Sup /trv/
So I'm thinking of planning a trip around the country with an Amtrak USA rail pass for next year. They cost a little under $500 and are good for 8 different segments over a period of up to 15 days.
Does anyone have any experience specifically with a USA rail pass? Apparently they are only good for coach seats, so it certainly wouldn't be ideal, but 8 segments could possibly get me to Cleveland, DC, New Orleans, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Emeryville (near Oakland I guess) and Chicago, plus all the sights to see along the way - All for $500 (for the tickets anyway). I'd certainly be interested in hearing if any of you have any experience with taking similar trips around the USA, or any thoughts on the idea itself.
Oh, and one last thing. I don't want any silver-spoon babbies coming in here telling me it's awful because they are used to traveling in 100% comfort all the time. So let's just get that out of the way now.
Pic related is apparently a map of Amtrak's routes.
Oh, and discussion regarding long distance amtrak travel in general is fine, too.
>>1096708
Well, OP, amtrak has some more luxurious and scenic routes, such as the commuter rails of the northeast, the silver zephyr, VA to FL autotrain, and so on. Think about train travel (and the location of stations) being about the lousiest place in town crimewise maybe the same tier as Greyhound in lots of stations, and that you will want some money to get around and sightsee, like a taxi from this shit part of town. If this budget of $500 is the only real selling point, consider that I took American round trip from Miami-Chicago for St. Patrick's weekend for $112 round trip. I also just booked a Frontier Ft. Myers to NY, round trip of $70 coming up in 2 weeks (some rates were as low as $19 each way). I'm flying from desired airports right into cities I wish to be in, the fastest way possible. Look for some deals and consider that budget again. I highly recommend all the Amtrak scenic routes, but is it worth days of travel in a chair on normal routes?
http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/02/4-most-scenic-train-rides/
>>1096726
The money isn't really the selling point, I really wanna see the country up close. I never did it before because the roomettes are so expensive and I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend big money to only see a little bit. The idea of going to various parts of the country and seeing everything in between makes the trip sound more appealing.
The main routes i had in mind were the california zephyr and coast starlight (from LA to emryville mostly), but I also wouldn't mind seeing the capital and travelling through the southern U.S.
Oh and obviously i have much more than 500 bucks to spend, but i just don't like the idea of spending 1600 just for the tickets
I studied in Wisconsin for 4 months and had 1 month left in the US. Took an Amtrak train from Chicago to San Francisco on my own. The train ride was 50 hours and it felt like forever. The first day consisted of boring Iowa and Nebraska landscapes. First day I met a qt from Colorado who was fun to share stories with, but she left in Denver, so I spent the next day alone.
Being 50 hours on a train with shitty food, old people and no internet kinda sucked, but hey it was less than $200 so it was way cheaper than booking an airplane and 2 nights in a hostel.
>>1096905
>The first day consisted of boring Iowa and Nebraska landscapes
See that kind of thing sounds great to me, and not boring. I want to see it all. I've never seen huge positions of the country. I can picture myself chilling in the observation car watching the country pass by with music playing in my ears all day. Sounds like a nice vacation.
Taking the train...
Dude, it's expensive for no reason.
Just get some bros and drive, even if you get a big gas guzzling SUV you're going to spend less money and see what you want. Just google the scenic routes in the state and just drive... even the most boring roadtrip you'll find some wacky stuff.
