CZ multi city trip

[casual001]

I have been riding amtrak for years, but never on the CZ. I am looking for info on what to do and where to stay while on this trip.

It will begin leaving ann arbor mi. on 6-20-09 arrive gsc on 6-21-09

Leave gsc on 6-24 arrive reno 6-25

going to lake tahoe on 6-26 thru 6-29

then proceed to san fransisco (Leaning towards fishermans wharf) on 6-29 then fly home on 7-2-09

. Looking for a nice lakefront hotel or cottage/cabin on lake tahoe

Looking for scenic and fun activities for all the locations listed above. And also the best way to get around(especially between reno and lake tahoe and lake tahoe to truckee ca and san fran).

The whole trip will be in a roomette except for the final leg from lake tahoe to san fran.

Thanks in advance for your help as i know this is the best possible place for answers as i have been reading this forum on and off for years.

 

[the_traveler]

Welcome to "the other side"! :lol:

also the best way to get around(especially between reno and lake tahoe and lake tahoe to truckee ca and san fran)

The best way to get around is to rent a car. GSC is a small town, but I think (but I'm not sure) that they have a bus system of some sort, and between Reno and Lake Tahoe is something like 40 or 50 miles!

 

[sunchaser]

I have been riding amtrak for years, but never on the CZ. I am looking for info on what to do and where to stay while on this trip.It will begin leaving ann arbor mi. on 6-20-09 arrive gsc on 6-21-09

Leave gsc on 6-24 arrive reno 6-25

going to lake tahoe on 6-26 thru 6-29

then proceed to san fransisco (Leaning towards fishermans wharf) on 6-29 then fly home on 7-2-09

. Looking for a nice lakefront hotel or cottage/cabin on lake tahoe

Looking for scenic and fun activities for all the locations listed above. And also the best way to get around(especially between reno and lake tahoe and lake tahoe to truckee ca and san fran).

The whole trip will be in a roomette except for the final leg from lake tahoe to san fran.

Thanks in advance for your help as i know this is the best possible place for answers as i have been reading this forum on and off for years.

Even though I'm a newbie, I think I can help you with these questions-I am an avid websurfer, & like research stuff online.

We did live in Reno, loved Lake Tahoe. I have found a number of websites that should cover all your questions about activies, lodging, & transportation. Most cities/companies are happy to respond if you have more detailed questions.

Glenwood Springs - http://www.glenwoodcolorado.com/

Reno-http://www.cityofreno.com/ and http://www.reno.com/

Lake Tahoe- http://www.tahoe.com/ and http://www.tahoeaccommodations.com/index.htm

Truckee- http://www.truckee.com/

San Francisco- http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/

My son drove to Lake Tahoe last summer spent a week in a condo-I think it he said it was about 1 or 2 thousand for the week. You should be able to rent a car in Reno.

Have Fun!

Sunchaser B)

 

[RailFanLNK]

GSC has a FREE bus system for the City of Glenwood Springs. You don't need to rent a car at all IMHO. If you want to see how billionaires live and look at a multitude of people with facelifts, by all means pay $13 RT for a bus trip to Aspen CO from GSC. The places I have stayed at in GSC are:

GSC Hostel: Dirt Cheap! $20 per night for a bed. Very funky and kinda dirty but passable. Have stayed thier twice.

Glenwood Motor Lodge: Right by everything, $80 per night. Right next door to Rosies Bavarian Cafe, great place to eat.

Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge and Spa: Pricey, but free admission into the spring fed pool that is thee most popular thing in GSC.

Hotel Denver: Into train watching? Drinking beer? There's a brew pub attached to it. Just across the street from the GSC station. Nice place but pricey but I really liked it as well.

Things to do? Walk the mountainside to see where Doc Holliday is buried. Beautiful view of the city of GSC.

Jazz In The Park: Free concerts in the park on Wednesday nights during the summer, this was one of the favorite things we did when we were there and it was F-R-E-E!

Glenwood Springs Amusement Park: All Gravity fed rides. We had fun there and toured some caves.

Yampah Caves: Steam caves, we also got massages while we were there. Kinda pricey, but fun!

Blue Sky Adventures: Whitewater rafting! Not scarey at all but fun. Family owned.

Go to tripadvisor.com and look up reviews of GSC. Mine are all marked "deliveryman". Have fun!

