At Glacier they also run a daily shuttle on Going To The Sun Road. Backpackers use Amtrak to get to the park, then the shuttle to access various trailheads. No car rental needed
Heads up though! The shuttle is seasonal only and has restrictions for Covid. Please check the park sites before counting on the transportation to save yourself the heartache of a day lost in such a gorgeous place. (Learned the hard way in October...walked three miles to the park entrance then two more to get to see Lake McDonald from the West Glacier Amtrak station.) Transportation in Whitefish is plentiful....West Glacier is barren. No Uber/Lyft/Shuttles.
We love Amtrak we rode Southwest Chief to Trinidad CO and drove up and saw Garden of the Gods in Co Springs. Definitely recommend that trip. BEST way ever to travel with a toddler/preschooler with unlimited access to the bathroom and not having to be strapped in a carseat for many hours. Love your videos.
Seriously thinking about taking a trip with our one year old but have a few questions. Like for sleeping arrangements do they have something that makes the bunks a bit safer for little ones or did you bring like a travel bassinet/bed rails so they don’t fall off? I’ve never been on the Amtrak sleepers so maybe there are other accommodations for this that I’m not aware of. I would love to hear any toddler on train tips if you have them (and the time to type them out 😅)
I'm not going to lie, I subscribed because I saw a SISTAH GIRL on a train! 🤣🤣 I was 9 1/2 years old when I left Houston, Texas on a train headed to Los Angeles, California with my mother and my brother to start a new life! Over the years, I have traveled on the train when money was tight. My last trip was in 2017 for my brother's 50th birthday. I took a bus from Houston to Longview, TX. Then a train from Longview, TX to Chicago, IL. Changed trains to Milwaukee, WI round trip!! It was CRAZY getting there!! My return trip was much better!! 🙄🙄
I traveled on an Amtrak Rail Pass for almost six weeks this past Fall, and your videos are making me homesick for another adventure on the train and in the National Parks! Thank you for sharing your content and helping people see the opportunities for fun travels!
We did a little southwest trip last year, just before the pandemic shut things down. Tip: If you are going to rent a car in Flagstaff, go to the visitors center. There are two books there; one is free (route 66 passport), the other costs $10 (route 66 Arizona passport). Get stamps in these books at the various visitor centers. Some of them will give you gifts. Don't forget to stop at the Meteor Crater, and stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona! Great job on the info with Amtrak and national parks guys!
You channel came up on my feed this morning, was planning a trip last year to Chicago on amtek. But Big C came through an stop that from happening so since everything is opening back up I just text my friend to see if they still want to do the trip on amtek. Can't wait for the summer to get here to start traveling. 🤗🤗
Great video ! Well well well guess what showed up in my inbox this morning. Yep, the famous BOGO two for one ! Now if I can get DEAL on a roomette...I'm booking today. Finally !
Yes! We got that too this morning and started researching some routes. We couldn't get it to work on the roomettes, just coach, though. Thanks for watching and commenting!
The Presidio is a small, but beautiful, National Park on the northwest corner of San Francisco. It's accessible by bus from the Emeryville stop on the Coast Starlight. It was established in 1776 as a military base to protect the region from various armada invasions, decades before the western states were "states." It's adjacent to "Land's End," which is a huge park-like extension, with trails above the waters of the Golden Gate, and out to the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate Bridge comes into the city, at the Presidio, and visitors can walk across it, to beautiful Marin County. Of course, there's plenty else to do in SF. Re Covid: Unfortunately, the Cable Cars are not running currently, as there is NO way to social-distance on them. But, the boat tours to Alcatraz are scheduled to resume on February 26.
Thanks for that info! We wanted to do the Alcatraz tour after getting to Emeryville but we ended up driving over to Yellowstone to beat the cold weather instead.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the only Bay Area ghost town, which is best seen on the lower levels of either the Coast Starlight or The Capitol Corridor train: the town of Drawbridge. ruclips.net/video/ttGi9F2MeWA/видео.html
I believe you can get off in either Ventura or Santa Barbara to do the Channel Islands. You can get off in Salinas to do Pinnacles National Park. Also you can get off in Martinez and visit the John Muir National Historic Site.
I'd add to this list that you can take a shuttle from Green River UT down to Moab where you can rent a car to visit Arches and Canyonlands NP. Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion wouldn't be too far either. Green River is a California Zephyr stop.
