Metrolink Train Station – San Juan Capistrano

I went on a day trip hosted by Good Times Travel with Pasadena City College and Glendale City College heading down to San Diego.
Part of the trip was taking a train ride down starting at San Juan Capistrano and into the Santa Fe Train Station in downtown San Diego. We got there 30mins ahead of schedule, and was able to use that time for restrooms, photo taking, and hearing further instructions from our tour director.
Nice, clean little place to visit if you got some time to check it out. They still have the historic San Juan Capistrano Mission there (they do tours too). They also got unique and quaint little shops, coffee shops and eateries around here as well as Starbucks if Mom and Pop coffee shops ain’t your thing.
Restrooms are located on the left side, head towards Platform «E». The restrooms were clean and stocked. Though some stalls didn’t have locks on them — you’ll have to hold it while you pee.
As for the train ride: smooth sailing heading down there. Best of all, each seating area has two plugs and so you can charge your phone and any other electronics while awaiting to arrival at your destination, woohoo!
Parking and ticket purchasing: Please see other reviews. I came on a tour bus, and so we got dropped off, and our tickets were taken care of by our tour direction as we happily rode off to beautiful San Diego, yay!!! :)

We were here to take pictures for prom. So many great backdrops along the tracks and behind in the garden.

Where the hell are we supposed to stand for the northbound train?! Nothing is clearly marked. I stood at #4 and I made it into the bike train (grrr!). Second to last car?

Great stop in a beautiful city, Metrolink station here is clean with friendly and helpful staff.

Winner of most disgusting women’s bathroom in San Juan Capistrano. Too bad no ZERO STAR Option.
Just a brief recap of the conditions at this time:
Stall #1 — Feces on toilet seat [sizeable pile]
Stall #2 — Feminine Napkin in full view
Stall #3 — Poor unfortunate person using this wretched bathroom.
Stall #4 — (Handicap Stall) — Not certain if the spray in this stall is brown vomit or explosive diarrhea.
Use at your own risk.

Love this place! Went here yesterday for the day. There are a lot of things to do here and even a city tour. The older gentleman that volunteered there was so kind. He was chatting us up while we waited for the train. He informed us about the history of the city.
The great thing about this location is there are many things to view within walking distance. An ice cream parlor, movie theatre, wine tasting, antique stores (which we spend 3 hours in) and I even bought my fiancees wedding band down here. I plan on coming down here again and trying that wine tasting tour :)

Very pretty Metrolink station! Located within Los Rios District of San Juan Capistrano. So when you’re waiting for the train, you get a nice view of the restaurants around the tracks and the little petting zoo from across the street. The restrooms are a bit dirty, but you can always use the restroom elsewhere. There’s only one train track at this station, so it does take awhile for the trains to come and go. There are a few seating areas available here too!

While there really isn’t much at this train stop — which is more like a patio and a couple of Metrolink ticket dispensers, along with the requisite men’s and women’s restrooms — you really can’t argue with the view here. As it’s close to Mission San Juan Capistrano, it’s got a rustic frontier feel to it, and watching the Metro pull into the station is kinda romantic (then again, I was waiting for my lady here over the weekend, so…).
Also, there plenty of parking via the nearby parking structure. Metrolink users have 3 free hours of parking.

Call and prebook its a easy way to get around

This is not really what you would consider a train «station.» More like a train stop. More like a narrow spot in the tracks where the train slows down enough so you can jump off without killing yourself.
The stop is next to the historic district in San Juan Capistrano. It is beautiful and quaint. We came down on the train from Orange to go to the petting zoo and the mission.
For a commuter, this stop is all you need. There is parking and a ticket vending machine for Metrolink. You can buy Amtrak tickets nearby. It is an easy walk to the mission, shopping, the petting zoo, a park, and restaurants.
I have no problem getting on and off the train here as long as the engineer slows down enough for me to make the leap.

This location is a stop for both Metrolink and Amtrak. It does not have much of an office or office hours.
Location is nice and its worth a day trip if ones in southern Orange County. I would recommend eating at el Adobe its one of the better Mexican food places. The mission is also worth a visit.

