Amtrak Cross Country Trip

I read somewhere that traveling cross country via Amtrak was not only affordable, but also an amazing way to see the sights. My husband was excited about not having to drive and just being able to sit and watch the beautiful scenery as it went by. We travel a lot and to this day, our Amtrak trip remains his favorite trip we’ve done. We decided to try to break up the trip by staying in some big cities, catching some MLB games, and driving up the Pacific Coast Highway. One of the great things about Amtrak is that once you buy your ticket you can get off and on whenever you would like. That gave us time to do other things and we didn’t feel like we were stuck on a train for 2 weeks. We didn’t realize just how great the scenic car on the train would be and spent almost all of our time there. The Sunset Limited and California Zephyr both had scenic cars. It was almost like sitting at a kitchen table playing cards while the countryside went past. We did not get a sleeper “Roomette” and regretted that on the longest leg of our journey (New Orleans to Los Angeles).

Virginia to New Orleans

We boarded the Amtrak Crescent late in the evening in Charlottesville, Virginia. The train was pretty full so we didn’t find seats together until about 2 hours into the trip. We basically slept in our seats until the next morning. We really weren’t able to see many sights since the track is lined with trees during much of this route. Around mid-afternoon as we got into Mississippi the beautiful bayous appeared. After about a day, we arrived in New Orleans in the evening and we stayed at the beautiful Canopy by Hilton hotel close to the French Quarter. We did a little exploring in the French Quarter and on Bourbon Street.

New Orleans to Los Angeles

We departed New Orleans at 9:00 am on the Sunset Limited and it took us about 2 days to reach Los Angeles. This is the leg of the trip where we REALLY needed a roomette or bedroom. The seats were very comfortable, but 2 days is a long time. In an Amtrak bedroom, there is room for all 3 of us to sleep at the same time for around $1000 and in a roomette for $500 we could have taken turns sleeping. I highly recommend paying for at least a roomette if you’re planning to be on the train for more than one day. We also could have considered staying somewhere in Texas over night to break up the monotony of being on the train for 2 days. We spent most of our time on the Sunset Limited in the scenic car watching the sights, playing cards, and snacking. There was a nice snack bar located downstairs and it had everything we wanted or needed. At many of the train stops we were allowed to get off for about 5 to 10 minutes while new passengers boarded and it was nice to get a bit of fresh air. My husband usually stayed on the train so that we didn’t lose our prime spot in the scenic car.

The Sunset Limited offers dining services in the Dining Car and meals are included in the price of the ticket for sleeper car passengers. We traveled Coach and were given the option to eat in the Dining Car anyway and just had to pay for the meal. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of food, choices, and exceptional service. We just had to sign up for a time slot to go to dinner and it was well worth it. This leg of the trip took us past Houston, San Antonio, Tucson, Palm Springs and then into Los Angeles.

Los Angeles

Unfortunately, the Sunset Limited arrives very early in the morning in LA and we had to wait in the train station for several hours until our car rental company opened. We picked up our rental car and headed into LA. We did an open air tour of the star’s homes and saw all the sights (Rodeo drive, Hollywood sign, Mulholland, Sunset Blvd etc). We grabbed burgers from In N Out and they were delicious! We stopped briefly at the Santa Monica Pier and then headed up the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1). We chose not to spend a night in LA, but if I were to do it again, I would add on a day there because there’s so much to see.

The Pacific Coast Highway

We were told by a gentleman at the rental car company that the Pacific Coast Highway scenery was beautiful and around every turn was a sight you would see on a postcard. He was not exaggerating. It was absolutely beautiful!

We drove about 3 hours up the coast, taking our time to get out and take pictures along the way. We stayed the night at an adorable little hotel called Cottage Inn by the Sea in Pismo Beach. The beach was absolutely beautiful and the views were breathtaking.

The next morning we drove 2 1/2 hours to Monterey where we stayed the night. I had a whale watching tour scheduled, but it was canceled due to windy conditions. Again, the drive on the Pacific Coast Highway was beautiful and we took our time to stop and see the sights. We stopped in Carmel and Big Sur. We spent the afternoon and evening exploring and eating at the Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey Bay.

San Francisco

The next morning we drove the 2 hours to San Francisco where we spent 2 days and stayed at the beautiful Hotel Whitcomb located in the Financial District. We took in a San Francisco Giants baseball game at the amazing AT&T Park. We got seats up a little higher than we normally like so we could have a great view of McCovey Cove. We didn’t see any homerun balls go into the water, but there were plenty of boats and people out there waiting just in case. It was a beautiful, sunny day at the ballpark, but a bit chilly for early June. San Francisco fans were wearing heavy coats, scarves, and hats and we found that kind of funny because we weren’t dressed very warmly and thought it was perfect baseball weather.

