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Hi all,
I’m looking at buying one of the Amtrak rail passes (10 segments that need to be used within 30 days). I’d like to travel from coast to coast with (ideally c.10 stops between) to get best value. I really like small, historic towns away from the big cities of the US – but there are so many to choose from! I can jump from parts of the states by flight if I need to connect to a different train route somewhere.
Hit me with your Amtrak route/stop off towns to help me plan my itinerary.
You’re unlikely to get any decent answers for that question on this forum but it’s been asked hundreds of times on specific Amtrack forums, Discord etc, so https://lmgtfy2.com/s/Q2U7lX
We’ve planned something similar for ourselves this year (San Francisco to New York City) – we found Reddit useful for Amtrak tips as well as other Google search results. There is a friendly and knowledgeable community on Reddit and lots of posts about using the rail pass too.
To do coast to coast completely on the train with 10(ish) stops means quite a few long journeys (e.g. the combined journey time of the two trains that make up the San Francisco – NYC route is over 70 hours). The Amtrak rail pass only includes coach (seats) and not any of the sleeper compartments so I’d recommend Googling what it’s like travelling in coach overnight on Amtrak and how best to get comfortable.
With the exception of the north-east of the USA, most of the towns only have one train per day, so you will get multiples of 24 hours at the destination wherever you get off. Quite a lot of the stops are in the middle of the night so this is also something to bear in mind. Some tickets will be cheaper purchased directly online than using one of your segments on the rail pass so double check pricing as well.
The best starting place is to look at the major train routes (https://amtrakguide.com/2020/04/17/amtrak-long-distance-train-routes/) and their timetables, which may help you decide how long you want to be on the train for one ride and if arriving at 3am somewhere is good or bad for you.
When my daughter was at Uni in the states, she and a few friends decided to abandon their cars one Spring break to try out Amtrak. They soon found out (as @JenT has pointed out) that lots of trains arrived/departed in the middle of the night; there was only one train a day; and although the seats were ok for one night’s sleep, beyond that it was more comfortable by bus, car or plane.
That said, if you can find a train going to the places you want to visit and arrivals/departures at reasonable hours, it should be fun. We’ve taken Amtrak out of LA Union Station up and down the coast and also east bound towards Arizona and New Mexico. I do remember thinking on one occasion, what would you do in Kingman when the train arrived in the middle of the night!
Thanks for the responses all. I always forget how big the states is compared to the UK! Will definitely have a look through Reddit and play around with maps to see what looks interesting. Definitely not keen on arriving in some small, remote town in the middle of the night.
Is there a specific reason for focussing on Amtrak?
There are some stunning train routes in USA eg Californian Zephyr. They will be more expensive but the routes and scenery are extraordinary.
Is there a specific reason for focussing on Amtrak?
There are some stunning train routes in USA eg Californian Zephyr. They will be more expensive but the routes and scenery are extraordinary.
The California Zephyr is an Amtrak train!!
As has been mentioned, on the cross-country routes you get at best 1 train a day, and the arrival times at some of the places are not ideal, so looking at timetables is recommended.
I travelled on several of the long distance sleeper services in May and they’re a great experience. One option might be to do several of the 10 journeys in the NorthEast as there are plenty of historic places there, then take a separate sleeper service to the West coast and then use the remaining of your 10 journeys there. While you could use one of the 10 for the 45 hour journey from Chicago to the West Coast, a sleeper compartment is far more comfortable, and includes your meals for the trip
Is there a specific reason for focussing on Amtrak?
There are some stunning train routes in USA eg Californian Zephyr. They will be more expensive but the routes and scenery are extraordinary.
The California Zephyr is an Amtrak train!!
Well blow my socks off!
Don’t forget about bus and coach services. They are a very useful method of getting around the USA, and usually have far better timings than Amtrak. (I love taking the train in the US, but I’m not hanging around desolate stations at 2am). I’ve used Peter Pan in the North East area, and Flixbus recently from New Orleans to Baton Rouge for a day trip to tick it off my State capitol list.
There are also privately and state operated rail services that are great for exploring. The Cape Flyer http://www.capeflyer.com operates on weekends and peak holidays between Boston and Hyannis. For example we used the CapeFlyer from Boston to Hyannis, Peter Pan from Hyannis to Providence, then Amtrak from Providence to New Haven, then MTA down to New York.
If you’re going to use buses/coaches do thorough research. Around 2010 we used Chinatown bus lines (or something like that). They were horrendous. Bus broke down and standard of driving was not good.
Greyhound seems to have improved. My son took a bus from San Francisco to Merced last year and I seem to recall him saying there is a new transit centre in SF city centre. The bus he took was new and had very few passengers and he would use Greyhound again.
Flixbus seems to be ok too and seem to have quite an extensive network.
I’m very late to this, but just in case the OP checks back or anyone else searches, I would say Winslow, Arizona is pretty much the reason for this thread. Just around the corner from “the corner”, the La Posada hotel IS the historic Amtrak station. Goods trains rumble through at all hours but the Southwest Chief Amtrak service stops, and is (or at least was when I stayed there on a route 66 road trip) a bit of a daily event at the hotel. It’s a unique place, a piece of history.
Ah Winslow, stayed at the Best Western, had the best sweet potato fries of my life in the restaurant at the Quality Inn, and on returning I saw a night sky full of stars for the 1st time in my life, it was breathtaking. Sat on the bonnet of the car looking up for half an hour.
Always find a reason to stand on the corner.
Greyhound seems to have improved. My son took a bus from San Francisco to Merced last year and I seem to recall him saying there is a new transit centre in SF city centre. The bus he took was new and had very few passengers and he would use Greyhound again.
Flixbus seems to be ok too and seem to have quite an extensive network.
FirstGroup sold Greyhound to Flixbus in 2021.
Sounds like Flixbus have injected some cash! There are two websites still operating – Flixbus and Greyhound. Don’t know whether the prices are the same. We have used Greyhound website and have booked seats from Denver later this year.
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