Anyone taken the Sacramento to Lake Tahoe Amtrak bus?

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BCL

BCL

Engineer
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
4,413
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
The rest of my family is visiting my BIL, so I'm thinking of taking a day off work by myself and using the points that are just sitting around collecting dust. I know I can drive, but I just want to use up some points. I was thinking of taking the train to meet them, but that would take way too much time.

I just want to do an overnight to Lake Tahoe (probably Stateline, CA) and stay overnight. I know this is one Amtrak supported bus that doesn't need to be connected with a train trip, but I'm going to start in the Bay Area. I'm thinking of maybe parking in Martinez since the parking is free. Emeryville used to be my go-to station but I guess the parking situation has changed. I haven't really parked there in a while.

There's no rhyme or reason why I want to make this trip other than boredom.

So how's the bus?
 
I've done 3 round trips on the bus from Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe in the last couple of years. My partner likes to snowboard and she likes riding the train/bus. No complaints from me! The bus makes one quick stop in Placerville, before continuing up highway 50. The drivers know the route well and the scenery is nice. I've always had power outlets and wifi available, although the wifi gets spotty in the mountains.

You have three stops to pick from around South Lake Tahoe - all are priced the same and the bus driver usually will ask you which of the stops you want when you board, regardless of where you're ticketed to. The first stop is at the South Y Transit Center (SLT). The second stop is Stateline Transit Center (SLH). The final stop is Kingsbury Transit Center (SLN). You can walk to a bunch of hotels and resorts from SLH especially if you pack accordingly.

Also, to get around South Lake Tahoe, you can easily use Lime scooters by the minute (usually available) along with TART buses. If you really want to keep things simple, there are quite a few restaurants, breweries, casinos, and shops around Heavenly and Stateline that don't require a car, if you don't mind walking.

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks. Since I'm without a car I'm really just going to go overnight, kind of walk around the area, and go back the next day. I thought maybe the Nevada side, but then saw that it was in Kingsbury when I plan on staying closer to the border. I've been going there since I was a kid, but a lot of the old places (like Bill's Casino) are gone, although I don't really plan on gambling while I'm there. I'm kind of on a tight budget right now, so I'm looking for something cheap to eat. I'm planning on staying at the hostel there and possibly preparing my own meals. Something simple like pasta. They seem to have a few taquerias. Maybe splurge on beer during the trip, but I'm trying to keep the spending (other than lodging) to under $30.

I actually haven't even taken an Amtrak trip in nearly 3 years. I collected tens of thousands of points (and even made Select Plus) on the basis of commute trips, 100 point minimum segments, and creative use of multi-city bookings. But after a job change Amtrak didn't make any more sense, and in any case the system killed the 100 point minimum.
 
I think that'd be a nice overnight trip to Tahoe. If you made your own food you could easily grab a beer or two.

Another fun overnight trip we've done is to take the California Zephyr to Truckee and stay at the Redlight Hostel. You can hear the Truckee River from most of the rooms. It's a cool place. The problem with Truckee is that there isn't much to see at night and many of the food/beer options are expensive, even by San Francisco standards, but it's still a nice overnight.
 
It's just a time waster without my family. I was thinking maybe there would be some way to take the CZ to Reno and then work my way down to Tahoe without car.

The hostel seems to allow alcohol, so I'll probably just bring some beer with me. If I splurge, maybe Pliny the Elder (I know a place). Raley's is a couple of blocks away and I figure I could get something microwaveable for breakfast.
 
desertflyer said:
I'm reading your comment from Santa Rosa right now. About to go have an 'Elder with pizza tonight. Have a nice trip!
Click to expand...
I was at their new place in Windsor last weekend after my family had already left. Pretty nice place. In downtown Santa Rosa it feels like almost like a cramped dive bar with some of the most incredible beer on the planet. In Windsor it's big and airy with lots of space outdoors - almost like I'd expect at a winery. No pizza, but they've got fries. Had Row 2 Hill 56 for their $4 all-day happy hour on Sunday. I love Simcoe.

Not sure of that or maybe something from Fieldwork.
 
So - my trip is over. I started off by taking BART to the Richmond station. I left really early and thought maybe I could catch the earlier Capitol Corridor train to Sac. 522 was a little bit late, but I could see it leaving as soon as I got on the BART platform. I ended up waiting with a few people on the Amtrak platform, but most were going on southbound CC or on the SJ. 524 was also running a bit late, but we got into Sac on schedule.

The bus ride was pretty smooth although the driver said it was a different bus and that it didn't have WiFi. It's not an Amtrak-marked bus but a contracted service. I think we had about 16 people. Also the outlets didn't work, but that was another matter. Kind of cramped, but it had seatbelts. I was trying to watch the WWC US-France soccer match and burned through some of my cellular data watching it. When I got in I just went to Harvey's and watched it from their pizza place/sports bar which had some cheap specials.

