delboy391

We are planning to cruise from Europe to Fort Lauderdale (FL). Then travel by train up to New York where we will pick up a ship back to Europe.. We will have 9 nights to make the journey.
Our best train is the 12.30 from Fort Lauderdale. There is one at 08.30 but with the ship arriving at 6am I am afraid we could have delays at immigration.

Our current plan is
1 night at Winter Park(FL)
3 nights Savannah (GA)
3 nights Washington
2 nights New York

But so many places we would like to visit as well such as Charleston (SC) or Richmond (VA)

Bearing in mind we won't have a car, we would love to hear any ideas of things to do and see.

Derek & Fran

emalloy

Unless you have been to NYC before, I would skip Winter Park and ad a day to NY. Washington and NYC will be fine without a car.

I don't know about Savannah but others can tell you if 3 nights is overkill and I suppose it depends on what time you get into town. If it is early enough in the day, you could do 2 nights and add another to NY.

SusieQQ

Why Winter Park? If you want one night in Florida, then I would stay in Fort Lauderdale instead...

Also I would spend less nights in Savannah and Washington, add those days to NYC.

tomfuller

The Silver Star (12:30 train) does not have a dining car so get on after having a good lunch.
You can pick up something for dinner from the lounge car cafe before you get off in Winter Park about 8PM.
Take the Silver Meteor from Winter Park to Savannah for a better arrival time.

elberko

I enjoy traveling by train in the Northeast part of the US, but there are a couple of things you should be aware of:

Trains in the US are rarely up to Western Europe standards--there are often delays, and I would not get on a train without food and drink provisions in case of delays or unexpected lack of cafe car.

NewbE

I would skip Winter Park, do 2 nights Savannah OR Charleston (I;d lean toward Charleston), 3 nights DC, 4 nights NYC.

delboy391

Thanks for your replies

tomfuller

Yes, I was planning the Silver Meteor from Winter Park to Savannah.
Arriving at Winter park about 8pm, will that be too late to find dinner there, or do folks go to bed real early?

SusieQQ
I don't particularly want to stay at Winter Park, but leaving Fort Lauderdale on on the Silver Star and continuing to Savannah on Silver Meteor gives us the best departure and arrival times, and it looks like Winter Park is the best choice for a stopover being that the Amtrak station is near the center of town with good looking hotels nearby.

BigRuss

Do not plan your trip under the assumption that your trains will be on time. Amtrak is NOT Japan Rail (East, West, Central, Hokkaido, Kyushu or otherwise). The trains do not run on time anywhere south of DC, and are hit-and-miss even from DC to Boston. Check the on-time stats.

NewbE

Sadly, Big Russ is right, and the trains are slow, too, until you get the option of Acela in the northeast corridor, and that costs more. Any chance you could fly to DC?

delboy391

Fly to DC?. We want to see your wonderful country. Everywhere just looks the same from 30000 ft.

nytraveler

Most of what you will see from a train in that area of the country is boring or the wrong end of town. Be prepared for delays - which can be a couple of hours or can easily by 5 or 6 hours. The trains are slow, the food is bad and IMHO just too unreliable south of DC. It once took my uncle more than 10 hours to get from DC to Williamsburg VA.

Once you get to DC the trains to Boston usually run on time - no more than 15 or 20 minutes late - but the food is still awful - equivalent to what you would get at the food stand in a movie theater.

In all cases walk up fares are very expensive (more than flying). To get decent fares you need to buy tickets at least several weeks in advance.

Also be aware there are no assigned seats - when you board you get to choose from among those that are empty and may or may not be together - depending on how busy the train is.

obxgirl

Train travel for the length of the US eastern corridor is not a particularly efficient way for a visitor with only 9 days to travel. Stops and schedules favor localities with commuters. I would fly to either DC or NY and split your time between those two places. Or train to Charleston and fly to DC or NY from there.

I commute weekly from Williamsburg and/or the Richmond area to DC on Amtrak. Trains delays, which aren't uncommon, are usually well under an hour. Don't book your open heart surgery based on Amtrak schedules but otherwise you're fine for point to point travel. You can reserve a seat if you're willing to pay business class. Depending on the time of day and the route that might be unnecessary.

Be prepared for delays - which can be a couple of hours or can easily by 5 or 6 hours.

Utter horse$hit.

It once took my uncle more than 10 hours to get from DC to Williamsburg VA.

nytraveler, your fable gets more exaggerated every time you tell it. It is, I suspect, largely fabricated. You, like many people responding here, have little experience with Amtrak on more than a one-off or purely anecdotal basis.

