Top 10 Bucket List Experiences On Amtrak

hey guys today we are sharing with you the top 10 bucket list experiences on amtrak [Music] all right we're going to start at the bottom and work our way up this list so number 10 is riding the asella into new york city from the north yeah and it has to be from the north because that is going to provide you the best view of new york city and it's an iconic skyline in new york city and you want to be able to see that from the train as you know we rode it in from the south the first time and we're a little underwhelmed you can see it a little bit when you approach from new jersey but you kind of go underground and then you don't get to see it as you get in close but from the north it is spectacular you're kind of going as you go just outside the city on some bridges that are elevated yes and you can see all the skyscrapers the skyline and be right into it so my tip for that one is if you are going to be getting off in new york gather all your belongings well ahead of time so that you don't have to be missing that out and gathering them because it is the last 10 minutes of the trip that's gonna be spectacular don't miss it yeah don't miss it waiting on trying to find your bags yeah it's something you could very easily miss um okay so you want to move on to the next one yes okay so the next one is so number nine is seeing the pacific ocean from the coast starlight yeah that is a beautiful ride and you're going to start seeing the pacific ocean a little bit north of oxnard and you'll see it all the way up to san luis obispo and uh that's just the most beautiful stretch of train ride in california now you could cheat just a little bit because you could also see this on the pacific surf liner uh-huh if you wanted to it would be the same view but if you're on the coast starlight you get to go all the way up to seattle or come down from seattle and you'll also get to see hopefully mount rainier so uh if you're on that either of those trains definitely try to find and snag a seat on the west coast side uh which is where everyone will be trying to sit the good thing about the about the co-star light though is that it does have an observation which is is going to be a benefit for that so and if you're in coach or you're in a sleeper car if you're in the wrong side on a supercar which we've been which has happened to us head down to the observation car if you're in coach and you're on the wrong side and head up to the observation car and you'll be able to see it from there yeah it's really quite spectacular because uh you're as soon as as you start to see it you just you're close to it and you're looking right down at the beach i mean you feel like you're right on the beach there it feels like the tracks are and then you'll run a little bit farther away and then a little bit closer so it's nice because you get a lot of different views with the beautiful cliffs and don't forget to look back as well because the view back uh away from the direction of travel is absolutely stunning as well so don't forget to take a peek i was surprised how close you do get to the water you are right over the water yes definitely all right so the next one is experiencing traditional dining in a sleeper car yeah so the only way you can do the traditional dining right now is if you're in a sleeper car so you have to do that but it is amazing food on the train and there's several routes you can do it on it's most of the cross-country west coast routes it's going to be like the co-star light the texas eagle sunset limited southwest chief california california builder yeah and the auto train exactly so uh we have a whole list of all the menu items you could get on the website at groundlifetravel.com go check that out we'll link it in the description you can see pictures of every single thing you can get and get our determination of if we liked it or we didn't we've eaten all of them now so go check that out but that is something you have to do while you're on an amtrak train yeah and it's absolutely amazing because you get an appetizer you get your main course and you get a dessert as well and it's great because it's cooked to order for you your meal your entree meal and the chef is on board they're cooking it just as you order you know and it's just amazing to me that you're on this moving train in the middle of wherever and you're getting this great you know white tablecloth service for dinner number seven is going to be riding on the auto train with your car yes so that's a unique one very unique uh a couple things have to play out here you have to have a car that you want to ride on the train with and it only goes from lorton virginia to sanford florida so it's a very specific thing but how often can you put your car on a train right and do that so yeah you can't ride in your car on the train it's a separate car for the cars um but you're on the same train together yeah and it is an overnight trip so you can get the same rooms just like normal you can get a room at or you can get a bedroom uh or you can ride in coach either way you want to do that but that is definitely one that is on the bucket list yes the next one you could do number six is going to be relaxing in the moynihan train hall metropolitan oh yes in new york city so this is i think it's the newest of of the train stations um the train hall it's right across the street from penn station so it's not very far um and it's just an incredible experience this is this lounge has everything um it has beautiful clean bathrooms um it has lockers where you can just kind of set your things in while you're in the station if you don't want them at your seat it has all kinds of great seating option not only inside but there's also like a little balcony area where you can sit and watch the train haul down below the food service in moynihan train hall is unbelievable as far as metropolitan lounges go they have not just cold food but they also have hot sandwiches available they have barista they make coffees there for you specialty sodas they have salads and wraps really everything candy i mean you could get a handful of starbursts if you want that and they'll um you know hand you a handful of starbursts if you want that exactly so you can you do get that is included if you're a supercar passenger you can also get passes sometimes if you've either signed up