrak's Capitol
and San Joaquin Thruway buses. The Wine Train offers year-round
gourmet dining, including champagne brunch, gourmet lunch or exquisite
full-course dinners. Every dining excursion is a 36 mile, 3-hour
adventure through the heart of the Napa Valley Wine Country, featuring
selected Napa Valley Wines.
The Napa Valley also offers superb cuisine, museums, art galleries
and excellent accommodations including charming bed & breakfast
inns.
Napa can also be reached by Napa Valley Transit from the Vallejo
Ferry Terminal or by a Blue & Gold Ferry package tour from
San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.
Amtrak's handy downtown station, served by the Capitols and
long distance trains as well as San Joaquin Thruway buses, is
within easy walking distance of the city's most popular attractions.
Just a few steps away is Old Sacramento, home to the California
State Railroad Museum, one of the finest interpretive railroad
museums in the country. The museum features more than 30 meticulously
restored locomotives and cars from the beginning of railroading
in the West to the present day. The 28-acre Old Sacramento State
Historic Park and National Historic Landmark also features the
Sacramento Discovery Museum and the largest concentration of historic
buildings in California.
Take Regional Transit's DASH bus 30 from Amtrak to the California
State Capitol, with its magnificent dome, mosaic marble floors
and carved mahogany staircases. These buses also stop at Sutter's
Fort State Historic Park with exhibits on life in early California.
Amtrak's Thruway buses stop at the Ferry Building where you
can make connections to points throughout America's Favorite City.
Walk, or take MUNI 's historic F-Market streetcar to Fisherman's
Wharf. Enjoy the aroma of fresh baked sourdough bread, Dungeness
crab and shrimp cocktail, or browse in shops on Pier 39. Catch
a ferryboat for a tour of the Bay, Alcatraz, Angel Island State
Park, Sausalito or Tiburon. Package ferry tours to Six Flags Marine
World, Muir Woods and Napa Valley Wine Country are also available.
Take the California Street Cable Car, located 2 blocks. from Ferry
Building, to Union Square for world-class shopping or to North
America's largest Chinatown.
Take the MUNI Metro N-Judah train from Caltrain or Embarcadero
BART (located across from the Ferry Building), to 9th Ave. and
Golden Gate Park with more than 1,000 acres of recreational activities
including Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens featuring over
6,000 species of plants and flowers. The nearby Conservatory of
Flowers is a greenhouse of exotic plants from around the world
and the peaceful Japanese Tea Garden features traditional Cherry
blossoms, ponds and bridges.
Steinhart Aquarium features 14,000 species of fish as well as
crocodiles, spiders and snakes. And a new view of the nighttime
sky is yours at the Morrison Planetarium. The Asian Art Museum
and the M.H. deYoung Memorial Museum offer extensive and diverse
collections.
Los Angeles Union Station, served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner,
long-distance and Metrolink trains, is located directly across
from El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. The park features
27 historic buildings surrounding the old Plaza as well as the
popular shops and sidewalk restaurants on Olvera Street. Nearby
is Chinatown, with streets and shops recalling Old China and restaurants
featuring Cantonese and Szechwan cuisine.
Take the Metro Red Line Subway from Union Station to Civic Center
and walk up First Street for the Music Center, Disney Concert
Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the Museum of Contemporary
Art (MOCA). Also nearby is Little Tokyo, home to the Japanese-American
National Museum and Japanese Village Plaza, an outdoor pedestrian
mall featuring a Japanese department store and over 40 shops,
and restaurants. Continue to Pershing Square for Angel's Flight
(closed until further notice), the Biltmore Hotel, Broadway Street,
Grand Central Market and Jewelry Mart. 7th St./Metro Center is
sthe stop for Macy's Plaza, 7th & Fig and the Metro Blue Line
serving Long Beach. Take a "North Hollywood" train to
Hollywood/Vine for the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" and
Pantages Theatre or Hollywood/Highland for the Egyptian, El Capitan,
Kodak and Mann's Chinese Theatres, Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood
Entertainment Museum. Trains continue to Universal City for Universal
Studios Hollywood, Universal CityWalk and Universal Amphitheatre
before reaching their final destination in North Hollywood's NoHo
Arts District.
Take MTA "Metro Rapid" bus 720 from the Wilshire/Western
Red Line station to Hancock Park, home of La Brea Tar Pits, George
C. Page Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA),
Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive), Westwood (UCLA), Brentwood and Santa
Monica's Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier. Farmer's
Market and The Grove Shopping Center are about a 15 minute walk
north from the "Metro Rapid" stop at Fairfax.
The Metro Gold Line now connects Union Station to Chinatown,
the Southwest Museum and Old Town Pasadena. Other Pasadena attractions
include the Norton Simon Museum, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena
Museum of California Art and Paseo Colorado Shopping Center.
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners and Coaster commuter trains serve
the Santa Fe Depot located in the heart of downtown San Diego.
It's just a short walk to the waterfront with bay cruises, Coronado
ferry, Maritime Museum and seafood restaurants. Waterfront dining
and shopping is also found at nearby Seaport Village.
Take the San Diego Trolley from the station platform to Horton
Plaza, a shopper's paradise with seven city blocks of shops, galleries,
restaurants and theaters. Nearby, the historic Gaslamp Quarter
is a 16-block menagerie of restored Victorians housing art galleries,
antique shops, night clubs and restaurants.
If a little international flavor is on your agenda, stay on the
Trolley until you reach the San Ysidro/Tijuana. From there, it's
just a short walk to Tijuana, Mexico.
In the heart of San Diego lies beautiful Balboa Park featuring
the San Diego Zoo, famed for its rare and exotic species. Nearby
are nearly a dozen museums with exhibits ranging from aerospace
and ancient art treasures to history and model railroads. To reach
Balboa Park, take San Diego Transit (SDT) bus 7 on Broadway, across
the street from the Santa Fe Depot.
Another local favorite is Sea World, a 150-acre marine park, located
in Mission Bay Park. Sea World is reached by SDT bus 9 from the
Old Town Trolley station. The trolley continues from Old Town
to Fashion Valley, Qualcomm Stadium (for Chargers football and
Padres baseball) and Mission San Diego.
Step off Amtrak's Coast Starlight or Pacific Surfliner and
into the heart Santa Barbara. Walk to Stearns Wharf, offering
shops, restaurants and the Sea Center with fascinating marine
life exhibits. Visit the Yacht Harbor for a scenic stroll on the
breakwater, or climb aboard a boat for a shoreline tour, sport
fishing or seasonal whale watching expeditions.
Take the Downtown-Waterfront Electric Shuttle up State Street
for a look at Santa Barbara's historic architecture. The elegant
County Courthouse is a Spanish-Moorish Palace with a clocktower
offering sweeping views of the city. Nearby attractions include
the Historical Society Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
historic adobes and "El Paseo" - full of colonial ambience.
State Street features many beautiful courtyards complete with
exotic plants, tiled fountains and walks surrounded by shops,
galleries and restaurants.
Mission Santa Barbara, "The Queen of the Missions,"
established in 1786 and the nearby Museum of Natural History are
favorite stops for visitors. To reach the Old Mission and Museum
take Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) bus 22
from the Santa Barbara Transit Center located behind Paseo Nuevo.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage
or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
Selected California place descriptions Copyright (c) California
Trade and Commerce Agency, Division of Tourism. Used with permission.
