# Touring the States without a car



## Xanadu (Sep 4, 2008)

I was meant to be doing a roadtrip from Chicago to New Orleans, but there's no space left for lil ol' me, so I'm thinking of other ways of seeing America.

I've just had a look at the Amtrak route map, and its looking highly appealing to take a month off, and just train it around.

A 30-day pass is £263 (off-peak), which seems like pretty good value to me.

I have no idea where exactly I'd go, but that'll be half the fun!

Is it possible to do a tour of the U.S. without being able to drive?  Anyone done something like this?


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## nadia (Sep 4, 2008)

Yes its fun the trains are pretty comfortable and scenic. I did this about twelve years ago but was quite stunned at how unreliable the  trains can be. Twelve hour delays were not unheard of


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## Belushi (Sep 4, 2008)

Havent done it but I hope to tour the states by train one day so will lurk on this thread!


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## Belushi (Sep 4, 2008)

nadia said:


> but was quite stunned at how unreliable the  trains can be. Twelve hour delays were not unheard of



IIRC goods trains have precedent over passenger trains?


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## Crispy (Sep 4, 2008)

Belushi said:


> IIRC goods trains have precedent over passenger trains?


Yep. The freight companies own the track and sell slots to Amtrak. Lots of the network is only double or even single track. Frieght trains are very long and very slow, and get precedence. USA passenger trains outside metropolitan commuter lines are absolute shite.


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## London_Calling (Sep 5, 2008)

I took the bus east coast to west coast and back - it was either Trailways or Greyhound back then. Just like getting on at Victoria Coach station. 

I'd also look into paying before you go.


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## D (Sep 6, 2008)

Xanadu said:


> I was meant to be doing a roadtrip from Chicago to New Orleans, but there's no space left for lil ol' me, so I'm thinking of other ways of seeing America.
> 
> I've just had a look at the Amtrak route map, and its looking highly appealing to take a month off, and just train it around.
> 
> ...



Never done it, but I'm not totally sure you'd reach all that many destinations in only 30 days.


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## Detroit City (Sep 6, 2008)

Xanadu said:


> Is it possible to do a tour of the U.S. without being able to drive?



no, not if you want to see the good shit.  our whole country is based around the automobile.  for example, the great state of Michigan is larger than the entire UK... 

and that is one state out of 50


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## Gavin Bl (Sep 7, 2008)

as has been alluded to above, the Amtraks are comfortable, but they seem very slow. The problem will be that OK you will see the countryside you are passing through, and the city centres - but really great stuff in the National Parks etc, will be inaccessible, unless there are bus trips there, from the train stations.

Assuming you want to see sights outside of the major cities, if you can drive, I would. Having the car gives you unparallelled flexibilty to just stop or turn off and take a look at something that interests you - esp. in the US.


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## subversplat (Sep 7, 2008)

http://www.eaglerider.com/?gclid=CLL868vFyZUCFRSb1QodIWGbhg


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## nick h. (Sep 7, 2008)

Can you ride a pushbike? The west coast makes for a great ride. There's even a Lonely Planet dedicated to it. I went from Vancouver to San Francisco - one of the best things I've ever done. 

Alternatively, take a folding bike on the Amtrak (I hope this is allowed!) and use the bike to explore a bit.  Integrate with the locals and reduce your hotel bills at couchsurfing.com


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## ouchmonkey (Sep 9, 2008)

Xanadu said:


> I was meant to be doing a roadtrip from Chicago to New Orleans, but there's no space left for lil ol' me, so I'm thinking of other ways of seeing America.
> 
> I've just had a look at the Amtrak route map, and its looking highly appealing to take a month off, and just train it around.
> 
> ...



If you want to do Chicago to New Orleans (both great cities) the Amtrak runs between them and it's a good journey, The rail network in the US, by UK standards, is pitiful though and the distances huge - Despite the mythic standing of the railroad in the conquest of the west there are whole states without any national passenger railways.

I've travelled in the US by Train, bus and in my own van and all are possible depending on what you want to do.
It's handy to drive where you want, the trains are quite limiting to be honest.
The greyhound gives you more possibilities but the journey times can be huge - I went from Chicago to Seattle on it and it was over 24 hours, and you're stuck in a bus with tired, cranky, crazy people. Frank exchanges of opinion between fellow passengers seem to be included for free.
But there's no chance you'll get lost and on arrival you're gauranteed to be dropped off in the absolute shittiest part of town too. 

In 30 days it would _really_ stand you in good stead to have a rough idea of what you wanted to do or see, particularly if you want to get £263 worth out of it without spending the whole month sat on a train or in a station - pick one or two parts of the country.

On the west coast there's a great bus company called Green Tortoise who run services up and down San Francisco to Seattle but also do trips to national parks - several days long you sleep in the bus, they're converted so the seats become beds, it's communal cooking and all that. I went to Yosemite with 'em and I'd highly recommend them to anyone


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