It’s a cool train station, it’s always cool to have a mode of transportation besides your car. I wish the area restaurants stayed open late, there’s a ice cream place that’s never open when I catch the late night train.

Took the Metrolink from Riverside to this charming little train station back in September… Not only does Metrolink stop here, but this is also a popular stop for Amtrak as well. BTW, this is the orange county line for Metrolink.
This station is in the Los Rios Historic District ~ see website

All these historic but interesting looking buildings are just steps away from the train tracks. This is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The cutest coffee shop I’ve ever seen (inside the most QUAINT cottage house) is right across from this train stop
~ voted best coffee in San Juan Capistrano. See pics below!
For the kids ~ go check out the petting zoo just behind Hidden House Coffee shop

The old mission SJC, which is one of the 21 historic Catholic missions in California, is also walking distance from the train since the train station is right next to the downtown area
There’s even a nice size movie theater within half a block from the train station!
BTW, I recommend El Adobe de Capistrano Mexican Restaurant just two short blocks away from the train depot. The restaurant itself is a California State Historical Landmark, and was made famous by our former president Richard Nixon. His favorite entrée is actually listed on the menu as «The President’s choice» (see menu). I thought the food was pretty good when I dined here a while back.
You can easily spend an entire day here, between the old mission, walking all over the Los Rios Historic District, having a nice cup of coffee at Hidden House Coffee, the many restaurants, shops and the movie theater, and perhaps taking your kids to the petting zoo, sure makes for one heck of an adventurous day at your leisure — ALL within a short walking distance. You can literally tell your car to take a hike!
Weekend pass for the train (from Friday night to Sunday night) is $ 10 per person and it sure beats the gas, parking, and traffic! Metrolink is more affordable than Amtrak too, but it is basically the same train.
Oh and beware!!! Some trains do make quite an entrance here (it’s like the train apocalypse). Don’t forget to bring your ear plugs because the trains are friggin NOISY here, not to mention FAST… see video link below in which we hop back on the train to head back to Riverside, CA.
The video is only 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Better step out of the train tracks or I will see YOU on the news =O

The train station is not bad wish there was two tracks though so one goes North and the other go South so they don’t have to share one track

I wish the trans would come every 20 minuts or every hour on time because they are always late

I just started riding metrolink and I am totally enjoying it. Not having to sit in traffic is awesome. What’s even better is being able to catch up on my reading. The only drawback to the SJC station is the parking is not free. Though I cant really complain since the fee is only $ 2 for the whole day.

Heard you can ride the Metrolink from anywhere in Orange County to Union Station in LA for a total of $ 29 round trip for up to four people. This $ 29 fare applies to weekends only on their «Friends and Family 4-​Pack,» so decided to take advantage of it. Met up at San Juan Capistrano station where there is a Metrolink and Amtrak station in historical downtown area. There was a kiosk at the Metrolink station where you can purchase your tickets. We were planning to make a trip to Philippe’s for a french dip sandwich and also to Olvera Street, both which were within walking distance of Union Station.
Train makes several stops in Orange County including San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Irvine, Tustin, Fullerton, Orange, Buena Park, etc., and arrives at final destination of Union Station.
It was fast, comfortable and and most importantly, really cheap. Much better than having to take a car and find parking in LA. Union Station, itself, is a really cool place to visit also.
Would highly recommend as a neat way to travel to LA without having to hassle with the parking and traffic you would have to deal with in a car. Chinatown is right near Union Station also. For the money it is a great deal and a cool, different way to get from Orange County to LA at an awesome price.

This is a clean, super-​convieniant station to use!!! very well kept up.

I don’t really know how to review a train station but when I was looking up directions to the station, I found reviews on it on google and figured I could write one here. The San Juan Capistrano is a really cute little station. It is right in the middle of a bunch of cute shops and eateries. I took the Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to SJC. When I got off the train, I could hear a band playing from the Sallows Inn. The Mission San Juan Capistrano is a short walk from the station. Its honestly worth taking the train to San Juan Capistrano to explore the area around it.