for the credit card or maybe if you've got some rewards points and you can purchase a pass too uh yeah the money and train home because also that is about i think 50 to get in so it's a good value to have that with your sleeper car uh train yes moving down to tip number or or the fifth bucket list is going to be riding the longest amtrak route from start to finish which is going to be the texas eagle yes yes so if you do that that's the longest you can stay on one amtrak train uh in one succession so you're going to be going from chicago to l.a on that trip and it's a beautiful route to do but kind of fun too just to do like the biggest the longest yes because it goes it starts out and it goes kind of south for a little bit before it goes west then yeah um so that's what makes it so long why it's longer than you know maybe the the southwest chief is that it doesn't just go straight across which which the chief basically does is it does uh the texas eagle does go south for a little bit it actually goes from chicago all the way down into texas yes and then from texas all the way over to l.a thus texas eagle yeah if you want to see how this looks on the map we do have a bunch of maps amtrak maps on our website groundlifetravel.com uh check that out you can see all the different routes but this is the longest definitely one that you want to uh try out yes the fourth uh bucket list item here is being in the observation car on the empire builder as you enter puget sound ooh yes and now we actually were shocked because we didn't even realize we were going to be seeing puget sound as we left seattle on the empire builder and it was really quite amazing when we discovered that that's what we were looking at we're like oh this is so beautiful right here what is this pull up the phone look at google maps and we're like we're sitting right at puget sound that's what we're looking at it was absolutely beautiful and as we left seattle it was in the evening so it was kind of sunset time it was absolutely stunning yeah so that's something that a lot of people don't even realize and they just think co-star light for water empire builder has amazing water views as well yes uh third bucket list item and you can do this one on several different trains we have our favorite though this is going to be crossing the mississippi river on a train and i think the best one to do this on is going to be the sunset limited we've done it on the sunset limited we've also done it on several others you will cross it on the empire builder and you will cross it also on the texas eagle of course but the the bridge that you go over on the sunset limited is just beautiful it's an amazing experience and something that you definitely want to do yeah absolutely it's just um it's so unique yeah i think when you see it in in the south it's just more of that quintessential look to uh the mississippi so it just it's just so beautiful and just going over the bridges as you see it is just really a such a unique experience the number two bucket list item is taking an amtrak vacation around the entire country from start to finish on a few different trains and you can do this generally by linking together two or three of the larger cross-country chains you're gonna end up going from probably la to chicago in some fashion or form so you can do the texas eagle and you can do the the co-star light up to seattle and then the empire builder or you could take the texas eagle and go up to san francisco go back on the zephyr or you could take the southwest chief and then just go back on the texas eagle so again if you want to check out those maps uh check out the website you can see visualize all those routes but doing like a two-week trip all the way around the country that is a bucket list item for a lot of people we did it last fall and just thoroughly enjoyed it absolutely yeah it was it was really fun just to as we just kind of we mostly were just circling you know we didn't stop at a lot of places when we did that particular trip um just so that we could continue on the journey and just kind of link them all together within just a day or two of each other yeah and the number one bucket list item is going to be riding on the california zephyr in the fall or the winter in a bedroom yeah that's going to be your best amtrak experience i think by far yeah and you know a lot of people do ask us if you can only do one what would be the ideal trip this is it the california zephyr um is not overrated in any way shape or form it is uh probably the most superb ride in this country could be in you know several countries it's a beautiful beautiful ride um especially once you get into obviously into colorado and into the gorges it's absolutely stunning and then to see that you add with that to see that in the fall with color changes it's like you know the valley just really lights up with those reds and those oranges and those yellows and then in the winter time to have that snow i mean how pretty is that yeah it is a beautiful ride and don't make the mistake of just doing part of this ride you want to do the whole thing a lot of people get off too early and they missed the best part of this absolutely definitely that is the number one bucket list item california zephyr uh you're not gonna regret doing that one yeah absolutely so if you haven't done any of these yet definitely make a plan to try one or more of these out if you have done some of these leave us a note down in the comments tell us about your experience or if you would add to this list as well leave us a comment down below guys don't forget to like this video leave us a comment with that below or something that you're hoping to do or planning to do coming up soon and we hope to see you guys on the rails

Channel: Grounded Life Travel

Views: 19,127

Keywords: top 10 bucket list experiences on amtrak, amtrak, amtrak vacation, amtrak vacations, train travel, california zephyr, coast starlight, amtrak trains, amtrak california zephyr, empire builder, southwest chief, amtrak coast starlight, train travel videos, amtrak sleeper car, amtrak texas eagle, longest amtrak train, texas eagle, amtrak observation lounge, amtrak observation car, amtrak traditional dining, Amtrak sunset limited, amtrak bedroom, amtrak roomette

Id: 3PqhoMnXID8

Length: 13min 47sec (827 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 26 2021