The Texas Eagle, Missouri River Runner and, The Lincoln all stop in St. Louis home to The Gateway Arch National Park, the smallest National Park and only one located within a city. St. Louis is also a great city to visit and spend a few days in
At Crater Lake, they have cabins you can rent, and there is a lodge. We rented a cabin, which wound up being 7 miles from the lake. If we go again, we will stay in the lodge, which overlooks the lake. Definitely worth the extra money.
don't forget that from Seattle - Empire Builder and Coast Starlight - you can go west to Olympic National Park. It's not far and is just wonderful. How many of us even know there is a rain forest in that part of the world?
I have a question that maybe you can answer. When you were taking the California Zephyr from Chicago out to the Moab Utah area and you go through the Rocky Mountains does the train make a stop as you enter the Rockies were you can get some pictures
Wow! I only travel by Amtrak and absolutely love it! So nice to see you both speaking about this beautiful mode of traveling. Thank you for such an excellent video!! Gog Bless You Both!! Stay Safe! (:
New Subbie here😊 I hate long drives but taking Amtrak across the country seems so cool. I'm glad I stumbled across your channel because I would like try this one day.
Going forward, would you consider providing the trip expense in detail with the cost per train trip? Perhaps, also include the car rental cost within the trip? TY.
Great information! Can you please say if you’ve done Yellowstone via Amtrak? If it’s easy of difficult to get to? How expensive etc? I want to take my daughter there but logically don’t know how to do it from LA.
Can you use the Pennsylvanian to get to Gettysburg on or the Empire Builder to get to Mt Rushmore? Many trains go through Virginia and can get to Civil War sites some of which might be national parks. Boaton has national parks so you can use Acela, northeast rgionwl, lake shore limited amd Downeaster.
Would it be a good idea to purchase an Amtrack pass for say 15 or 30 days? Since you are hoping on and off different trains to see the parks the pass might be a good way to save some money riding in coach. You can then sleep in hotels near the national parks you visit.
I think that makes sense for a trip like this, but you can also check for sales and maybe it is still cheaper. It would depend on your route. There is a 2 for 1 sale on coach seats right now, so if you are riding coach individual tickets might be cheaper.
Hi, I've been really enjoying your videos! I recently traveled on the Coast Starlight from LA to SLO and back (just a short trip) but quickly became hooked on train travel and I'm eager for more. Thanks to your videos, I knew about the Observation Car, something I would have completely missed without you. I am planning a trip in May from LA to San Francisco (about 11 hours) and was wondering if you thought a roommette was worth it or not? I think I would personally enjoy having my own space and having meals on the train. Is that a thing that people do? Or is that weird because I would only be using it for 11 hours during the day, and not sleeping. Thanks!
Someone on our train did that exact thing when we were on the Coast Starlight, so I'd say it isn't uncommon. It's obviously cheaper in coach, but if the budget isn't a concern you can totally do that.
@@breakfastsausage as a child I always had couchette and camerinos (Mexico!), alcoba and camerinos. Alcobas had 2 beds and a shower. Yes. Trains from the Revolution era of 1910. Now no longer but what a life we had and I am not that old;)
I am coming from Australia, and this sounds very good to me. I am not sure if this is the right place to ask, but can you buy a ticket for Amtrak and hop off for a few days and then get back on the train? thanks
Our trip to Yellowstone was a good and bad experience. First after getting off the flight at Salt Lake City airport and went to pick up our rental car at NU rental car near the airport, we were scammed by the rental company . The office woman told us the car we rented through Hotwire is not allowed to the state Wyoming where Yellowstone National park located unless we pay more and upgrade our compact car to 4 wheel drive SUV . The price of the upgrade is 410 dollars extra that is double the price of Hotwire listed price. So we are in their hostage because if we don’t pay it we don’t go. Finally we were left with no other choice but agree to pay. To make the story short we enjoyed the whole trip to Yellowstone and the surrounding areas liked The city of Jackson and Grand Teton park. My bad experience did not end there. On our trip back to San Francesco we purposely took the Amtrak instead of flying . That was a big mistake. We boarded the train depot at Salt Lake City ,about 4 hours after departing the station the freight train in front broke down and died on the only track for more 20 hours. So instead of only taking 17 hours trip it took us for a total of 37 hours on a coach seat with no shower or meals. The main complain on this trip is the car rental company NU Rental Company who scammed us 410 dollars . Watch out for this company even though it has the lowest bid in the first sign but you will pay much more in the end.
