How to plan the ultimate US rail trip along the West Coast or Eastern Seabord

Travel

Crossing america’s vast distances by train provides a unique perspective on many of the country’s natural and urban highlights — and with major rail investment in the pipeline, the experience is only likely to get better. 

ByLauren Keith

Published December 8, 2023

• 15 min read

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

In the US, embarking on a train trip means taking the track less travelled. Once the symbol of technological advancement and westward expansion, the country’s railroads have had a hard time moving into the modern era. But when you ride the rails in the US, you’re afforded the opportunity to peel back the layers of this land and experience it on a human scale. 

From the train windows, passengers bear witness to the epic diversity of landscapes that have shaped the country’s history and people — the snowy Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains, the rugged West Coast cliffs that plunge into the blue Pacific, the placid swamps of Florida and Texas and the oceans of prairie grass in the Midwest. Watching that scenery roll by is a highlight, but taking the train in the US is also about opening a backdoor to parts of the country rarely seen by travellers, from underappreciated small towns to the industrial underbelly. 

Many Americans have never taken a cross-country train on home soil. Amtrak, the country’s only long-distance passenger train operator, is barely more than 50 years old, founded as a quasi-public company in 1971 — but US train travel can feel like a journey much further back in time. The long-distance lines have wonderfully evocative names, such as ‘Coast Starlight’ (Seattle to Los Angeles), ‘California Zephyr’ (the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago), ‘Silver Star’ (New York City to Miami) and ‘Sunset Limited’ (Los Angeles to New Orleans). Trains pass through monumental stations that are architectural beacons of their eras, from the art deco tilework and massive chandeliers hanging from the soaring, 19-metre-high ceilings in Los Angeles’ Union Station to the beaux arts white granite arches, gold-leaf ceiling medallions and classical statuary at Union Station in Washington, DC.   

While the US lags behind many countries in terms of train infrastructure — there are far fewer of the sleeper cabins that Europe excels in, while the bullet-train speeds of Japan have yet to materialise — Amtrak is on the cusp of a revolution, set for the largest rail investment in its history. As part of this, its Acela trains in the north east will be upgraded by 2024, making them faster and more environmentally friendly. And by the end of the decade, new routes and a new fleet of long-distance trains are promised across the country. But for now, at least, riding Amtrak remains something of an old-school travel experience. These train trips are less about getting from A to B and more about watching the world go by and sharing the journey with the strangers you meet on board.

Itinerary 1: Seattle to San Diego

Distance: 1,505 miles

Unravelling over a huge swathe of the country, from above Seattle in the north to San Diego, just above the Mexican border in the south, the West Coast is a US blockbuster. It’s punctuated by hip, laid-back cities, instantly recognisable landmarks and beautiful natural spaces — and you don’t need a car to access many of the highlights. Between Los Angeles and northern Washington, Amtrak follows a similar route to the classic Highway 101 road trip, allowing travellers to bask in the scenery instead of getting stuck behind the wheel. Where the track meets the Pacific Ocean through central and southern California, your eyes will be glued to the picture windows as the train trundles wickedly close to the coastal cliff edge, with nothing between you and the sea but a sheer several-hundred-foot drop down to the beach. The route is made up of three overlapping rail lines: Cascades, Coast Starlight and Pacific Surfliner. 

Highlights

1. Pike Place Market, Seattle
Find the heart of Seattle at Pike Place, which opened in 1907 with a handful of farmers who rolled up in wagons. It’s now one of the US’s oldest and largest continuously operating markets, home to the world’s oldest Starbucks. Fish are still thrown through the air and tourists stick their used gum on a wall in a famous back alley. But today, the presence of buskers, restaurants and bookshops shows it’s far more than a farmers’ market. 

2. Columbia River Gorge
Stretch your legs at the country’s largest National Scenic Area, less than a 30-minute drive east of central Portland in Oregon. Columbia River Gorge is an 80-mile-long canyon, where 90 layered waterfalls spill from basalt cliffs covered with needle-like ponderosa pines. Hiking and cycling here is a balm for the soul after a tour of Portland’s hip cafe and brewery scene. Book a tour, if you’d rather not drive.

3. San Francisco
The Coast Starlight train pulls up in Oakland, putting San Francisco — just across the bay — within easy reach. If you have time for just one excursion, take the boat to Alcatraz Island, home to the country’s most infamous prison until it closed in 1963. You’ll knock off two sights in one journey, as the Golden Gate Bridge should be visible from the water — as long as it’s not obscured by fog.

4. Santa Barbara’s Urban Wine Trail
It’s possible to get a taste of California’s wine country in Santa Barbara, without straying too far from the train tracks. The Urban Wine Trail links together more than 20 cellars spread across four areas of the city. These include the Funk Zone — a former industrial district that runs for 10 blocks from the train station — which has a dense concentration of spots to sample some lauded cool-climate Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. 

5. Hollywood, Los Angeles
Originally built to advertise a real estate development, the Hollywood Sign is LA’s most iconic landmark and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. Perched high on Mount Lee in the south west of Griffith Park, the sign is a sight to behold from afar but it’s also well worth making the trek to see it up close. A handful of steep trails of varying difficulty wind through the park’s exposed sage scrub, rising above oak and walnut woodland and passing mountain ridges, gaining 300 metres in elevation en route to the sign. 

6. Coronado Beach, San Diego
Set on a peninsula across the bridge from downtown San Diego, Coronado Beach is frequently ranked among the best stretches of sand in the US. When seen up close, you’ll understand why: it literally sparkles thanks to the mineral mica in the grains of sand, which makes it gleam in the sunlight. Grab a daybed or go for a drink at Hotel del Coronado, an 1888 seaside resort forever associated with Marilyn Monroe after it featured in the 1959 film Some Like It Hot. 

