Mini day trip FROM Anaheim?

[plumsiren]

If someone were skipping a park day and wanted to go solo to something that could be reached via an Uber in (without much traffic) no more than 45 minutes, and not in LA, what would you recommend? I know this puts a lot of beach towns in play, but I'm not familiar with non-LA inland areas. (Solo traveler is a 70-something man with an interest in just seeing neat things, especially things of historical/architectural interest. He'd have all day, but realistically would probably only want to be walking around for max 3 hours.)

 

[DLgal]

Is he into cars? There is a cool auto museum in Tustin. It's called Marconi Auto Museum. I can imagine an older guy spending a couple hours in there.

 

[bcla]

Orange County is kind of meh. Maybe Mission San Juan Capistrano? That’s about as historic and architectural as anything in OC. Should take about a half hour to get there from Anaheim with light traffic. Might even be possible with public transit, commuter rail, or Amtrak. The train station is a block away from the mission. However, Metrolink seems to have discontinued service while there’s track work, and Amtrak service is limited now.

https://www.missionsjc.com/

 

[DLgal]

Orange County is kind of meh. Maybe Mission San Juan Capistrano? That’s about as historic and architectural as anything in OC. Should take about a half hour to get there from Anaheim with light traffic. Might even be possible with public transit, commuter rail, or Amtrak. The train station is a block away from the mission. However, Metrolink seems to have discontinued service while there’s track work, and Amtrak service is limited now.

https://www.missionsjc.com/

This is a good suggestion. SJC is a nice little town.

 

[bcla]

For the OP, I guess with San Juan Capistrano from Anaheim, I'd suggest maybe planning on a train ride instead of Uber. Again - Metrolink isn't serving that station now (although it could change), but Amtrak is very reasonable (Anaheim to San Juan Capistrano is a regular fare of $15). There are also assorted discounts, such as the 20% Disneyland discount (just for using the Anaheim station), current 25% weekend discount, and a senior discount (15% I think).

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/weekend-travel/
https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/save-on-disneyland/

With Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, the trains are usually "unreserved", which allows passengers to ride on trains with a valid ticket either before or after the - I believe within a year of the time the ticket is purchased. There are some exceptions during holiday periods and for some tickets that are purchased using special discounts (like the weekend discount previously mentioned).

The schedule (4 trains per day between Anaheim and SJC) may not be that convenient though. If Metrolink were still running all the way to Oceanside, they have far more frequent service. But maybe take the train one way and then Uber back?

 

[Douglas Dubh]

The Nixon Presidential Library is only 20 minutes away.

 

[China Expat]

Agree with Nixon Library

 

[plumsiren]

For the OP, I guess with San Juan Capistrano from Anaheim, I'd suggest maybe planning on a train ride instead of Uber. Again - Metrolink isn't serving that station now (although it could change), but Amtrak is very reasonable (Anaheim to San Juan Capistrano is a regular fare of $15). There are also assorted discounts, such as the 20% Disneyland discount (just for using the Anaheim station), current 25% weekend discount, and a senior discount (15% I think).

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/weekend-travel/
https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/save-on-disneyland/

With Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, the trains are usually "unreserved", which allows passengers to ride on trains with a valid ticket either before or after the - I believe within a year of the time the ticket is purchased. There are some exceptions during holiday periods and for some tickets that are purchased using special discounts (like the weekend discount previously mentioned).

The schedule (4 trains per day between Anaheim and SJC) may not be that convenient though. If Metrolink were still running all the way to Oceanside, they have far more frequent service. But maybe take the train one way and then Uber back?

With the train trip on top of the destination, this is a really good idea! Actually his first and only other trip to Southern California was a huge cross-country one in the 60s that he has fond memories of!


Thank you, everyone, for the suggestions!