30 Day rail pass

[David]

Hi,

My wife and I are flying from New Zealand to Vancouver in early March to start a holiday tour of the US .

We intend buying a 30 day rail pass as this seems to be a good way of seeing a lot of country at a reasonable cost.

At the end of the 30 days we need to be in Los Vegas for a wedding then will fly home out of Los Angeles.

Any advice on which routes to take and places to stop off for a few days would be appreciated.

Also any opinions on "must see" or "must do" places or things.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Well, it's a huge country, and 30 days is pretty short, really, to see all that much of it. The Grand Canyon, which is in the same general region as Las Vegas, should certainly be on the list. My own personal list would include a trip down to Miami on Amtrak, followed by a drive through the Florida Keys to Key West. Almost no sharks compared to Australia's north coast (we actually haven't seen any at all in the times we've been diving or snorkeling in the Keys). I'm sure there will be almost as many other suggestions as there are members on this Board. Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washingon, and many others, come to mind as interesting places to visit, although you could probably spend the whole time just traveling to various National Parks and that sort of thing. March of course is near the end of our Winter season (usually that would be firmly into our Spring season here in Central Florida).

By the way, my wife has a step-sister, and twof nieces, in Kerikeri, on the northeast coast of the North Island - how far that is from where you are located?

 

[AmtrakFan]

Route I would do

Vancouver-Seattle

1 Night in Seattle

Seattle-Chicago 3 Night Trip

2 Nights in Chicago

Chicago-Washington 1 Night

3 Nights in Washington

Washington-New York

1 Night in New York

New York-Chicago

Chicago-Denver 1 Night

1 Night in Denver

Denver-Emeryville 2 Nights

2 Nights in San Francisco

Emeryville-Los Angeles

1 or 2 Nights in LA

Bus from LA to Vegas

Must See or Do

Seattle

Space Needle

Pikes Peak

Chicago

Sears Tower

Field Museum

Museum of Science and Industry

The Aquruam

The Magnificant Mile

Grant/Millineum Park

Washington

The National Mall

The Smithsonian Museum

New York

Time Square

Statue of Liberty

Broadway

San Francisco

Fishermans Warth

Goldon Gate Bridge

Las Vegas

Grand Canyon

 

[Irv]

Hi, My wife and I are flying from New Zealand to Vancouver in early March to start a holiday tour of the US .

We intend buying a 30 day rail pass as this seems to be a good way of seeing a lot of country at a reasonable cost.

At the end of the 30 days we need to be in Los Vegas for a wedding then will fly home out of Los Angeles.

Any advice on which routes to take and places to stop off for a few days would be appreciated.

Also any opinions on "must see" or "must do" places or things.

Some of the things I would not want to miss: San Francisco, the redwood forests, perhaps ride the California Zephyr to Chicago, then on to New York and/or Washington. Plenty of things to do and see in both those cities, including museums, shopping, etc. (but hotels are expensive).

Maybe then down thru Atlanta and overnight in New Orleans, then westward to see Texas and the desert southwest. The 'grand tour', basically.

That's going to be an awful lot of riding - hope you'll be able to upgrade to a bedroom for the longer segments of the trip.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Irv,

With the California Zephyr, I would say WB is better because the EB has been running So late, it has been missing the Mountain Passes that make it more scenic, then the flat Plains of IL. As I say, once you have seen one farm in IL you have seen em all.

 

[Irv]

Irv,With the California Zephyr, I would say WB is better because the EB has been running So late, it has been missing the Mountain Passes that make it more scenic, then the flat Plains of IL. As I say, once you have seen one farm in IL you have seen em all.

That would work. They could continue on down the coast to LA (Santa Barbara is a nice place to stop over) and do the loop in reverse. Something else I'd hate to miss is Yosemite National Park.

 

[GG-1]

Hi, My wife and I are flying from New Zealand to Vancouver

Aloha

I assume you are refering to Vancouver, WA. If so wouldn't it be cheaper to arrive in Seattle WA? A few years ago I wanted to go from Hawaii to Portland, WA. I found the Seattle Flights 60% cheaper. The Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are my favorite trains. Starlight northbound, Empire Eastbound so far, Hope to reverse that soon.

Eric

 

[TransAtlantic]

Hi,

My wife and I are flying from New Zealand to Vancouver

Aloha

I assume you are refering to Vancouver, WA. If so wouldn't it be cheaper to arrive in Seattle WA? A few years ago I wanted to go from Hawaii to Portland, WA. I found the Seattle Flights 60% cheaper. The Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are my favorite trains. Starlight northbound, Empire Eastbound so far, Hope to reverse that soon.

Eric

I don't think Vancouver, WA, has its own airport, does it? Especially not an international one - it's only across the rivers from Portland, a total of about 3 miles...Vancouver, B.C. on the other hand is a major international airport... (and where is Portland, WA??)

 

[PRR 60]

Certainly the OP is flying into Vancouver BC (YVR).

The rail pass could be the North American Rail Pass which is a joint pass for VIA and Amtrak. If so, then a VIA trip is required (and would be a great choice). A circle route from Vancouver to SF to Chicago to DC to NY to Montreal to Toronto to Vancouver would work. If the pass is the USA Rail Pass, then a similar circle trip could be used substituting NY back to Chicago and then on to Seattle and Vancouver for the Canadian route.

My suggestion is to avoid the temptation to do and see everything and spend some time in different locales. I would rather spend some quality time in five or six places than see ten or twelve sites with no time to enjoy any of them.

 

[gswager]

I agree with PRR 60 about the plans.

Get a print out of Amtrak map and take a hard look at it. Make a list that you want to see the scenery from trains, walk around in cities, or even in the mountains.

If you're a nature lover, then you can explore Glacier National Parks at one of two stops that is serve on Empire Builder, Yosemite (bus ride from San Joaquin station [Modesto?]), Grand Canyon from Southwest Chief, etc.

There are two ways for you to reach Las Vegas- from LA Union Station or Southwest Chief in Kingman, AZ.

 

[chucklehead]

darn good list !

Route I would doVancouver-Seattle

1 Night in Seattle

Seattle-Chicago 3 Night Trip

2 Nights in Chicago

Chicago-Washington 1 Night

3 Nights in Washington

Washington-New York

1 Night in New York

New York-Chicago

Chicago-Denver 1 Night

1 Night in Denver

Denver-Emeryville 2 Nights

2 Nights in San Francisco

Emeryville-Los Angeles

1 or 2 Nights in LA

Bus from LA to Vegas

Must See or Do

Seattle

Space Needle

Pikes Peak

Chicago

Sears Tower

Field Museum

Museum of Science and Industry

The Aquruam

The Magnificant Mile

Grant/Millineum Park

Washington

The National Mall

The Smithsonian Museum

New York

Time Square

Statue of Liberty

Broadway

San Francisco

Fishermans Warth

Goldon Gate Bridge

Las Vegas

Grand Canyon

 

[David]

Hi, My wife and I are flying from New Zealand to Vancouver in early March to start a holiday tour of the US .

We intend buying a 30 day rail pass as this seems to be a good way of seeing a lot of country at a reasonable cost.

At the end of the 30 days we need to be in Los Vegas for a wedding then will fly home out of Los Angeles.

Any advice on which routes to take and places to stop off for a few days would be appreciated.

Also any opinions on "must see" or "must do" places or things.

Thanks for the suggestions, I know we are only going to scratch the surface of the US in 30 days but want to make the most of the opportunity to see as much as possible.

Kerikeri is pretty much at the other end of the country to where we live at the bottom of the South Island.