Beach reachable by train in day trip from LA Union Station?

If I leave my bags there in the morning, and don't need to return until it's time to catch the eastbound Sunset Limited at 10PM, what suggestions do y'all have for hopping on a train to a station that's a fairly short walk from a beach?

If anyone would know, it's somebody on this forum. Perhaps several somebodies, with multiple good ideas.

Santa Monica and Long Beach are both reachable via the LA Metro, although at present Long Beach would require a bus due to construction on the Blue Line. Further out from the city, you could take the Pacific Surfliner or Metrolink Orange County Line.

I second Santa Monica. It is a beautiful beach.

I have also taken the Pacific Surfliner to Solana Beach and back in time to depart on the Southwest Chief.

Check out the the Pacific Surfliner schedule. San Clemente and Oceanside are an about an hour/hour and a quarter from LAX (LA Union Station). But both are very close to the beach, especially San Clemente. San Clemente has only three stops in the morning and two in the afternoon (approx. 4:14 and 5:15). Oceanside has more options but is a couple of blocks from the beach. Hope this helps.

Edit: Agree with Penny. And it is a great beach. It’s farther away, but has more schedule options than the much closer, San Clemente Pier (beach) station. It has same schedule as Oceanside, IIRC.

Santa Monica has a lot of options and its close.

Santa Monica Transit's Big Blue Bus route 10 offers the quickest transfer to Santa Monica from Union Station (across the street from the front entrance). Check out its Internet site for the schedules for Route 10.

Thanks for all the good ideas!

Something I should have put in my first post: I'll be doing this on a Sunday. No #10 bus on weekends, and other transit schedules will be affected, too.

tricia said:

Something I should have put in my first post: I'll be doing this on a Sunday. No #10 bus on weekends, and other transit schedules will be affected, too.

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The L.A. Metro rail lines still run fairly often on Sunday, and it's a fairly straightforward trip to Santa Monica -- Red Line to 7th Street/Metro Center station, and then upstairs to the Expo Line to the end of the line, and then walk a couple blocks to the beach. (There are plenty of restaurants and shops nearby to explore as well.)

tricia said:

If I leave my bags there in the morning, and don't need to return until it's time to catch the eastbound Sunset Limited at 10PM, what suggestions do y'all have for hopping on a train to a station that's a fairly short walk from a beach?

If anyone would know, it's somebody on this forum. Perhaps several somebodies, with multiple good ideas.

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Can't better the suggestions above of Santa Monica, but would just add that Venice Beach is about a 45 minute walk down the shoreline. Santa Monica and Venice are like chalk and cheese, a great contrast

v v said:

Can't better the suggestions above of Santa Monica, but would just add that Venice Beach is about a 45 minute walk down the shoreline. Santa Monica and Venice are like chalk and cheese, a great contrast

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For sure, usually lots of interesting entrainment at Venice.

I like Solana Beach. It's a bit farther down the Pacific Surfliner line, but it's not very crowded and has huge cliffs overlooking the beach. It's walkable from the station. Of course you'd only want to do this if you have the time. It's closer to San Diego than it is to LA Union Station. But it's worth it, if you have a whole day.

trainman74 said:

The L.A. Metro rail lines still run fairly often on Sunday, and it's a fairly straightforward trip to Santa Monica -- Red Line to 7th Street/Metro Center station, and then upstairs to the Expo Line to the end of the line, and then walk a couple blocks to the beach. (There are plenty of restaurants and shops nearby to explore as well.)

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I have to amend this in case anyone is making this trip from late June to late August: part of the Expo Line will be replaced by bus service for about 60 days.

v v said:

Can't better the suggestions above of Santa Monica, but would just add that Venice Beach is about a 45 minute walk down the shoreline. Santa Monica and Venice are like chalk and cheese, a great contrast

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Best way to Venice from Union Station is via the 733 bus, which serves the bus plaza on the east side of the station, and runs about every 20 minutes on Sundays. Taking the train one way, walking along the coast, and taking the bus the other way would be a good option (assuming there's good weather at the beach).

I’m not sure what the name of the beach was, just south of San Clemente as the southbound Pacific Surfliner hit the beach, when I rode in 2015, a quite large wave hit our train. It was pretty cool, like going through a car wash on a train, and the look on the other pax faces was priceless.

tim49424 said:

I’m not sure what the name of the beach was, just south of San Clemente as the southbound Pacific Surfliner hit the beach, when I rode in 2015, a quite large wave hit our train. It was pretty cool, like going through a car wash on a train, and the look on the other pax faces was priceless.

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I believe you are talking about San Onofre Surf Beach, a state run beach and campground.

CAMISSY55 said:

I believe you are talking about San Onofre Surf Beach, a state run beach and campground.

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Thanks. I would’ve never known being I’m from Michigan and I’m not exactly familiar with SoCal being that’s been my only trip there. I’d love to return, however!

Following up after our day in LA....

We didn't go to the beach after all--decided it'd be too much time in transit, not enough time being there: FlyAway bus from airport to Union Station to drop off baggage, more buses to and from the beach.

I'd definitely plan a beach visit IF I were arriving early AM on the SL and heading out on either the SWC or SL later the same day, especially on a weekday when transit options are more plentiful to/from downtown.

Instead of the beach, we dropped our bags at Union Station and walked around downtown. Olvera St. was OK for a brief walk, but the highlights for us were the Last Bookstore, ice cream and other good things at the huge Grand Central Market, and hanging out in the pub in Union Station.

Thanks again to everyone for tips and advice.

Best of all sounds like you had a good time.

tricia said:

...the Last Bookstore, ice cream and other good things at the huge Grand Central Market..

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If I'd have known you were going to be in this area of downtown L.A., I would also have recommended the Central Library, which has such an interesting history that there's a whole book about it.