I'm planning a trip through California and am considering a few different ways of getting from San Francisco to LA. Because of time constraints I must do the journey in one day, although I wish I could spend more time on it. The coast starlight is represented by Amtrak as being a scenic train, with nice dining cars, observation cars, etc. It seems nice, but I would like to ask the advice of you well-travelled folks first. The train takes 12 hours and follows a meandering route near the coast. Other options are: cheap flight, car rental, bus, night train. Thanks for reading, enjoy your next travels :)