Amtrak's Top 9 Walking Tour Cities

[LA Resident]

I'd think Denver would be a decent contender as well.

LA Resident: Isn't Charleston quite a ways from the station?

Yes, you are correct. My own list built in the factor that in each of the cities, the station is either right in the heart of downtown or that there is good public transit from the station. In Charleston, I took a bus directly downtown from the depot on the northern end of town.

If you restrict the list to those cities where the downtown/points of interest are within walking distance of the station, then Charleston would have to drop out.

In my hometown San Diego, Balboa Park--the crown jewel of the area--is not really within walking distance, though it's possible. But there's excellent bus service every 12 minutes.

Your addition of Denver I think fits my criteria. It's a fairly hefty walk from the station to the State Capitol and the State Museum. But it's a fast bus ride on the transit corridor downtown.

In comparison, consider how hard it is to get from Union Station in downtown LA to many of the city's best sites, like the beaches, Getty Museum, etc. Yes, there is public transit but unless your destination is on one of the subway lines, good luck in getting anywhere on a timely manner.

 

[MikefromCrete]

San Francisco should be added to the list and Orlando dropped.

There is no light rail in Chicago. The CTA is definitely heavy rail, although it does run at grade at the ends of the Brown, Yellow, Purple and Pink lines.

The South Shore is a commuter railroad. Freight trains operate on the NITCD-owned part of the line, although not on the Metra Electric portion.

 

[Cristobal]

Another vote here for Santa Barbara. I was just there a few weekends ago and enjoyed it very much.

 

[AlanB]

I totally agree with the three Canadian cities which are reachable by Amtrak/VIA and then you can catch the great VIA LD trains! Also I would include New Orleans (but not in the summer or winter!)and a plug for my home city Austin! I'm sure everyone has their favorites but for sure I agree with Penny that Orlando must have gotten on the list by mistake unless Disney had their employees stuffing the ballot box! :lol:

Technically Disney isn't even in Orlando, even though that is where the nearest major airport is located. Disney is about 15 miles outside Orlando and definately not within walking distance of Orlando.

 

[Guest]

Just a joke Alan, I know Dreamland aka DisneyWorld only has a mono-rail, I wouldnt want to walk anywhere in Florida! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[supergrandmother]

Washington DC for sure. Grandson and I walked everywhere there. The entire National Mall is within walking distance of the train station if you are a strong walker and not packing luggage. Also, Santa Barbara is a wonderful walking city with great climate. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and walked everywhere...even the 7 blocks uphill to the Mission from my B&B.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Wife and I vote for Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Portland, OR; San Diego, Sacramento, New Orleans,

San Antonio and St Louis.

 

[Shanghai]

The 10th city should be Alliance, Ohio!!

 

[tp49]

Chicago? Well if you lump short trips by light rail travel in with walking yes, loads to do, I only found the Sears Tower within walking distance, the video that you can't avoid on the ride up is geared to 8 year olds.

I think a lot of that depends on your definition of "walking distance" which for me is probably greater than it is for most other people.

Wife and I vote for Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Portland, OR; San Diego, Sacramento, New Orleans,

San Antonio and St Louis.

Having lived here close to ten years now I wouldn't rate Sacramento as a great walking tour city. Outside of Old Sac which isn't all that big and doesn't take very long to explore and the Capitol the downtown area doesn't have all that much to offer attraction wise as many of the other cities mentioned do. Though I would rate it high for bike riding especially since one can easily ride from Davis all the way to Folsom on dedicated bike trails with the exception of a stretch through West Sacramento.

My list would have: New York City; Philadelphia; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Seattle; San Diego; San Francisco; Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

 

[JoelG]

On the smaller town scale, the Fullerton Amtrak (ex-Santa Fe) depot anchors the south side of the city's intact historic downtown district. Lots of restaurants, non-chain shops, a museum (in the old Carnegie Library building), etc. There's also an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant housed in the former Fullerton UP depot, which was moved across the tracks to a new location a few steps away from the Amtrak station.

The 1930 Fullerton Santa Fe depot was fully restored several years ago and serves both Amtrak and Metrolink. Add the myriad BNSF freights and you've got all the ingredients for great train watching; foamers abound!

