Jeff Mills Coastal Vacations Club Blog

Going on a train trip through the U.S. is going to be a great adventure: you can see stunning vistas, a lot of panoramas that are unforgettable as they are breathtaking, and so many different people from many different walks of life who will enrich your view of what it means to be an American. Of course, you will need to allot a lot of time in order to get through a train trip: this isn’t exactly traveling at the speed of light, and the essence of the trip is in the journey, not the destination. You will need to sit back, relax, and see the world. You will also need to pay for your trip, and this could mean many a pretty penny out of your pocket.

How much you should pay will depend on many different things. For instance, there are long term train tours that will take one to two weeks to complete; there are also short term scenic train trips that will take two to four days. Of course, the long term trips will be more expensive on the whole, but if you break the costs down per day, they can be cheaper. However, this is true only for long term train tours that do not include lodging or hotel stays, and entrance fees to popular destinations along the way. Some tour packages will include all these fees, along with meals and special gatherings with other passengers. The more expensive the tour package, the greater the number of amenities included.

The fee that you have to pay will also depend on what exactly your train trip will entail. Some train trips, such as those that go through Napa valley, will include wine and fine gourmet dining, so they can be more expensive than say, a countryside tour through the U.S. Midwest that does not involve food or wine. Other train trips will involve stopovers at popular U.S. tourist destinations, such as the Grand Canyon, and they can be more expensive compared with smaller, lesser known tourist destinations. Of course, distance plays a big role: the farther you go, the more expensive your train trip will be.

What seats you pick will also dictate how much you have to pay. Economy seats will come with bunks in overnight coaches, and they can be made more expensive if you have better seats that allow you to watch movies, see the countryside from an observation point, and eat in the dining carriage.

The fees that you have to pay will also depend on the time of the year that you book your ticket. If you book months in advance, then you will certainly get lower prices. Moreover, if you decide to go through train trips that are seasonal, such as those that go through New England during the Autumn for a foliage tour, then you may have to pay more. There are also special seasonal trains such as the Christmas train, which can be expensive, but which can be a great experience for you and your family.

In the end, how much you have to pay will depend entirely on you. Do you want to have a lot of stops, or do you want to simply stay on the train? Do you want luxury seats or ordinary ones? Do you want to go to popular destinations or go off the beaten track? In any case, factor all these together so that you can have the vacation that you want.

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Filed under: Jeff Mills, Train Travel