Travel around America by Amtrak

[sue]

Hi we are coming to America next May 2017 and want to travel mostly by Amtrak can we go from Florida to New Orleans, Texas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Vancouver Canada, Chicago and New york by Amtrak? we would appreciate any advise.

Regards

Jeff & Sue

 

[the_traveler]

All the above are served by Amtrak, except Las Vegas. (Although you can get there by a thruway bus right from the Amtrak station.)

Also, be aware that you choose the correct Las Vegas. The "famous" Las Vegas (with the casinos and shows) is Las Vegas, Nevada - which is not served directly by Amtrak via train. There is a station that Amtrak serves directly in Las Vegas - but it is in the state of New Mexico! It is NOT the "famous" Las Vegas or anywhere near it!

 

[PerRock]

It should also be mentioned that there is not direct train from Florida to New Orleans, you will have to go via North Carolina or Chicago.

peter

 

[Palmetto]

Your first leg is a bust [Florida to New Orleans]. If it were I, I would start in New Orleans, and end up in Florida. Seems much more doable.

 

[TinCan782]

San Francisco not directly served by Amtrak long distance trains ... Thru-Way bus from Oakland; commuter train from San Jose; etc.

Edit: I stand corrected: Emeryville, NOT Oakland. Thanks "BCL"!

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Your best bet would be to visit amtrak.com and select the map/route page. This shows the skeleton of the Amtrak service.

Often surprising for tourists is the lack of Amtrak service to many places, some states have no service at all.

Having said that, I have enjoyed many tens of thousands of miles of Amtrak train travel on my visits to America...

All of your cities are reachable by train, although, as mentioned, the last furlong might entail an Amtrak motor coach transfer.

America is a huge country, and the routes are often only one train a day.

Do be sure to check the timetables carefully, as a trip that looks at first glance like a 12 hour ride might be a 36 hour one!

If you have a look at the Amtrak .com pages, you can plan which routes work best for you.

We are all Amtrak geeks on this site, so if you can list your start and finish cities, you can be sure we will suggest routes for you.

As you have the cities listed above, if they are your desired route, they are more or less in a circle and that sequence should work. As others have mentioned, there is no longer a connection from Florida to New Orleans, although there was some years back. If I were to start in Florida, I would take the train up to Washington, and then from there down to New Orleans, and so on... but I am a train fan, so maybe flying from Florida to New Orleans would be the easy start option, then all rail from there...?

Please feel free to ask for more specific advice, and also do look into the "rail pass" options which might work out cheaper.

The main choices on the trains themselves is whether to travel in a private "bedroom" or to use the regular seats, known in America as "coach" .

Although all advice given here on the site is well meaning, do your own research too, as even we geeks often can't agree amongst ourselves!

Bon Voyage!

Ed.

 

[crabby_appleton1950]

Also, be aware that you choose the correct Las Vegas. The "famous" Las Vegas (with the casinos and shows) is Las Vegas, Nevada - which is not served directly by Amtrak via train. There is a station that Amtrak serves directly in Las Vegas - but it is in the state of New Mexico! It is NOT the "famous" Las Vegas or anywhere near it!

And Las Vegas, New Mexico does not have casinos !

 

[Dave Van]

I have written about my travels on my site given below. Kinda long....and not all trains....but you can get an idea of daily life aboard an Amtrak train.....good luck!!!

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

One itinerary assuming flying into and out of Florida:

Silver Meteor northbound (98) from Florida (Miami or Orlando) to Washington

Crescent southbound (19) from Washington to New Orleans

Sunset Limited westbound (1) from New Orleans to Los Angeles (stop at Houston and/or San Antonio)

Coast Starlight northbound (14) from Los Angeles to Seattle (stop at San Francisco)

Cascades (varies) round trip between Seattle and Vancouver
Empire Builder eastbound (8) from Seattle to Chicago

Lake Shore Limited eastbound (48) from Chicago to New York

Silver Meteor southbound (97) from New York to Florida

You can rent a car from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back.

If you wish to visit Dallas,TX, you can do a round trip between San Antonio and Dallas on the Texas Eagle (22 northbound and 21 southbound)

 

[Palmetto]

The OP would need two fewer days if she booked an open jaw plane ticket: fly into New Orleans, and leave back for home either from Orlando or Miami. Going up to DC to go back to New Orleans seems like a waste of travel time, IMO.

She did not say how long they were going to be visiting either. If time is no issue, then she could do it any way she wishes. From what she laid out, three weeks minimum seems necessary it seems to me.

 

[wxmeddler]

OP would likely be a good candidate for a multi-ride pass as well. May even need a 30 segment pass for that much of a trip. Would also allow flexibility for side-trips.

 

[BCL]

San Francisco not directly served by Amtrak long distance trains ... Thru-Way bus from Oakland; commuter train from San Jose; etc.

For the Coast Starlight, it's at Emeryville from the southbound train and connecting to the northbound train. The California Zephyr terminates in Emeryville, so obviously that's where the bus connects.

 

[TinCan782]

San Francisco not directly served by Amtrak long distance trains ... Thru-Way bus from Oakland; commuter train from San Jose; etc.

For the Coast Starlight, it's at Emeryville from the southbound train and connecting to the northbound train. The California Zephyr terminates in Emeryville, so obviously that's where the bus connects.

Thanks for the correction!