We did this many years ago and it was great! The Essex stop is a flag stop (at least it was in 1992) and the train only stops if someone is getting on or off. The park entrance is quite close, but we rented a car so that we drive Going to the Sun Road, which is spectacular.
This is a bit misleading for people who travel by rail as most of your recommendations talk about hiring a car. Thought the joy of travelling by rail is using public transport / no car
I didn’t find this misleading at all. Some folks joy could be not having to fly or drive long distances. I hope you are able to find your joy on an Amtrak destination.
At Glacier they also run a daily shuttle on Going To The Sun Road. Backpackers use Amtrak to get to the park, then the shuttle to access various trailheads. No car rental needed
Excellent advice, thanks!
Heads up though! The shuttle is seasonal only and has restrictions for Covid. Please check the park sites before counting on the transportation to save yourself the heartache of a day lost in such a gorgeous place. (Learned the hard way in October...walked three miles to the park entrance then two more to get to see Lake McDonald from the West Glacier Amtrak station.) Transportation in Whitefish is plentiful....West Glacier is barren. No Uber/Lyft/Shuttles.
We love Amtrak we rode Southwest Chief to Trinidad CO and drove up and saw Garden of the Gods in Co Springs. Definitely recommend that trip. BEST way ever to travel with a toddler/preschooler with unlimited access to the bathroom and not having to be strapped in a carseat for many hours. Love your videos.
Seriously thinking about taking a trip with our one year old but have a few questions. Like for sleeping arrangements do they have something that makes the bunks a bit safer for little ones or did you bring like a travel bassinet/bed rails so they don’t fall off? I’ve never been on the Amtrak sleepers so maybe there are other accommodations for this that I’m not aware of. I would love to hear any toddler on train tips if you have them (and the time to type them out 😅)
I'm not going to lie, I subscribed because I saw a SISTAH GIRL on a train! 🤣🤣
I was 9 1/2 years old when I left Houston, Texas on a train headed to Los Angeles, California with my mother and my brother to start a new life!
Over the years, I have traveled on the train when money was tight. My last trip was in 2017 for my brother's 50th birthday. I took a bus from Houston to Longview, TX. Then a train from Longview, TX to Chicago, IL. Changed trains to Milwaukee, WI round trip!! It was CRAZY getting there!! My return trip was much better!! 🙄🙄
Sounds like you have some great stories from your trip! Thanks for subscribing!
I seen her too and subcribed too !!!!!! lol...plus she has done what I wanna do
Thank you so much!. That is I want to do. So many beautiful parks and places that we should visit.
Have fun! There are so many great places to see!
I traveled on an Amtrak Rail Pass for almost six weeks this past Fall, and your videos are making me homesick for another adventure on the train and in the National Parks! Thank you for sharing your content and helping people see the opportunities for fun travels!
The rail pass is great!
We did a little southwest trip last year, just before the pandemic shut things down. Tip: If you are going to rent a car in Flagstaff, go to the visitors center. There are two books there; one is free (route 66 passport), the other costs $10 (route 66 Arizona passport). Get stamps in these books at the various visitor centers. Some of them will give you gifts. Don't forget to stop at the Meteor Crater, and stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona!
Great job on the info with Amtrak and national parks guys!
Thanks! We appreciate it! I think we spent two weeks in that area of Route 66 but I think we missed that meteor crater. Good tips!
This is exactly what I was hoping to do, thanks! I have never taken notes on a RUclips video before, but you guys are great!
You channel came up on my feed this morning, was planning a trip last year to Chicago on amtek. But Big C came through an stop that from happening so since everything is opening back up I just text my friend to see if they still want to do the trip on amtek. Can't wait for the summer to get here to start traveling. 🤗🤗
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
My favorite video of yours yet! Thank you for sharing :)
Wow, thank you!
Great video ! Well well well guess what showed up in my inbox this morning. Yep, the famous BOGO two for one ! Now if I can get DEAL on a roomette...I'm booking today. Finally !
Yes! We got that too this morning and started researching some routes. We couldn't get it to work on the roomettes, just coach, though. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Nice video here! Solid info and great scenes!
Awesome! Thank you!
So much great information guys, gold!