We spent the next day exploring the city. We spent some time at the Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. We didn’t take the ferry out to Alcatraz, but we saw beautiful views of it and the Golden Gate Bridge. We took a streetcar all over the city and saw the famous Lombard Street. We really enjoyed our time in San Francisco. It is a beautiful and welcoming city.

San Francisco to Denver

The Amtrak station in San Francisco is actually located in Emerysville, CA so we drove the 20 minutes, dropped off our rental car and boarded the Amtrak California Zephyr train in the morning. After spending almost a week sightseeing by car and on foot, we were excited to get back on the train. The first leg on the California Zephyr took us past Reno, Nevada, through Utah and through the Tahoe National Forest and Sierra Nevadas. We went past the Great Salt Lake overnight so we didn’t get to see it. The next day we started through the Sierra Nevadas. A representative from the National Park Service boarded the train and sat in the scenic car with a microphone and described the area and gave us details on what it took to build the railroad through the mountain pass. We really enjoyed his narration.

We traveled along the Colorado River for quite some time and watched a lot of people tubing, rafting, and paddle boarding and even received the “Amtrak Salute”. (People rafting on the river will moon passengers on a passing Amtrak train and it was hilarious.) The scenery along the Colorado River was stunning. It was on this leg of our journey that our son made friends with several other kids on the train and they had a blast.

After just over a day and a half, we arrived in Denver late in the afternoon. We stayed at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel that had a rooftop indoor/outdoor pool and indoor basketball court so our son was able to burn off a ton of energy after being on the train for a day and a half.

The Colorado Rockies were playing out of town so instead of a game, we did a guided tour of Coors Field.

We were able to go into the clubhouse, the press box, the dugout, the coach’s office, and underground batting cages.

The best part of the tour was being to go down to the field and actually sit in the dugout.

We checked out of our hotel and hung out in Union Station for a while until we boarded our train in the afternoon. Our next stop was Chicago.

Denver to Chicago

We again boarded the California Zephyr around 3 in the afternoon, went through Nebraska and Iowa, and arrived in Chicago the next morning after just over a day on the train. We stayed at the Hyatt Centric Chicago Loop hotel in the heart of the business district. We went to the famous Pizano’s and had deep dish pizza. It was amazing! We explored Millennium Park and saw Cloud Gate.

The highlight of our time in Chicago was going to Wrigley Field and watching the Chicago Cubs play a Sunday night game. Wrigley definitely lived up to its reputation and it was one of the best ballparks we’ve been to. Tickets were hard to come by, especially since this was the year the Cubs were making their World Series run, so we ended up sitting pretty high up in the stands. What struck us about the ballpark was that no matter where you were sitting, you felt like you were right on top of the action. The atmosphere was electric! We walked down to a lower level to get a different vantage point, bought some Cubs gear, and ate Chicago hot dogs. It was an incredible night for us and I forgot to take many pictures and the ones I did take weren’t very good. We took the Chicago “L” to and from the game and people were friendly and we enjoyed the ride.

Chicago to Washington DC

We boarded the Amtrak Capitol Limited in Union Station and the trip to DC took about 17 hours. We went through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, much of it at night so we didn’t really get to see very much. Honestly, after traveling for 2 weeks we were pretty tired and ready to just get home. Since we live in Virginia and have visited Washington DC many times (I worked in downtown DC for many years) we didn’t see any of the sights. I highly recommend visiting DC. From Washington DC, we continued on the Capitol Limited and arrived back in Charlottesville.

Recommendations for Doing an Amtrak Cross Country Trip

This was a long trip from Virginia to California and back, but worth every second. I highly recommend traveling cross country via Amtrak and it was much cheaper than flying or driving. I definitely would pay for a sleeper car though if you’re on the train for more than a day or so. It’s just more comfortable and makes the trip more relaxing. Several of the Amtrak trains have scenic cars like the Sunset Limited and California Zephyr, but not all of their trains have one, and finding a table in this car is also highly recommended. We were prepared for the scenic car and came equipped with cards and games. We didn’t spend more than an hour total in our ticketed seats during our entire trip. Breaking up a cross country trip on Amtrak is easy to do and enables you to see even more of the country. The big cities like New Orleans, Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago are all worth seeing and not as expensive as you would think. I budgeted $200 per night per hotel and stayed within my budget. While I spent way more than $200 on our San Fransisco hotel, I was able to spend a lot less for hotels in Pismo Beach, Monterey, and even in Chicago. Our rental car from Los Angeles to San Francisco cost about $300, half of that cost being the One Way Fee, but driving the Pacific Coast Highway was a bucket list item so we did it. We obviously added on the expense of going to MLB games, but having a 12 year old baseball player on the trip, this added to his excitement and enabled him to enjoy the trip even more. I think the beauty and convenience of an Amtrak trip is that you can customize your trip any way you’d like.