Is This the Best New Way to Travel Between SF and LA?

Don't call it a bus. It's a "moving hotel."

July 6, 2017 9:00 am

Maybe you fly private. Maybe you have a helicopter. Or a teleportation machine. 

Otherwise, getting from S.F. to L.A. is the worst. 

Pick your poison: an interminable drive, or the frisk-and-wait excitement of the flight. 

But now there’s a third option. 

When we say “moving hotel,” what do you think? 

Do you think of a bus with individual (and really: no buddying up here) sleeping compartments? Wifi? Electrical outlets? For $115 each way? 

This is Cabin, a start-up looking to disrupt the unreleneting hassle that is getting from S.F. to L.A.

Board at 11 PM, arrive around 7 AM — without the trouble of getting to an airport. (Or to Emeryville, for the S.F. commencement of the half-day sightseeing trip known as Amtrak. Note to state for future infrastructure investment: Any bullet trains Japan can do, surely we can do better?) 

In S.F., you’ll climb on in SoMa; in L.A., in Santa Monica. 

Can it be worse than the existing options? 

We say give it a go — it’s perfect for, say, a weekend of discovery. And when you get there, plan a day with these suggestions from our L.A. editor, Reuben Brody. 

Morning
Start the morning with a hike on one of Griffith Park’s lesser-known trails. Then do a breakfast at Backyard Bowls — their açai bowls are nuclear-grade post-hike (or biking) food.

Afternoon
For lunch, grab some tacos at Loqui at The Platform. The cheese on their tacos melts into the flour tortillas just right. Then stop by Magasin, L.A.’s best men’s store. You’ll find stuff here that you won’t find anywhere outside of Italy or Japan. Then grab a scoop of super creamy ice cream at Van Leeuwen.

Evening
Spend a night in Venice and do this itinerary: dinner at Felix for some serious Italian pastas and pizzas and then exceptional cocktails at Old Lightning, a small cocktail lounge. After that, head to the front side of the building, where you’ll find Scopa, for more cocktails. Then it’s down to Nighthawk for some late-night action and bourbon milk.

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