Thanks so much!
I just did two big train trips but now I wanna see the Grand Canyon! Thank you for this info
The Presidio is a small, but beautiful, National Park on the northwest corner of San Francisco. It's accessible by bus from the Emeryville stop on the Coast Starlight.
It was established in 1776 as a military base to protect the region from various armada invasions, decades before the western states were "states."
It's adjacent to "Land's End," which is a huge park-like extension, with trails above the waters of the Golden Gate, and out to the Pacific Ocean.
The Golden Gate Bridge comes into the city, at the Presidio, and visitors can walk across it, to beautiful Marin County.
Of course, there's plenty else to do in SF.
Re Covid: Unfortunately, the Cable Cars are not running currently, as there is NO way to social-distance on them. But, the boat tours to Alcatraz are scheduled to resume on February 26.
Thanks for that info! We wanted to do the Alcatraz tour after getting to Emeryville but we ended up driving over to Yellowstone to beat the cold weather instead.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the only Bay Area ghost town, which is best seen on the lower levels of either the Coast Starlight or The Capitol Corridor train: the town of Drawbridge. ruclips.net/video/ttGi9F2MeWA/видео.html
Thank You for the video very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
Thank y’all so much for this! Planning for the summer.
Have fun!
I believe you can get off in either Ventura or Santa Barbara to do the Channel Islands. You can get off in Salinas to do Pinnacles National Park. Also you can get off in Martinez and visit the John Muir National Historic Site.
I'd add to this list that you can take a shuttle from Green River UT down to Moab where you can rent a car to visit Arches and Canyonlands NP. Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion wouldn't be too far either. Green River is a California Zephyr stop.
Great tips, thanks for sharing them!
Visiting Joshua Tree via Amtrak is high on my bucket list.
Loved the park, wasn't busy at all compared to some of the others
The Texas Eagle, Missouri River Runner and, The Lincoln all stop in St. Louis home to The Gateway Arch National Park, the smallest National Park and only one located within a city. St. Louis is also a great city to visit and spend a few days in
At Crater Lake, they have cabins you can rent, and there is a lodge. We rented a cabin, which wound up being 7 miles from the lake. If we go again, we will stay in the lodge, which overlooks the lake. Definitely worth the extra money.
Awesome tips, thanks for sharing them!
don't forget that from Seattle - Empire Builder and Coast Starlight - you can go west to Olympic National Park. It's not far and is just wonderful. How many of us even know there is a rain forest in that part of the world?
You two do a fantastic job of explaining Amtrak and the parks. We have not made the trip yet but thank you so much for what you are doing.
Good afternoon, My name is Jose Carlos, I'm from Brazil.
I like your channel, congratulations, for the tips.
Thanks and welcome
I have a question that maybe you can answer. When you were taking the California Zephyr from Chicago out to the Moab Utah area and you go through the Rocky Mountains does the train make a stop as you enter the Rockies were you can get some pictures
Wow! I only travel by Amtrak and absolutely love it! So nice to see you both speaking about this beautiful mode of traveling. Thank you for such an excellent video!! Gog Bless You Both!! Stay Safe! (:
Glad you enjoyed it!
New Subbie here😊
I hate long drives but taking Amtrak across the country seems so cool. I'm glad I stumbled across your channel because I would like try this one day.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Tee! I'm thinking about doing the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle! Good luck with your trip on the rails!
@@kenvanderbilt7128 Now that sounds like an awesome trip. Good luck to you as well!
Going forward, would you consider providing the trip expense in detail with the cost per train trip? Perhaps, also include the car rental cost within the trip? TY.
Good ideas, thanks for them!
Thank you for all information!
Great information! Can you please say if you’ve done Yellowstone via Amtrak? If it’s easy of difficult to get to? How expensive etc? I want to take my daughter there but logically don’t know how to do it from LA.
Can you use the Pennsylvanian to get to Gettysburg on or the Empire Builder to get to Mt Rushmore? Many trains go through Virginia and can get to Civil War sites some of which might be national parks. Boaton has national parks so you can use Acela, northeast rgionwl, lake shore limited amd Downeaster.
Would it be a good idea to purchase an Amtrack pass for say 15 or 30 days? Since you are hoping on and off different trains to see the parks the pass might be a good way to save some money riding in coach. You can then sleep in hotels near the national parks you visit.
