Maybe this is the time for you to look into an Amtrak vacation, especially if you have never done that sort of thing before.  The national train network makes it possible to get around from most major cities.  Getting there can be half the fun on some of the more scenic routes.

One of the most popular vacation destinations is San Diego.  It is easy to take a train to the historic station and then use public transit for getting around locally.  Compared to other parts of Southern California, San Diego is actually relatively close together.  You can even get around to a lot of vacation attractions by walking if you enjoy that.

There is no shortage of fun places of interest in San Diego.  You could really spend weeks at all the museums, historical places of interest, beaches, theme parks and other attractions.  There certainly would be no problem filling a busy week of vacation in this beach-oriented city.  One of the major features that San Diego offers its guests and residents alike is its wonderful, moderate weather, especially in the summertime.

If you wanted to extend your vacation, it is possible to continue the train travel up to the Los Angeles area, and beyond that up the West Coast.  AmTrak runs from the downtown San Diego station to downtown Los Angeles Union Station with a few stops in between.  This would make it possible to spend an easy week or two in Southern California without your car.

Of course, traveling by train could add 3-4 days to the overall vacation schedule but that could be part of the charm if you have the right attitude.

Southern California is a pretty well-known vacation destination and there are a great many hotels to be found. Some travelers are on business trips and are looking for mid-price hotels with easy access to the local freeways and airports.

We’re talking mostly about vacation travelers here, and for them you’re looking at a much wider range in quality and price. In either case, here is a good website intended to help you find good hotel deals. The site offers information about places to visit in Southern California and a lot of other useful material, but certainly will help both business and vacation travelers. You can use this website to find package airline and hotel deals also, which is convenient.

Another good site with helpful insight into hotels near major tourist attractions is the SoCal Vacation Guru. It does not specialize only in lodging options but also covers other aspects of a trip to Southern Calfornia, discussing Disneyland, Universal Studios, beaches, etc. The Guru offers wisdom about many areas of vacation planning.

If you are interested to hear what others are thinking about travel in general, you might visit Travel Talk. This has lots of input on a very diverse spectrum of travel-oriented topics. You can find subjects ranging from trips to India to driving trips by yourself to careers in the travel business. So it’s not going to help you much in finding a hotel in southern California, but you might find something useful. Hit the other two sites presented above for SoCal hotel information and insight.