(actually, in 1974 I took a bus (don't recall which one) from Oakland Jack London over to SF)

 

[the_traveler]

Actually for the Coast Starlight, to/from the south the connection is at Oakland. To/from the north, the connection is at Emeryville.

 

[BCL]

Actually for the Coast Starlight, to/from the south the connection is at Oakland. To/from the north, the connection is at Emeryville.

Isn't that what I kid of said, although I was referring to the direction of the train and absolute direction of the stations.

Here's the schedule (page 2 for the San Francisco bus):

https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/800/746/Coast-Starlight-Schedule-011116.pdf

On the left:

5011 (connecting from the southbound 11) from Emeryville to San Francisco.

6011 (connection to the southbound 11) from San Francisco to Oakland-Jack London.

On the right:

5014 (connecting to the northbound 14) from San Francisco to Emeryville.

6014 (connecting from the northbound 11) from Oakland-Jack London to San Francisco.

 

[me_little_me]

Actually for the Coast Starlight, to/from the south the connection is at Oakland. To/from the north, the connection is at Emeryville.

Huh? If you are going from the north, aren't you going to the south? Similarly with to the north, is it not from the south?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Actually for the Coast Starlight, to/from the south the connection is at Oakland. To/from the north, the connection is at Emeryville.

Huh? If you are going from the north, aren't you going to the south? Similarly with to the north, is it not from the south?

I didn't understand that either. :blink:

 

[the_traveler]

What I meant was if you were going LA to/from SF, that is from the south. If you were going Seattle to/from SF, that is from the north. There is no connection needed if you were going LA to Seattle.

 

[Guest]

Also, and perhaps you already know this, but keep in mind American trains are NOTHING like European trains. As someone mentioned, most long distance trains run only once a day, and delays are not at all unusual.

 

[zephyr17]

San Francisco not directly served by Amtrak long distance trains ... Thru-Way bus from Oakland; commuter train from San Jose; etc.

For the Coast Starlight, it's at Emeryville from the southbound train and connecting to the northbound train. The California Zephyr terminates in Emeryville, so obviously that's where the bus connects.

Thanks for the correction!

(actually, in 1974 I took a bus (don't recall which one) from Oakland Jack London over to SF)

In 1974, that would have been the Oakland SP station at 16th & Wood (OAK), not Jack London (OKJ).

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

Also, be aware that you choose the correct Las Vegas. The "famous" Las Vegas (with the casinos and shows) is Las Vegas, Nevada - which is not served directly by Amtrak via train. There is a station that Amtrak serves directly in Las Vegas - but it is in the state of New Mexico! It is NOT the "famous" Las Vegas or anywhere near it!

And Las Vegas, New Mexico does not have casinos !

Longmire was filmed there, since I'm not old enough to gamble, I'll take longmire any day

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

Also, and perhaps you already know this, but keep in mind American trains are NOTHING like European trains. As someone mentioned, most long distance trains run only once a day, and delays are not at all unusual.

Amtrak trains will also differ per route, all the routes that terminate and originate in New York City use viewliner and Amfleet single level trains, all long distance trains west of Chicago, IL and New Orleans, LA (and the Capitol Limited, Chicago to Washington D C), use Superliner (double decker) equipment, with much better lounge cars and in my opinion, food options and chefs (apart from the City Of New Orleans, which has microwaved meals)

 

[bmjhagen9426]

Also, and perhaps you already know this, but keep in mind American trains are NOTHING like European trains. As someone mentioned, most long distance trains run only once a day, and delays are not at all unusual.

Amtrak trains will also differ per route, all the routes that terminate and originate in New York City use viewliner and Amfleet single level trains, all long distance trains west of Chicago, IL and New Orleans, LA (and the Capitol Limited, Chicago to Washington D C), use Superliner (double decker) equipment, with much better lounge cars and in my opinion, food options and chefs (apart from the City Of New Orleans, which has microwaved meals)

And don't forget the Auto Train. It runs along the Atlantic Coast, and the only Atlantic Coast train to have Superliners. And the Sunset Limited, if it's ever extended to Gulf Coast and Florida and/or made daily, may also keep using Superliners (but at the cost of the Capitol Limited and/or City of New Orleans being converted to single levels, unless more bilevels are delivered)

 

[KmH]

I think it's telling that we have not heard back from the OP.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

Also, and perhaps you already know this, but keep in mind American trains are NOTHING like European trains. As someone mentioned, most long distance trains run only once a day, and delays are not at all unusual.

Amtrak trains will also differ per route, all the routes that terminate and originate in New York City use viewliner and Amfleet single level trains, all long distance trains west of Chicago, IL and New Orleans, LA (and the Capitol Limited, Chicago to Washington D C), use Superliner (double decker) equipment, with much better lounge cars and in my opinion, food options and chefs (apart from the City Of New Orleans, which has microwaved meals)

And don't forget the Auto Train. It runs along the Atlantic Coast, and the only Atlantic Coast train to have Superliners. And the Sunset Limited, if it's ever extended to Gulf Coast and Florida and/or made daily, may also keep using Superliners (but at the cost of the Capitol Limited and/or City of New Orleans being converted to single levels, unless more bilevels are delivered)

I didn't include the Auto train because they didn't ask about traveling with a car, and whats the point of having a car for only part of the journey, and then not having it for the rest of the trip.