How to do it:
A handful of airlines, including British Airways and Delta Air Lines, fly nonstop from Heathrow to Seattle, taking 10 hours. British Airways also has nonstop flights to San Diego, with roughly the same journey time. 

Itinerary 2: Miami to New York

Distance: 1,522 miles

Offering an alternate perspective on the most populated part of the country, this train route rolls through backland swamps, forested countryside and one-stoplight towns in between major metropolises, including New York, Washington, DC and Miami. For first-timers looking to squeeze as much into their trip as possible — albeit it at a leisurely pace — it’s an ideal way to link up the Eastern Seaboard’s biggest attractions on a single visit without setting foot in an airport. 

Spot manatees, spiny lobsters and dolphins in the waters of South Florida before scooting up to Savannah and Charleston, both historic coastal cities currently reckoning with difficult pasts. The journey then continues northwards to the country’s current capital, Washington, DC, and its former capital, Philadelphia, where national history looms large and excellent museums abound. This epic overlander then terminates in New York City, where Broadway and one of the best bar and restaurant scenes in the country await. 

The Northeast Corridor, from DC to Boston, has the country’s busiest and best-served train routes, with dozens of departures daily — a rarity elsewhere in the US. Amtrak’s high-speed Acela trains — the fastest in North America — also run through this region. 

Highlights

1. Everglades National Park
With a coastline bordering both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, South Florida is all about the water, and fun-loving Miami is an ideal jumping-off point for trips to Florida’s most famous national park, the Everglades. Its manatee-, alligator- and crocodile-filled waters, west of the city, allow travellers to spot wildlife rarely seen elsewhere in the country. Fun fact: it’s the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist. Join a boat trip to get out into the park’s swamps or take an accessible hike along the mile-long Anhinga Trail to see these ancient creatures basking in the sun on dry land.

2. Savannah’s Starland District
Georgia’s southern belle, the town of Savannah, is accented with grand, neoclassical-style antebellum architecture, paddle boats and oak trees draped with Spanish moss — but it’s also a hotbed of innovation and creativity, thanks to the influence of the Savannah College of Art and Design. The city’s imaginative spirit is most prominent in the Starland District, a former dairy and the neighbourhood surrounding it that’s been transformed into an arts hub with galleries, coffee shops, vintage boutiques and studios.

3. Charleston
Strolling through Charleston is a walk through living history. Streets of brick and cobblestones lead past centuries-old churches and notable houses hidden behind swirling wrought-iron gates (the colourful homes of Rainbow Row are particularly photogenic). But the past isn’t always pretty, and Charleston reckons with its brutal treatment of enslaved people at important visitor sites such as the McLeod Plantation and the Old Slave Mart Museum.   

4. Smithsonian, Washington, DC
The leading cultural institution in the US capital continues to add to its collection of 21 huge free-to-visit museums, many of which are set along the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. The deeply moving National Museum of African American History and Culture is the latest addition to the lineup, documenting the Black experience in the US, from the transatlantic slave trade to the 1960s civil rights movement and Black achievements in music, sport and the arts. Powerful artefacts on display include the dress that Rosa Parks was sewing at work the day she was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger. 

5. Philadelphia
The original US capital city, Philly is where US democracy was debated and drafted. Visit the Independence National Historical Park to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where delegates from the 13 colonies met to write both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Then head to the Eastern State Penitentiary, an infamous prison that once held criminals like Al Capone but now hosts art installations and exhibitions in former 1800s cell blocks.  

6. New York’s High Line
The US’s largest city, New York makes a fitting final stop. Continue the rail theme by spending the day meandering Manhattan’s High Line, a former train track turned public park. Heading south from Hudson Yards to Greenwich Village, hop on and off to visit Chelsea’s art galleries and the Meatpacking District boutiques. Finish with a drink at Little Island, an artificial island in Hudson River designed by British starchitect Thomas Heatherwick. 

How to do it: 
Daily nonstop flights run from Heathrow to Miami or New York, taking around eight hours to either; New York is accessible from other UK airports, too. 

More info:
discoversouthcarolina.com visitpa.com 

Five more US rail routes

1. Empire builder
Bookended by Chicago and Seattle, the Empire Builder rides through a wild variety of landscapes, from the grasslands of the Great Plains to the snowy Rocky Mountains and glacial valleys of Montana’s Glacier National Park. Parts of the route follow the trail of early US expedition leaders Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. 

2. Southwest Chief
Crossing the heart of the country between Chicago and Los Angeles, the Southwest Chief gives riders a taste of the West, old and new. From Flagstaff, Arizona, take a shuttle to Grand Canyon National Park or to Williams, where the privately run heritage Grand Canyon Railway heads to the heart of the park.

3. Sunset Limited
This route between Los Angeles and New Orleans skirts the south of the country, making stops in Palm Springs for modernist architecture and San Antonio for Texas history, at the Alamo and preserved 18th-century Spanish missions. Most long-distance Amtrak services operate daily, but Sunset Limited runs just three times a week. 

4. Lake Shore Limited
Running from Chicago to New York or Boston, the Lake Shore Limited traces the edges of the Great Lakes, from the tip of Lake Michigan near Chicago to Lake Erie through Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In autumn, expect wonderful colour changes in the foliage around the water.

5. City of New Orleans
This route between Chicago and New Orleans is sure to have your toes tapping as it stops at some of the country’s great music cities, noteworthy for their jazz, blues, soul and funk. Halfway into the trip, trains stop in Memphis, where you can tour Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, and listen to blues on Beale Street.

Published in the December 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/plan-ultimate-us-rail-trip-along-the-west-coast-or-eastern-seabord