Map of Western long-distance routes of Amtrak trains across the United States, showing daytime (red) and nighttime (blue) routes with city names and national parks along the routes.
Map of the Amtrak railway system in the United States, showing routes connecting major cities across the country.
Infographic showing the distance driven this year in miles, compared to various benchmarks like sheep, horse-lengths, bananas, football fields, and smoos.

Did I mention that I love to travel by train? Yes, it’s my favourite method of travel. What better way to sit back, relax, even drift off for a little snooze when the batteries need recharging while travelling toward your next destination. There needn’t even be a destination; perhaps you just want the best possible means to see wonderful places that you’d otherwise miss if travelling by car. Trains go where cars can’t. So if you want to see the country as you’ve never seen it before, hop on the train.

I would like to mention at this point that the majority of my travel experience has been in the U.S. In the past 3 years, I have travelled over 45,000 miles. Taking 5 trips of about 10,000 each time. These trips have taken me across the U.S. from coast to coast and through 43 States.

Amtrak, the primary and really only train service in the U.S., goes pretty much anywhere you could want to go in this big, beautiful country. The biggest exceptions would be in the Northern Great Plains/Mountain West, which doesn’t have train service in the states of Wyoming and South Dakota. Also, due to the vast unpopulated areas of the West there is quite a gap between Amtrak’s main lines, leaving many areas without train service. There are special ‘‘vacation trains’’ that will get you to many of the ‘‘must-see’’ National Parks that are scattered throughout the Northern Great Plains/Mountain West, like Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Yosemite, and we’ll show you how to access these a bit later on.

So the very first step is probably going to be your most difficult one, choosing a route to get you to your destination, if you have one. What I like to do is bring up Amtrak’s Travel Planning map found here:https://www.amtrak.com/plan-your-trip.html?intcmp=wsp_hp-trip-planning_link_start-planning_slide1 Along side this tool I bring up Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/, which allows me to plan my route, as Amtrak’s map isn’t interactive, but it will show you where it goes and the station stops along the way. Now let your imagination run wild. Where have you always wanted to go? Do you like cities, beaches, mountains, rugged terrain, and stunning views? It will be possible to roll everyone of these landscapes into your trip. The most economical means of travel on Amtrak is by using their ‘‘U.S. Rail Pass’’, as of 2025, the price is $500 USD. This allows you 30 days of travel from the moment you board your first train until you depart at your final stop. This pass allows you to travel ANYWHERE Amtrak goes in the Continental U.S. It also allows you to ‘‘jump off’’ up to 10 times during that 30 day period. Sort of like a ‘‘Hop On Hop Off’’ bus if you’ve ever used one of these. For example; Purchase your U.S. Rail pass online or speak to an agent through their ‘‘chat with an agent’’ feature on their website: https://www.amtrak.com/ I have used both of these services and always found the agents to be more than helpful, professional, and friendly. Once you’ve booked a few trips this way you’ll be able to do it yourself, but in the beginning, I would speak to an agent. Once you have your pass, you will then need to book your itinerary. So let’s say you are beginning your trip in New York City and you want to travel across country by various routes. So you’re going to book a train from NYC to Chicago, here you will have to change trains to get to your next stop. By the way you have just used 1 of the 10 stops in your pass. Now, let’s say you want to get the most mileage out of this pass so you decide to take the Empire Builder to Portland Or. If you don’t stop along the way that is only 1 of your ‘‘stops’’. You have just travelled across America, from Coast to Coast and you still have 8 ‘‘stops’’ to use, WOW!! That was so beautiful that you decide to take the California Zephyr back to Chicago (I only throw this example in because this route is considered by many, myself included, to be the most scenic route you’ll ever take). So you have to get from Portland to Sacramento, where you’ll board the California Zephyr. You’ll need to board the Coast Starlight in Portland and it will take you to Sacramento and you will have used 1 more ‘‘stop’’ ticket. By the way, I am mentioning the different route by the name of the train, these can be found on Amtrak’s website by clicking the ‘‘plan’’ tab in the top bar. It will open a drop box that gives you options to ‘‘Browse by Region’’, ‘‘Explore all Routes’’ which shows you all the different routes, a map of their route and information about the cities along the way. Now you’re going from Sacramento to Chicago, halfway across the country, and you’ll only use another 1 ‘‘stop’’, again, unless you decide to get off for an overnight or two along the way. Now you’re back in Chicago and have to decide your next route (this is all done before you even begin your journey, of course, because your stops have to be booked before you begin your trip). The agent, if you use one, will help you with this. So where are we headed next? Remember, it can be anywhere your imagination gives you the freedom to choose. Let’s go to New Orleans, for 2 reasons, you get to ride the song made famous “City of New Orleans’’ and yes, someone on the train will be singing t hat song at some point, and 2 it’s the perfect place to make connections for your next destination. The train travels East, West and North from NOLA. Say you decide to go to Los Angeles but you’re going to ‘‘jump off’’ in San Antonio for a day. This will use up 2 ‘‘stops’’; if you’re keeping track, you have 3 ‘‘stops’’ left after you get to LA. When you check your Amtrak map and ‘‘Explore all Routes’’ tab, you see there is yet another train that crosses the West, the ‘‘Southwest Chief’’ and decided to take that one that will get you back to Chicago, yet again. By now, you’ve discovered why Chicago is known as ‘‘The Heart of America.’’ Time to start heading back to our starting point. Chicago has several trains that travel to NYC. You should have 2 ‘‘stops’’ left, so the choices are wide open. I like the ‘‘Cardinal,’’ it goes through some very historic country and makes a brief stop in Washington D.C. (not one of your ‘‘stops’’), and you’ll get into NYC with 1 ‘‘stop’’ left over. Time to go back over your route and see if there is a jump-off spot you’d like to spend some time at.

Well, now that you’ve been through all that, hopefully, my direction was clear and understandable. If at any time you get lost or my directions are unclear, please contact me and I’ll gladly walk you through it. Your comments are needed to help me make this site a place where we can all learn something, share travel stories and have fun planning our next grand adventures.