The Vacation Experience

In Europe, train travel is the obvious option for jaunts from Paris to Marseille or even on multi-country treks. It is the mode of choice for American backpackers and the business set alike. Yet in the U.S., we opt for time-minded air travel or the privacy of our cars. But times they are a-changing. With gas at $4 a gallon, the family vacation is no longer as economical is it once was; while escalating rates, security lines and delayed arrivals are making air travel no more attractive, each year more and more Americans are returning to the tracks, and it’s no wonder.

The difference between taking a train and taking a plane was felt even before boarding. Your vacation begins once you step on the train. Every effort is made to help passengers relax while on board, though it doesn’t seem to take much. The best part of taking the train is definitely the windows—perfect for clearing the mind without having to worry about taking a wrong turn. You realize even the oft overlooked yellow plains are something worth pondering.

Reminding is something the train seemed to do a lot of. Constructing the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s was a feat that developed the West, building towns at depot stations, shipping people and products and employing thousands of workers year in and out. The city was basically built on the railroad industry: Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., are both known for their enormous shipping yards.

The nostalgia is something that draws passengers as well. Who hasn’t read stories about the Little Engine That Could, Thomas the Tank Engine, Little Red Caboose and the Polar Express? And what about The Boxcar Children (a popular young adult literature series), the Orient Express, the Harry Potter series, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the PBS show Shining Time Station? Trains are synonymous with adventure: train robbers, the Wild West, vagrants and orphan children. What family didn’t have at least a child’s train set? Yes, it’s a thing of past, but it’s also an element of the future. Unlike so many things, trains are a part of idealistic bygone days that we actually can experience.

Everyone is happier on a train, versus, let’s say, an airplane. Already relaxed, couples mix and mingle in the lounge car, linger over a meal with almost-perfect strangers in the dining car and curl up with the latest James Patterson tome in the coach cars—even and especially in coach. The seating here is more than twice that of the nearest comparable airplane. Each row seats four across—two on each side—and chairs recline to nearly horizontal.

In the sleeper cars with all variety rooms, think transformers. Roomettes seat two with chairs that fold down into bunk beds. Single rooms have a coach and a private toilet and shower with a foldout double bed fitted below a single bunk. Family rooms convert to sleep up to four and wheelchair-accessible rooms promise to accommodate anyone and everyone.

But perhaps the greatest assets of the sleeping car are the attendants. There to assist with travel and transport, hoisting luggage on and off the train, providing beverage service and a wake-up call, the attendants are the heart of the Amtrak service. They bring the personality of travel to life and are an aspect just as American as the cross-country trains are themselves.

Frequenters of the train’s observation car will find themselves surrounded by windows on three sides, with seats facing toward the windows. On trips from Glacier National Park or the Grand Canyon, park rangers board the trains at one stop to give interpretive talks and explanations of the scenery passed, tales of flora and fauna, and a concise history of the area—including the trains. The rangers jump off the trains when they’re ready and jump on a different train heading the other way to get back.

Expecting something akin to reheated airport food, in the dining car, Amtrak actually employs a chef and serves a modest assortment of entrée options: steak, game hen, market fish and vegetarian lasagna—all finely prepared. Meals are the best time to make acquaintances, and everyone seems eager to hear and exchange elaborate yarns with each other. Questions such as “Where are you from” and “Where are you going” served to open up the conversation, giving the rare opportunity to converse with someone from a completely different part of the country.

Trains may have replaced the stagecoach, but they have become no less relevant in the 100-plus years since the first engine chugged a load of cargo and passengers westward. Amtrak was established by Congress in 1970 to take over private passenger rail companies (this system is similar to those in most other countries). Amtrak Vacations gets you out to see the real America, the parts of it not often dwelt upon long enough to reveal their true worth. Really, the idea is simple, copied loosely off the format for a cruise ship but at your own pace. Amtrak has customized nine multi-city rail journeys varying in length from nine days to 14 and hitting such cities as Montreal; Portland, Maine; Los Angeles and the spaces in between. They also offer more than 40 vacations packages to major cities and popular destinations throughout the U.S.

Practically all-inclusive, the price of a ticket on the Northern Border and Pacific Rim trip comes with transportation from Chicago to Seattle on the Empire Builder, including two nights in a sleeper on board the train; meals on the train and at various destinations along the way; hotel rooms in Chicago, Minneapolis, Glacier National Park and Seattle; and tours and meals at each of the stops. Travelers may depart on any day of the week and can upgrade accommodations on the train or at the destinations or can cut back to save some cash. The trips are completely customizable as well, allowing travelers to extend stays at certain destinations and skipping others—should they so choose.

