I would love to travel from New York to California by road or rail. Does anyone have any experiences of what is best/cheapest/most comfortable?

I can recommend the road trip especially if you have plenty of time to sightsee and dine. Probably a costly proposition these days with the price of gasoline.

I remember seeing Lucille Ball on a talk show once, saying that she was a major stockholder in Amtrak. But she took their train cross-country once with her grandkids, then immediately sold all of her stock because she thought it was so slow and uncomfortable.

Are you trying to get from point A to point B or do you really want to go on a road trip and explore?

On the train you will miss areas that you travel though after dark. You also can't get off whenever you want to explore areas.

I love vehicle road trips, but then again I love traveling and exploring.

Utahtea

OMG, I remember driving from Charlotte NC to Tucson Arizona one summer. We stopped in all these weird little towns, had breakfast in Miss where the local jail got their breakfast .. so good! The best Mexican food in Longview Texas..a loooong night of driving through Tex with a long ribbon of highway and nothing else in sight.
I think it would be great if you had the time and company and did it by car.

I have driven it many times: you'll be amazed as even today, it's not too far from the old Route 66 experience if you pay attention, stop frequently and speak with the locals.
M

Drive it. We just drove from VA to San Diego. I-81 to I-40 through to Flagstaff, then I-17 south to Phoenix, and then down to I-8 and into CA. Left on a Wed. morning, took a side trip from Gallup to visit Canyon de Chelly for a half day jeep tour, and got to San Diego just after noon on Sunday.

After a week in San Diego we took I-15 north to I 40 east and cut over to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The next eleven days were spent visiting the NPs in southern Utah, going south again to Monument Valley via the Moki Dugway, and then north to Moab.

The return trip was I-70 into I-64 into I-81 and home.
The sites along the way, the changing country side, and the people we met were just great. It's the only way to see the country. Total trip door to door was twenty six days, 7400 miles.

By all means drive. You will certainly understand the words to "America The Beautiful" more clearly. By the time you make the return trip "This Land is My Land" will be your Anthem.

On I-95, I would pass by colonial Philly, maybe a side trip through Amish country, visit Fallingwater westward in Western Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, the most architecurally amazing US residence IMHO by Frank Lloyd Wright, pass by hilly, reinvented Pittsburgh. Continue onto I-80W for Cleveland and its surprising theater and arts scene (if not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). Continue westward to Chicago.

Then take Route 66 from Chicago to LA!! You catch Midwestern cities (Chicago and St. Louis on I-55), onto the Ozarks in SW Missouri on I-44, then to Oklahoma Green Country (gorgeous brush of Tulsa and its burbs), the cowboy cafes & museums, and the southwest's fastest growing entertainment district (Bricktown) of Oklahoma City, onto Amarillo and the Cadillac ranch on I-40, the desert of NM and AZ, and finally, LA.

Yes, by taking the road, you can pass through some varied small towns whose main streets are state highways, and a few of those cheesy roadside attractions. Americana, I tell ya!!!

Training across the US would be excrutiatingly time consuming and would prevent you from seeing most of the country - which is not served at all by rail. Car is really the only realistic option.

Sounds like you’re the type that wants to gently get across the country. I’d have to go with the folks suggesting doing it by car. You have complete control, such as stopping at small town for no particular reason or responding to a billboard that catches your eye.

The train does offer the advantage of you not having to do the driving, but that’s about it. I took Amtrak from Los Angeles to Chicago a few years back. Unlike some European trains I’ve been on, it’s not the smooth clickity-click you might imagine. It was rocky enough that I couldn’t read and even had trouble sleeping even though I had a sleeper car.

Another thing to remember, if your intention is to see the beautiful USA, my L.A. – Chicago route was often in the less than pretty parts of town. Rail lines seemed to be on the older, neglected areas. I can’t comment on any other routes though. I’d take Amtrak again, but not for another 44 hour trip.

As far as your quest for “cheapest / most comfortable”, well, economics is a series of trade-offs. You’ll have to decide where you fit in on that scale. However, you can buy a Styrofoam cooler for a few bucks and buy food at a grocery store instead of eating out. That will save you some significant dollars.

Make sure your cruise control works or that you will regret! Good luck!

On the previously mentioned trip, 80% of the hotels we stayed in had a CB. Some good, some fair, one or two bad, but it was convenient and saved money. We also carried a cooler for lunch meats, cheeses et. and had lunch in rest areas. Hotels were based on having a CB and being in the area of a days driving range. I used freetrip.com to determine distance and hotel selections.
This July we are driving to Glacier NP and then up to the Canadian Rockies, using the same format It is a great way to relly see the country. Having a comfortable car is a + as is cruise control.

If you have a lot of time a cross-country road trip would be fun. I'm not sure where you are from, but if you are thinking of the train system in Europe, well in the U.S. is nothing like that. I think it would be great to do it in a van that was set up for sleeping so you could hit campgrounds along the way, at least some of the nights.

I've done it both directions and once years and years ago on the old Rt.66.

It can get very tiring with only 1 driver, but if you can switch off with 2 or 3 it is well, well worth it.

True about railroads. Even in my state while going top to bottom (Chicago to Carbondale IL) you see the back end of everything. But I must say I did enjoy those train rides to Carbondale, it's an extremely interesting crowd.

America is beautiful and your trip will not be like any other before or after it. So much to see, so many places to pause or not.

Are you in decent physical condition? Can you take about 7 weeks off? If so, how about a bicycle trip?

I bicycled from LA to Boston in both 1990 and 91, actually dipping my rear wheel in the Pacific and my front wheel in the Atlantic, bicycling every bit in-between. The group that I did this with, as a participant the first time, than staff the second, is no longer hosting the rides, but at least one company hosts a very similar ride.

www.abbike.com

There are of course other companies and you could probably find some links to them at these websites:

www.bikeleaague.org
www.adventurecycling.org

If you wanted to do this other than with an organized group, Adventure Cycling has "rider-tested" route maps for suggested long distance bicycle rides .. they are the "triple-A" of cycling.

You will see a LOT more of the country from a bicycle saddle, and because you are somewhat of a curiosity, many more locals will reach out to you as well, something they aren't as inclined to do with motorists. You'll find beautiful country and nice people whereven you go - just keep your eyes and mind open - and have a great adventure no matter how you make the journey.

Definitely do a road trip! While you'll have an itinerary, you'll be free to come and go at will. And you will see and experience more than you ever imagined.

We're planning our ninth trip (we're addicted! )and still haven't experienced everything, altho we'll be repeating some of our favorite things too.

Ronkala, your trip sounds great! Did you do a full trip report? If so, i somehow missed it. Would love to hear more about your adventures!

Back to the original question (sorry if I got side-tracked) ... I know that Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) has a "rail-pass" good for "somewhat" unlimited travel within a given window (eg: 30 days, 60 days, etc). I believe Greyhound bus (www.greyhound.com) and Via Rail (Canada's version of Amtrak) do as well. There is also a bus-type trip (I think it's called Tortoise Bus -- I will check) sort of a "traveling hostel" available. Good luck.

Cheapest is hitchhiking with camping, bus mentioned above is Green Tortise (i think), Greyhound/bus, Amtrak/train, rental car or van - are there other methods I'm missing? Not sure how the OP would rate them concerning the <best/chepest/most comfortable> criteria.

Ellen,
I did not do a trip report. I was waiting for a good snowstorm to put me in the mood, but that hasn't happened yet here in the valley.

If you are able and you enjoy driving, by all means DRIVE IT. You will NEVER regret it. I have done it many times and enjoy every trip.