Itinerary too ambitious?

[Rosie Reily]

Hello - I am preparing an itinerary for a 26 day Amtrak trip in October/November this year using Amtrak Guest Rewards mostly. Does this seem like too much and too tiring - we are fit seniors. Thank you

Dept Toccoa GA

2 nights Harpers Ferry

1 night La Crosse

2 nights Whitefish Montana

3 nights Vancouver

2 nights Seattle

3 nights Santa Barbara

1 night Glenwood Springs

3 nights NOLA

home

All of this with wonderful days and overnights on the trains...can't wait to experience the Coast Starlight and the Zephyr (which I was on as a teenager - maybe a different name).

 

[the_traveler]

Have you traveled by train before, or lately? :huh:

It does seem to be alot of train travel, especially if you're not use to trains, but you are breaking up the actual travel to 1-2 days on the train at a time. For me, it is not to much (because I do it all the time) but I don't know your experience with trains.

If you're up for it, my advice is to have fun and enjoy the trip!

 

[Bob Dylan]

As Dave said, the fact that you're breaking up your overnight train segments with stays in great places seems like a fun and very sensible way to travel!

Please share your adventures with us in trip reports upon completion!

Bon voyage!

 

[Rosie Reily]

Yes we are train travelers usually from Toccoa to New Orleans (before they changed the AGR rules we actually had a sleeper routed through Washington, Chicago and City of New Orleans for the same price as the Crescent southbound) We took Amtrak from Flagstaff to Chicago a couple of years ago. Although when I was a little girl we did this kind of vast travel (my dad worked for L & N and A & WP railroads so he had an annual pass) I am daunted by the 2 day stretch from Glenwood Springs to New Orleans now.. We can't break up the trip everywhere or we would be gone 2 months! We have to do the Pacific Northwest as my hubby has not seen it. He will probably grumble en route but be very happy we made the trip. Thank you for your encouragement. I will post when we get back about the trip.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

I'm 74 and love traveling Amtrak LD trains in sleeper. If you are traveling in a sleeper, I say go for it. I have made the trip from Emeryville to Chicago and then on the CONO on to New Orleans several times. The key to all this is that I love "being on the train". This past April/May I rode Amtrak's CONO and EB from New Orleans to Seattle(3 nights) and after a 6 night stay in Seattle, I rode on AGR 1 points in bedroom the CS, CZ, and CONO from Seattle to Sacramento to Chicago to New Orleans(4 nights on the train). I only began to get weary of being on the train on the last leg on the CONO from Chicago to New Orleans. Part of that was that I have ridden this train many times and the scenery in Mississippi is nothing to enjoy.

 

[bmjhagen9426]

Hello - I am preparing an itinerary for a 26 day Amtrak trip in October/November this year using Amtrak Guest Rewards mostly. Does this seem like too much and too tiring - we are fit seniors. Thank you

Dept Toccoa GA

2 nights Harpers Ferry

1 night La Crosse

2 nights Whitefish Montana

3 nights Vancouver

2 nights Seattle

3 nights Santa Barbara

1 night Glenwood Springs

3 nights NOLA

home

All of this with wonderful days and overnights on the trains...can't wait to experience the Coast Starlight and the Zephyr (which I was on as a teenager - maybe a different name).

Does not sound too ambitious to me. I have a trip plan that is far more ambitious (lasting about a month), although I have not yet set a date for it just yet. I am 22 and enjoy traveling by train, and 10 out of my 21 Amtrak trips have been overnight trips. As for your departure out of NOLA back to GA, your train will leave at 7am. Depending on how far your lodging is from the station, you may need to head to the station first thing in the morning, perhaps before sunrise in order to catch your train. As for the CS, it is part of the original Amtrak network, originally known as the Cascades, but there was another train called the Coast Daylight. The two merged and became the Coast Starlight. I might not be 100% accurate about the history of the CS, so here are the links relating to the history of the CS, as well as the predecessors:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Daylight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Starlight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_(train)

As for the CZ, the train was previously known as the San Francisco Zephyr, and unlike the CZ, it ran through Wyoming between Ogden and Denver. Service between Denver and Ogden was provided by the Rio Grande Zephyr (operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western). Before that, service between Chicago and the Bay Area was provided by the City of San Francisco (Bay Area-Denver) and the Denver Zephyr (Denver-Chicago).

 

[SarahZ]

This sounds like an amazing adventure! You planned some great stopover locations. I'm jealous.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

Not too ambitious at all. I think you just posted this to make people like Sarah and me jealous! It sounds like a wonderful trip, and I hope you have a great time.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

You might want to ask CCC1007 about Whitefish, MT, he is often there (look at his signature). Have a great trip, I just took the EB two weeks ago, loved it, even in coach.

 

[caravanman]

Yes! Go for it!

So much better to have a little adventure as seniors, than sitting at home complaining about how much better things were in the old days.

Enjoy!

Ed.

 

[unitedstatesfan]

Yes, great trip. Please post a trip report upon completion so we can all relive your experiences.

Try to encourage your friends who may have little or no experience of non-commuter train travel to at first enjoy an Amtrak day trip, then progress to the sleepers.

 

[chakk]

Going from Santa Barbara to Glenwood Springs will require an overnight bus ride or a night in the SF Bay Area or Sacramento area, which you didn't list. Other than that, it all sounds great and you will meet lots of interesting people in the dining cars.