 

[Long Train Runnin']

I took Amtrak to Montreal and I would say its a very nice and walkable city we walked above ground since it was only nov. But if its to cold on the street you can walk through the underground city as well

 

[Pastor Dave]

Sorry they did not include Philadelphia and Baltimore. I never found Orlando all that walker friendly, but the bus system was helpful.

 

[PerRock]

On the smaller town scale, the Fullerton Amtrak (ex-Santa Fe) depot anchors the south side of the city's intact historic downtown district. Lots of restaurants, non-chain shops, a museum (in the old Carnegie Library building), etc. There's also an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant housed in the former Fullerton UP depot, which was moved across the tracks to a new location a few steps away from the Amtrak station.

The 1930 Fullerton Santa Fe depot was fully restored several years ago and serves both Amtrak and Metrolink. Add the myriad BNSF freights and you've got all the ingredients for great train watching; foamers abound!

The Ann Arbor, MI is another "small town" that is very walkable. The station as half a dozen (or so) blocks from Downtown (which has tons of little shops and restaurants) But before you even get there there is whats called Karrytown which houses a number of shops and restaurants. One can also take the bus right into Downtown and be there. And if your up for an even longer walk; you can make it all the way to the State Street area (or even South U) which both are more college-type shopping areas (State St is sorta a middle ground).

Maybe we should start a Amtrak travel Guide website; where we list all the stations & routes and such and have members write up little bios on cities & trains.

peter

 

[Gord]

I came across this on the Amtrak website when I was looking for something else.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=WSArticlePage&pagename=WhistleStop/WSArticlePage/Blank_Template&cid=1153323725043

• Washington, DC
  
• New York City
  
• Orlando - (great walking tour because the Auto Train goes there? I don't follow the logic).
  
• Seattle
  
• Boston
  
• Chicago
  
• Portland, OR
  
• San Diego
  
• Montreal
  

I'd put New Orleans and Toronto on the list of great cities to tour on foot (and streetcar)that have convenient, downtown stations. I also note that several of these cities have streetcar (trolley) and/or LRT systems.

Gord

 

[AlanB]

Maybe we should start a Amtrak travel Guide website; where we list all the stations & routes and such and have members write up little bios on cities & trains.

That's an interesting idea Peter; one that I'm going to discuss with the staff.

 

[frugalist]

Maybe we should start a Amtrak travel Guide website; where we list all the stations & routes and such and have members write up little bios on cities & trains.

That's an interesting idea Peter; one that I'm going to discuss with the staff.

I like the idea of an "Amtrak Destinations" forum. I can see having a thread for each town or city that someone wants to ask about or contribute something about. The cruise-oriented forum CruiseCritic.com has something like that for all the cruise destinations.

 

[frugalist]

I came across this on the Amtrak website when I was looking for something else.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=WSArticlePage&pagename=WhistleStop/WSArticlePage/Blank_Template&cid=1153323725043

• Washington, DC
  
• New York City
  
• Orlando - (great walking tour because the Auto Train goes there? I don't follow the logic).
  
• Seattle
  
• Boston
  
• Chicago
  
• Portland, OR
  
• San Diego
  
• Montreal
  

Of the ones I've been to or lived in, I'd agree with DC, NY, Boston and Chicago. I can't see Orlando being in the top-9 list to the exclusion of some of the other places mentioned in this thread. Never spent enough time in Seattle, Portland, SD or Montreal to comment.

I'm going to DC in a couple of weeks with my son and we're probably going to spend a day in Baltimore. I've read a lot about the Inner Harbor area being a cool place to walk. Looks to be about a half-hour walk from Penn Station, or a quick ride on the light rail or bus. Anybody want to give us any pointers to help us make the most of our day in Baltimore?

 

[Eric S]

I came across this on the Amtrak website when I was looking for something else.

http://www.amtrak.co...d=1153323725043

• Washington, DC
• New York City
• Orlando - (great walking tour because the Auto Train goes there? I don't follow the logic).
• Seattle
• Boston
• Chicago
• Portland, OR
• San Diego
• Montreal

Of the ones I've been to or lived in, I'd agree with DC, NY, Boston and Chicago. I can't see Orlando being in the top-9 list to the exclusion of some of the other places mentioned in this thread. Never spent enough time in Seattle, Portland, SD or Montreal to comment.

