kentuckian1977
Service Attendant
I am thinking of possibly going somewhere on Amtrak this October, and I'm very open to starting the trip with a roadtrip to a departure station. I have already thought of several possible options, but I would just like to also get some input from all of you, based on what I roughly have in mind, and my (limited) budget:
I will be on vacation from work from October 16-24. I would like to go somewhere for part of that time - I have in mind spending 24 hours or less on the train each way, and probably either one or two nights in a hotel at the destination. I am open to driving in order to depart from anywhere within about a 500 mile radius of here in Central Kentucky where there is safe, free (or cheap) parking at the station. The thing is, I'm not really interested in visiting a major city. I would like to go to somewhere that is an interesting small or medium sized city, preferably walkable, preferably with a place to stay for a night or two within walking distance (or reasonable taxi ride) of the station. This may sound odd to impossible, but on the other hand, I just thought maybe some of you might be from, or have visited, somewhere like this that you'll immediately think of that might fit the bill. Please keep in mind too that I'm probably not going to be able to spend much over about $500.00 total at the most (and less would be great!) on the Amtrak tickets portion of this round trip. I'm open to either something that involves a cheap enough roomette for one night each way to keep it within that budget, or suggestions about whether or not I'd totally regret just doing coach for one night. (Or of course an all day type of trip that didn't require an overnight at all.) Myself, I've sort of thinking of trying to find somewhere that fits what I'm looking for in the South, maybe some small town on the City or Crescent route, or on one of the Silver's routes. Or maybe even somewhere small in New England via the Lynchburger, but thanks in advance for any ideas, because that is the point of this post.
Edit: RE: the budget for tickets - I should also have pointed out that this will be a trip I'll be taking alone.
I will be on vacation from work from October 16-24. I would like to go somewhere for part of that time - I have in mind spending 24 hours or less on the train each way, and probably either one or two nights in a hotel at the destination. I am open to driving in order to depart from anywhere within about a 500 mile radius of here in Central Kentucky where there is safe, free (or cheap) parking at the station. The thing is, I'm not really interested in visiting a major city. I would like to go to somewhere that is an interesting small or medium sized city, preferably walkable, preferably with a place to stay for a night or two within walking distance (or reasonable taxi ride) of the station. This may sound odd to impossible, but on the other hand, I just thought maybe some of you might be from, or have visited, somewhere like this that you'll immediately think of that might fit the bill. Please keep in mind too that I'm probably not going to be able to spend much over about $500.00 total at the most (and less would be great!) on the Amtrak tickets portion of this round trip. I'm open to either something that involves a cheap enough roomette for one night each way to keep it within that budget, or suggestions about whether or not I'd totally regret just doing coach for one night. (Or of course an all day type of trip that didn't require an overnight at all.) Myself, I've sort of thinking of trying to find somewhere that fits what I'm looking for in the South, maybe some small town on the City or Crescent route, or on one of the Silver's routes. Or maybe even somewhere small in New England via the Lynchburger, but thanks in advance for any ideas, because that is the point of this post.
Edit: RE: the budget for tickets - I should also have pointed out that this will be a trip I'll be taking alone.
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