The trips combine the best of the United States: our great cities, natural wonders and rolling countryside. Trips highlight music with Jazz, Blues and Rock ’n’ Roll by Rail from Chicago through Memphis, Tenn., and ending in New Orleans; history with American Heritage to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington; Southern Heritage to Washington, Williamsburg, Va., Charleston, S.C., Savannah, Ga., and St. Augustine, Fla.; the Eastern Seaboard through Boston; Maine; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Quebec City; Montreal and New York; the outdoors with Grand Canyon Discovery, Pacific Rim through Glacier National Park and Peaks to Pacific through Denver, Yellowstone and Salt Lake City, Utah; and wine and culture with West Coast Spectacular from Seattle to San Francisco through Napa Valley and ending in Universal Studios in Los Angeles, and with California Dreamin’, which goes through Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and the Paso Robles vineyards and ends in San Francisco.

This is arguably the best way to see America. Think of the distance you can travel without having to stop for gas. While Americans still get around primarily by personal automobile, these major metropolises are easily navigable using public transportation or by walking, and all the national parks have systems of shuttles taking visitors to trailheads, lodges and lakes.

Upgrade tricks Car Rental Reserve a smoking-permitted car. When you arrive, say they screwed up. If they don't have any nonsmoking rides in your class, you win. "If they've made a mistake, they're obliged to give you one from a better class or get you a car from another company," says Erik Torkells, editor-in-chief of Budget Travel. "If they try to make you pay any extra fee, talk to a manager." Hotel Most hotel guests check in before 2 P.M., while business travelers tend to arrive from 5 P.M. Onward. If you check in between 3 P.M. and 5 P.M., reception will have a good idea about how many exec rooms will be open to negotiation. "It's all about being there at the right time," says Tiffany Hawk. Arrive late! Airline Seats American Airlines 767-300: Row 21 A, B, H, or J is your promised land of exit row leg room. Delta Airlines MD-88: Rows 26-31 on the D-E side of the plane have about two extra inches. Twenty-six is an exit row and most desirable. Jet Blue A320: Warning! Seats 9A, 9F, 10A, and 10F do not recline because of the emergency exit behind them. Enjoy your blue chips! According to a recent survey of 35,000 Consumer Reports notes that 70 percent of people who negotiated with hotel staff scored a rate reduction or a room upgrade. When a hotel isn't fully booked, reservationists will usually beat any other rate — even their own advertised online price. So put a friendly smile on your face and get your haggle on, ya cheap bastard.

Evenings at the Glacier Park Lodge are spent curled up by the fire or watching the sun set over the ridge of a mountain range. The only television sets are in the lounge, but no one seems to mind. As on the train, people are eager to trade travel tales and chat over the latest national news: sports, weather or politics.

In Glacier National Park, the trip includes a tour on the park’s notorious Red Buses, also known as Jammers because of how the drivers used to jam the gears on steep descents down the mountains. The recently refurbished buses have been running guests up and down the mountains since the 1930s. Guides name mountain peaks, point out wildlife and tell tales from the park whilst navigating the harrowing-but-breathtaking turns of the park’s famous Going-to-the-Sun Road, stopping for photo-ops and hikes. On sunny days, the jammers put the top down, affording passengers easy views up the tall mountains.

Trips from Chicago to the West Coast will cross just about every scene you could think of: green farmland, rolling plains, deserts, mountains, forests and rivers. Among planes, trains and automobiles, the train is poised for a comeback. Amtrak Vacations are just nine of thousands of ways to get from point A to B following a track.

Train travel in the 21st century still maintains a heavy dose of charm inside, where café cars retain a bit of retro flair, and out, where oft-scenic countryside rushes by in a blur of pretty color. The American Heritage by Rail package usually takes travelers from New York to Boston, Boston to Philadelphia, and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., over the course of 10 days. In Boston, vacationers can eat at the legendary Hard Rock Café, and in Philly, they can dance under an expansive evening sky aboard a luxurious Spirit of Philadelphia dinner cruise.

It’s impossible not to feel reverent and that feeling starts at Union Station, a 1908 epicenter for arrivals on Capitol Hill. It’s condition deteriorated after World War II, and it sat in decline—debate on razing it entirely ensued—until $160 million was allocated to its restoration and refurbishment in 1988. The station visitors arrive at now officially opened in 1989, augmented with impressive marble floors, gold-leaf-accented vaulted ceilings, food courts and restaurants, and upscale shopping.

With an Amtrak rail journey, the destinations are only half of the vacation experience. The other stars are naturally—and impressively—the trains. The benefits of train travel are many. Large windows in every car afford full observation of the scenery passing by; while travelers might not have the chance to smell the roses, they can at least see them—and that, when it comes to visiting new places, is a priceless experience.

Lainey R. Seyler. On the Road With Amtrak Vacations. Home & Away Magazine. Jun 25, 2008. Lindsey Baker. Tracking Heritage. Home & Away Magazine. Jun 15, 2009.

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