Amtrak Experience

Free from stress and full of relaxation, travel by train has been a charming way to cross the country. We journeyed 4,650 miles over the past 15 days. Amtrak is the embodiment of the expression, ‘take your time.’ It’s better in terms of energy use and harmful emissions. But what’s it actually like to do it long distance?

Waiting is something you get used to. At large stations, usually this means in a lounge. Otherwise, you may just be parked on a bench. Only one of our four segments, Lakeshore Limited to Chicago, proved to be on-time, early in fact. In Savannah, we kept our eye on the status and ended up getting a bonus evening and dinner since the train was almost five hours late. Likewise our arrival to New York was also delayed about five hours, which just robbed us of the better part of one a day there. These delays aren’t ideal but they are a reality of the American train system.

But once on the train, you have room to stretch out, get comfy, take a shower, enjoy a three course meal, play cards, or go to happy hour in the observation lounge. You can actually sightsee from your seat, perhaps countryside not otherwise easily accessible. These are things in which other modes of travel struggle to compete. The food is surprisingly good and the crew are quite entertaining. We landed on the roomette being ideal for ten hours or less and the larger sleeper being ideal for longer durations. Another strategy we would endorse is getting off at stops and spending one or more nights there. This breaks up the route, lets you experience more places, and is less expensive than a big first class sleeper.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of traveling on Amtrak is getting to know other passengers. Even the ones who seem on first glance like they might be worth a miss, inevitably turn out to be more interesting and actually worth getting to know—at least for one conversation. You never know when they might whip out a guitar and start singing the blues or invite you to meet up with them next time you’re in Ireland. We look forward to continuing to tick off the other Amtrak routes around the country.Read more