NewbE

<Train travel for the length of the US eastern corridor is not a particularly efficient way for a visitor with only 9 days to travel.>

Exactly. And nyt is right about one thing which is that you won't see much worth seeing from the trains on this route.

I repeat, fly to DC from Ft. Lauderdale, and perhaps take the train from there to NYC.

Gwendolynn

Sadly, so many of the drawbacks mentioned above are true. Also, what time of the year are you traveling? Summer in the south can be unbearably hot.

I agree with those who say fly to DC and then take the train to NY. As an
old New Yorker I think our city deserves more than a two day visit… unless you've been here before.

European trains are heaven for us Americans -

tomfuller

If you really want to see Savannah for 2 nights, try the Silver Star (92) from FTL to Orlando. See Disney World for a few hours the next day. Take the Silver Meteor from Orlando to Savannah (2 nights).
Fly from Savannah to Reagan National or BWI. See Washington or Baltimore. Take a NE Regional into Penn Station in New York.
Some of the roughest tracks on any route that Amtrak follows are between Florida and Washington. Flying over the span where the Amtrak trains travel in the dark does make sense to me.

delboy391

We will be travelling late october/early november so the heat shouldn't be too bad. Maybe we will find it a bit chilly as we travel northwards

Unfortunately my wife can no longer fly, so it's train or drive.

We have had 2 television series recently here in the UK about travelling on Amtrak.
Billy Connely travelling from Chicago to NYC (The long way round via LA) and Michael Portillo covering upstate New York and travelling down to Virginia. Both pretty inspiring.

NewbE

Ah, well, never mind then! If the choice is between driving and the train, take the train

usroadman

Personally I'd spend the first night in Fort Lauderdale or someplace else in south Florida and then take the Silver Meteor the next morning. There are local trains (Tri-Rail) that run south to Miami and north to West Palm Beach if you prefer something other than Ft. Lauderdale. Unfortunately the train line is a long way from the beach and Florida isn't all that easy to get around without a car (though I guess if you just got off a ship you probably don't feel a need to stay near the ocean anyway). By taking the Meteor instead of the Star, you avoid the 2+ hour trip to Tampa. Also depending on the price, I'd book a roomette for the day. That will give you a small room with 2 facing window seats & a table, coffee/juice, lunch & dinner in the diner (which is much better than the cafe car on the Star). If you do decide to travel in coach, I wouldn't worry about getting seats together. The train doesn't start to get really crowded until Orlando. In any case, as suggested earlier, buy Amtrak tickets as early as possible since fares rarely go down. Don't be surprised if the train ends up running late, so a 7:30 arrival in Savannah could easily end up being 9:30 or 10:30. I agree with you on actually seeing the country vs. flying over it. On most of the east coast though, to a large extent the tracks go through wooded areas, so you'll see a lot of trees, with an occasional break for a river or a town. Enjoy your trip.

obxgirl

We will be travelling late october/early november so the heat shouldn't be too bad. Maybe we will find it a bit chilly as we travel northwards

Correct.

Take the train from FL to DC. Plenty to see in DC. Take the train to from DC to NYC where there is also plenty to see.

Your other destinations are quite worthy but don't seem feasible for a 9 day trip where you can't fly, train travel favors locals or specific destinations, and interstate car travel isn't particularly scenic.

Again, you only have nine days. Spend them in interesting places, not en route to interesting places.

Daniel_Williams

hi delboy391,

I've taken the Silver Service/Palmetto trains which run on the east coast from Florida/Savannah up to the DC/NY area on numerous occasions. The trains I took ranged from on-time to 2 hours late. Over the years, the only intermediate stops on the route between Fort Lauderdale and DC I've gotten off at (similarly with no car) are: Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston. The Winter Park station seemed a tempting stop on that route as the area around the station looked quite lovely, although I've never gotten off there.

Of these stops, I'd recommend Savannah and Charleston most to you, as they have very walkable central cores that ooze history and southern charm. The one thing to be aware of is that the Savannah and Charleston train stations are in a bit of a no-man's land a good bit outside these cities so will require a taxi or Uber to get to the historic districts. I enjoyed Jacksonville with its vistas of the St. John's River too, which I coupled with a visit to nearby walkable Saint Augustine (fascinating and charming oldest US city found 40 miles away from Jacksonville), but it's relatively quiet and many might not have the patience to figure out the public transit needed to get around by foot there-- most I think would prefer the further north destinations like Savannah, Charleston, DC, Philadelphia and New York.

Best wishes, Daniel