I think that makes sense for a trip like this, but you can also check for sales and maybe it is still cheaper. It would depend on your route. There is a 2 for 1 sale on coach seats right now, so if you are riding coach individual tickets might be cheaper.
Doesn't the train go right in to Glacier Park? Like to the historic lodge?
It doesn't go directly to it
Hi, I've been really enjoying your videos! I recently traveled on the Coast Starlight from LA to SLO and back (just a short trip) but quickly became hooked on train travel and I'm eager for more. Thanks to your videos, I knew about the Observation Car, something I would have completely missed without you. I am planning a trip in May from LA to San Francisco (about 11 hours) and was wondering if you thought a roommette was worth it or not? I think I would personally enjoy having my own space and having meals on the train. Is that a thing that people do? Or is that weird because I would only be using it for 11 hours during the day, and not sleeping. Thanks!
Someone on our train did that exact thing when we were on the Coast Starlight, so I'd say it isn't uncommon. It's obviously cheaper in coach, but if the budget isn't a concern you can totally do that.
@@GroundedLifeTravel thank you for the response :)
@@breakfastsausage as a child I always had couchette and camerinos (Mexico!), alcoba and camerinos. Alcobas had 2 beds and a shower. Yes. Trains from the Revolution era of 1910. Now no longer but what a life we had and I am not that old;)
At 7:39 am, it is Mount Santa Helens, which erupted in the year 1980.
תודה רבה רעיון נהדר
Good subject and content
I am coming from Australia, and this sounds very good to me. I am not sure if this is the right place to ask, but can you buy a ticket for Amtrak and hop off for a few days and then get back on the train? thanks
Do any trains have disabled accommodations for handicapped people? I use a walker and can’t use stairs
Yes, there are some, hoping to do a video on this soon. In short though, there are some rooms on the lower level.
I ❤️ this channel
Our trip to Yellowstone was a good and bad experience. First after getting off the flight at Salt Lake City airport and went to pick up our rental car at NU rental car near the airport, we were scammed by the rental company . The office woman told us the car we rented through Hotwire is not allowed to the state Wyoming where Yellowstone National park located unless we pay more and upgrade our compact car to 4 wheel drive SUV . The price of the upgrade is 410 dollars extra that is double the price of Hotwire listed price. So we are in their hostage because if we don’t pay it we don’t go. Finally we were left with no other choice but agree to pay. To make the story short we enjoyed the whole trip to Yellowstone and the surrounding areas liked The city of Jackson and Grand Teton park. My bad experience did not end there. On our trip back to San Francesco we purposely took the Amtrak instead of flying . That was a big mistake. We boarded the train depot at Salt Lake City ,about 4 hours after departing the station the freight train in front broke down and died on the only track for more 20 hours. So instead of only taking 17 hours trip it took us for a total of 37 hours on a coach seat with no shower or meals. The main complain on this trip is the car rental company NU Rental Company who scammed us 410 dollars . Watch out for this company even though it has the lowest bid in the first sign but you will pay much more in the end.
Remind folks that Carlsbad Caverns is in New Mexico.
Wait, so what happens after we get to the crater lake station and we don’t have a car? 🥶
How close was the train station to the rent a car place
You left out Missions in San Antonio which are National Parks as well as UNESCO.
Which national park is in the thumbnail ?
What do you guys do if you have a disagreement, on what to do next or whatever, hos do you guys come to to agreement.
Does it cost more money to get off for a few days?
You need to get a new ticket every time you get off and on a new train
You were in Tucson and didn't tell me?
Spent 24 hours there
Get off the Empire Builder at Essex and stay and rent a car at the Izaak Walton Inn
We did this many years ago and it was great! The Essex stop is a flag stop (at least it was in 1992) and the train only stops if someone is getting on or off. The park entrance is quite close, but we rented a car so that we drive Going to the Sun Road, which is spectacular.
This is a bit misleading for people who travel by rail as most of your recommendations talk about hiring a car. Thought the joy of travelling by rail is using public transport / no car
I didn’t find this misleading at all. Some folks joy could be not having to fly or drive long distances. I hope you are able to find your joy on an Amtrak destination.
El Paso not the safest city.
I would be concerned about migrants flooding into the southwest.
I wish you’d post a map of these places as you talk about them for future videos
Thanks for the idea
Thanks, you are very informative
Glad it was helpful!