I tried checking in early, where they said that they didn't have my room ready (I booked the 8 bunk dorm). I didn't quite understand how it all worked, and later when I got my room card upgraded the clerk changed it to a 4 bunk dorm. I didn't quite understand that it was a former motel where there were a dozen or so 4 person rooms and a single 8 person room So I went to the common area/kitchen to get a lay of the land there. It seemed that almost everyone staying there was a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker. There was one guy who just got a delivery from a relative who was looking to move all that stuff into boxes to pick up at different post offices along his route. I'm guessing around winter it's a lot of skiers and snowboarders.

Since I had time before I could enter the room I just went to Raley's to get something to cook - just microwaveable meals and pasta. I already had instant coffee, soft drinks, and beer. I finally had my room but the common area was more interesting and I hung out there after taking a walk. A lot of people were telling stories. I had a few interesting bear stories myself although I've never done long-distance backpacking.

On the way back the bus was a bit late, but it was the same driver from the day before. He said it was another bus. The outlets didn't work, so I figured I'd just use my own power packs. Then at the SLT Y we took on more passengers and when someone asked, he asked them to plug something in and when he was told it wasn't operating he pushed/flipped something and the outlets and USB power were working. I'm not sure why they schedule it for about 3.5 hours to Sac, but we got in about a good 50 minutes early - enough to take an earlier Capitol Corridor train.

Not sure I'd do this again, because normally I would have my family and we would drive. However, this was a good overnight just to kill time and meet people.
 
BCL said:
So - my trip is over. I started off by taking BART to the Richmond station. I left really early and thought maybe I could catch the earlier Capitol Corridor train to Sac. 522 was a little bit late, but I could see it leaving as soon as I got on the BART platform. I ended up waiting with a few people on the Amtrak platform, but most were going on southbound CC or on the SJ. 524 was also running a bit late, but we got into Sac on schedule.

The bus ride was pretty smooth although the driver said it was a different bus and that it didn't have WiFi. It's not an Amtrak-marked bus but a contracted service. I think we had about 16 people. Also the outlets didn't work, but that was another matter. Kind of cramped, but it had seatbelts. I was trying to watch the WWC US-France soccer match and burned through some of my cellular data watching it. When I got in I just went to Harvey's and watched it from their pizza place/sports bar which had some cheap specials.

I tried checking in early, where they said that they didn't have my room ready (I booked the 8 bunk dorm). I didn't quite understand how it all worked, and later when I got my room card upgraded the clerk changed it to a 4 bunk dorm. I didn't quite understand that it was a former motel where there were a dozen or so 4 person rooms and a single 8 person room So I went to the common area/kitchen to get a lay of the land there. It seemed that almost everyone staying there was a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker. There was one guy who just got a delivery from a relative who was looking to move all that stuff into boxes to pick up at different post offices along his route. I'm guessing around winter it's a lot of skiers and snowboarders.

Since I had time before I could enter the room I just went to Raley's to get something to cook - just microwaveable meals and pasta. I already had instant coffee, soft drinks, and beer. I finally had my room but the common area was more interesting and I hung out there after taking a walk. A lot of people were telling stories. I had a few interesting bear stories myself although I've never done long-distance backpacking.

On the way back the bus was a bit late, but it was the same driver from the day before. He said it was another bus. The outlets didn't work, so I figured I'd just use my own power packs. Then at the SLT Y we took on more passengers and when someone asked, he asked them to plug something in and when he was told it wasn't operating he pushed/flipped something and the outlets and USB power were working. I'm not sure why they schedule it for about 3.5 hours to Sac, but we got in about a good 50 minutes early - enough to take an earlier Capitol Corridor train.

Not sure I'd do this again, because normally I would have my family and we would drive. However, this was a good overnight just to kill time and meet people.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the report. Some day there may be a way to route oneself via a stopover at Lake Tahoe between DEN and SAC on a through ticket. (In the bad old days before computers I used optional routings of that sort.) In the meantime it looks as though I'll have to pretend to be an air traveler and get over to the Reno airport in order to catch a bus, except in the ski season.
 
Willbridge said:
Thanx for the report. Some day there may be a way to route oneself via a stopover at Lake Tahoe between DEN and SAC on a through ticket. (In the bad old days before computers I used optional routings of that sort.) In the meantime it looks as though I'll have to pretend to be an air traveler and get over to the Reno airport in order to catch a bus, except in the ski season.
Click to expand...

There are various ways to get between Reno and South Lake Tahoe, but the one that's most obvious is at Reno Airport. There's also public transportation, but it's maybe 4 hours. Don't know if there's any easy way from Truckee to South Lake Tahoe.

https://southtahoeairporter.com
 

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