I'm going to DC in a couple of weeks with my son and we're probably going to spend a day in Baltimore. I've read a lot about the Inner Harbor area being a cool place to walk. Looks to be about a half-hour walk from Penn Station, or a quick ride on the light rail or bus. Anybody want to give us any pointers to help us make the most of our day in Baltimore?

I believe Baltimore just started up a new bus service, the Charm City Circulator, that is free, runs more frequently than the light rail (every 10 minutes or so versus every 30 for the light rail at Penn Station), and runs between Penn Station and the Inner Harbor area. Might be worth googling it and checking it out.

 

[frugalist]

I came across this on the Amtrak website when I was looking for something else.

http://www.amtrak.co...d=1153323725043

• Washington, DC
• New York City
• Orlando - (great walking tour because the Auto Train goes there? I don't follow the logic).
• Seattle
• Boston
• Chicago
• Portland, OR
• San Diego
• Montreal

Of the ones I've been to or lived in, I'd agree with DC, NY, Boston and Chicago. I can't see Orlando being in the top-9 list to the exclusion of some of the other places mentioned in this thread. Never spent enough time in Seattle, Portland, SD or Montreal to comment.

I'm going to DC in a couple of weeks with my son and we're probably going to spend a day in Baltimore. I've read a lot about the Inner Harbor area being a cool place to walk. Looks to be about a half-hour walk from Penn Station, or a quick ride on the light rail or bus. Anybody want to give us any pointers to help us make the most of our day in Baltimore?

I believe Baltimore just started up a new bus service, the Charm City Circulator, that is free, runs more frequently than the light rail (every 10 minutes or so versus every 30 for the light rail at Penn Station), and runs between Penn Station and the Inner Harbor area. Might be worth googling it and checking it out.

Holy cow! Free public transportation! And in new, eco-friendly buses too! Who'd'a thunk it! This looks like a great option. Thanks a ton for the tip!

 

[GAT]

I see endorsements for Toronto and Montreal. I would add Vancouver but then wouldn't it be kind of an embarrassment if three of the best 9 walking tours were in another country?

I would definitely agree with Vancouver, but only if you walk straight ahead from the front of the station to the water and take the seawall. Do NOT turn right on Main Street - especially after dark. However, having said that, I do recommend Chinatown, but I'd take a short cab ride to get you past the doped-up parts of Main Street to get you there. Vancouver's is the second largest Chinatown on the west coast, after San Francisco.

 

[PerRock]

Maybe we should start a Amtrak travel Guide website; where we list all the stations & routes and such and have members write up little bios on cities & trains.

That's an interesting idea Peter; one that I'm going to discuss with the staff.

I like the idea of an "Amtrak Destinations" forum. I can see having a thread for each town or city that someone wants to ask about or contribute something about. The cruise-oriented forum CruiseCritic.com has something like that for all the cruise destinations.

I was actually thinking of a more wiki-type site; but a forums would work. Heck you could do both. Have a Wiki page that has your basic info. With a link to a forum for that location/train where people could ask questions.

peter

 

[AlanB]

I was actually thinking of a more wiki-type site; but a forums would work. Heck you could do both. Have a Wiki page that has your basic info. With a link to a forum for that location/train where people could ask questions.

peter

A wiki might be nicer and perhaps even easier to use, but alas that's an addon to the software and it costs money to get it.

 

[PerRock]

I was actually thinking of a more wiki-type site; but a forums would work. Heck you could do both. Have a Wiki page that has your basic info. With a link to a forum for that location/train where people could ask questions.

peter

A wiki might be nicer and perhaps even easier to use, but alas that's an addon to the software and it costs money to get it.

I'm sure you could find a free one --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software Media Wiki is the most commonly use Wiki software.

peter

 

[AlanB]

I was actually thinking of a more wiki-type site; but a forums would work. Heck you could do both. Have a Wiki page that has your basic info. With a link to a forum for that location/train where people could ask questions.

peter

A wiki might be nicer and perhaps even easier to use, but alas that's an addon to the software and it costs money to get it.

I'm sure you could find a free one --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software Media Wiki is the most commonly use Wiki software.

peter

I think that I'd feel far more comfortable with the software that ties into the forum, so as to give us some control and integration with the registration process of the BB.

 

[Bedford]

Oceanside, Ca. Good walk on the pier on one side of the track, downtown on the other.