My 19 year old daughter and I are planning on taking AMTRAK next summer from the SF/Bay Area to Boston. Has anyone taken AMTRAK cross country and what was your take on the trip. Was it worth the extra money vs. taking the plane? Time is not an issue so thought trip would be an opportunity for my daughter to see the country especially since train service may not be around in a couple of years. No questions we'll be booking a sleeper car. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Good question. I would like to take a trip from LA to Seattle on the Coast Starlight.

I asked a question about the Coast Starlight and long distance train travel in general a couple weeks ago and got a lot of good information - my husband and I are considering taking the train from the Bay Area up to Seattle next spring. Try a text search for Coast Starlight - it should come up.

My 20 year old son took Amtrak from Los Angeles to Colorado, he said he'd never seen anything that beautiful before, and he said I must go on this trip.

I saw a program on PBS about the California Zephyr - that section through Utah and Colorado looked incredible.

J., let's go, just us girls?

I did a mini trip from NY to Cleveland, on Amtrak a couple of years ago, and enjoyed the trip. The sleeper car is noisy and you get bounced around alot so I didn't get much sleep, but it might get better since you are on the train for several days.

There was an attendent just for the sleeper cars and he was terrific, and took car of any questions you might have.

The sleeper car is not very big, but the bed was comfortable. Make sure you get one big enough to accomodate your needs. Also take a good book along, since there isn't much entertainment at night.

Have a great time.

I rode the train last October. My itinery took me from Sacramento to Chicago - Totonto - Montreal - Manhattan - Boston - New Orleans - Chicago - Seattle - Sacramento. I was never bored and had a great time. Liked the food (I'm not a picky eater. Spent most of the daylight hours in the lounge car rather than my assigned seat or sleeper. I traveled solo. If you are a Type A personality you probably won't enjoy the train; but, if you and your daughter are laid back and can take things as they come you should have a great time.

My 70 year old parents took a train ride from Missouri to San Francisco a few years ago. It was very tiresome for them. There were some areas that did not have train service and they were bused from one train station to another to catch a connecting train. They had to take their own luggage on the bus trip. The views were beautiful through the mountains, but the train had to stop for snow to be cleared from the track and the heat was turned off. The bathroom on their car quit working and they had to travel to another car to go to the restroom for the rest of the trip. My mother's purse was stollen. Fortunately, she only had some over the counter medicine in it. She suspected one of the train employees took it. Needless to say, they dreaded the trip home. They said, "never again !"

My sister and I took Amtrak from Portland Oregon to Washington D.C. about 6 years ago. By travling on the "rail across america" ticket we were able to select 3 stops, not counting Chicago, where all trains stop. We had a mini compartment which was as wide as our seats and a few inches for a closet, and the second bed was the bunk bed. The compartment cost included our meals. We stopped in Memphis for 2 nights and New Orleans for 2 nights and on to Washington D.C. for 9 nights then zoomed on home. It was the greatest vacation of all. We had to sit with someone new every meal as the tables hold 4 and they fill each table up. We met so many great people and laughed alot. I took some books along and didn't have time nor the inclination to read any of them. They have a movie in the lounge car in the evening but we were to busy playing cards with new found friends. The food was good,with regional menu selections. You can take your own booze on board and your own snacks, which I would recommend.Anyway there are bigger compartments available for sale but we were quite happy with the econo deal. There were showers downstairs and the sleepers were upstairs. On the eastcoast all the trains that we were on were single level cars. Our entire fare for trip, compartment, food, and 3 stops was $760. each. We thought it was a deal. We would go again if we ever had that much time to spend. We booked in January for our June trip and by the end of Febuary the sleepers were sold out. It was a total blast. I hope you guys go. Kathy

Ok, I'm sold - next vacation will be on the train! The only question now is will we go to Seattle, Colorado or LA.

Hold on. J Correa, just presuming from this posting and your entry, are you of the fairer gender?? For some reason, I thought you a NorCal Male.

Sorry, kind of a strange posting above I know but after your contributions to a past thread on New Orleans you kind of left us interested folks hanging on this, choosing to remain mysterious! We want to know, bud! As a Fodrs regular, give up the demographics, please!

My husband and I took the Zepher to Chicago and then the City of New Orleans to N.O. It was a great trip.I too brought books to read but between long meals and talking to fellow passengers I don't remember reading much.The view through Colorado was beautiful. Pulling out of Chicago at night and waking up in the cotton fields of Mississippi was something else.Try to get a delux berth for sure.

I've travelled from Chicago to Seattle, Chicago to LA (via Albuquerque) and LA to Seattle on Amtrak (as well as Vancouver to Toronto twice on VIA Rail) ... With the exception of the report about elderly travelers, ditto to all above posts. Decent food, fabulous opportunities to meet and talk with people (I was travelling solo, too), tough getting used to sleeping onboard. What free moments I had, I filled by keeping a journal of that included scenic descriptions (there was SO MUCH to write about) as well as the bits of wisdom I gathered from my fellow passengers. A fabulous experience!

Anyone travelling Amtrak in groups of 2 or more should definately buy the 2003 Entertainment book which has a coupon in it for BUY ONE - GET ONE FREE on Amtrak as well as a 30% off and 10% off coupon.
The Entertainment books are $5 off this month ...see http://www.travelcouponsonline.com

Ok Brad, since you are so interested in my gender, orientation, etc - I'm a married, heterosexual woman from California.

Wow ! Thanks everyone for your responses and keep them coming. My daughter and I are now really getting excited about the trip. A special thanks to Al for the Entertainment Book suggestion. I went online and ordered yesterday. Another questions. We were talking about going and coming the same route (SF to Chicago to Boston) but now I'm considering a different return. Any suggestions??

Topping

Great thread. Thanks for ttt

I will include another website here also.

http://www.railforum.com/cgi-bin/Ult...i?action=intro