Al

 

[casual001]

WOW!!! Thanx everyone I did some homework online but what you folks gave me i somehow did not see. I think i now have GSC covered. Will more than likely stay at the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge and Spa, and check out the Glenwood Springs Amusement Park and tour the caves and just relax in the pool. I am sure the hotel will inform us about bus schedules or tours. Too bad we leave on wed. That Jazz In The Park sounds great.

The one day/night in reno is mostly for relaxing and gambling unless someone has any more must "to do things".

I am still unsure how we will get to Lake Tahoe. We do have coach seats already booked on the CZ, to truckee. Is there a better way(maybe a bus from reno) I really don't want to rent a car there but pending on where we decide to stay we may have to in order to do dinner or other misc. activities. After further review i know now we must rent a car. Thanks for this link www.tahoeaccommodations.com/index.htm. Missed this one also. Leaning toward a cabin on a canal to save a few bucks, and will call around to check out boat rentals.

San Fransisco is still undecided. Here we will rent a car. We may still stay a few extra days pending what we find to do, as we did not book return air travel yet. We want to take a boat tour to see the whales and then check out the wineries and the Sequoia's, and the famous neighborhoods. Nothing else is planned right now

Again thank you folks so much for the info. Out of all our amtrak trips we are looking forward to this one the most and are getting more and more excited everyday. We do have a roomette from chi to reno and coach the rest of the way(figure on being in the sightseer car for those short trips). Next we still need to ride the empire builder and the coast starlight, but that is way in the future. I want to firm up all plans(the train is the only firm plans right now)by mid-march so if you folks have anymore great ideas please let me know.

Again thanks for taking you time to help us make this a very special vacation.

Tim

 

[Alice]

San Fransisco is still undecided. Here we will rent a car. We may still stay a few extra days pending what we find to do, as we did not book return air travel yet. We want to take a boat tour to see the whales and then check out the wineries and the Sequoia's, and the famous neighborhoods. Nothing else is planned right now

IN San Francisco, a car is a liability except for maybe a day. However, AROUND San Francisco, a car is nice.

About those Sequoias, are you talking Coast Redwoods or Giant Redwoods? They are both worth seeing but they are different directions. The Giant Redwoods are in Sequoia National Park. There are some elsewhere but they are not nearly as spectacular. If you can't get to Sequoia NP, Muir Woods has some and is the same direction as your wine tasting trip. The best Coast Redwoods are in northern California (note: I'm biased, these are less crowded and have better camping), and there are pretty good ones on the central coast. If you go north, take the Skunk train from the Fort Bragg end (they rarely run the whole route now, but take both halves if you can); Central, take Roaring Camp narrow gauge.

In Napa, the Napa Valley wine train is worth one visit to see the beautiful cars. The food was superb but the train trip was medium the two times I tried it, so overall I'd rate it overpriced. If you enjoy the nuances of wine, there are some other California regions besides Napa and Sonoma you might research, where you can get closer to the winemaker. UC Davis has brought science to California winemaking so we have a lot of oddball grape varieties doing very well as niche crops all over the state.

In the SF area, 511.org is a central place for both traffic (current or expected) and all local transit.

It sounds like you are planning a really great trip!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

Alice

The trees in Muir Woods are Coast Redwoods. Same trees as on the Northern Cal coast.

The Sequoia NP trees are Giant Sequoia or Sierra Redwood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood

Its a little confusing because the Latin names are Sequoia Sempervirens for the Coast Redwood, and Sequoiadendron Giganteum for the Giant Sequoia.

Just an FYI.

 

[barbark]

The one day/night in reno is mostly for relaxing and gambling unless someone has any more must "to do things". I am still unsure how we will get to Lake Tahoe. We do have coach seats already booked on the CZ, to truckee. Is there a better way(maybe a bus from reno) I really don't want to rent a car there but pending on where we decide to stay we may have to in order to do dinner or other misc. activities. After further review i know now we must rent a car. Thanks for this link www.tahoeaccommodations.com/index.htm. Missed this one also. Leaning toward a cabin on a canal to save a few bucks, and will call around to check out boat rentals.

I know you can catch a shuttle bus but it runs from the Reno airport to Tahoe. So, you'd have to find a way to the airport from the train station to catch it. There are many places you can rent in Tahoe, do a search at the following link:

http://lakehousevacations.com/http://lakehousevacations.com/

Tahoe is a beautiful place and I'm sure you will enjoy your visit there. I stay at Harveys (owned by Harrahs)