USA/Canada rail tours

Palmer89

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are looking at going on a 8-13 day tour of the USA or Canada later on this year on one of the rail tours.

Basically looking for some advice on the cheapest yet still respectable companies to go with, we're not too worried about the actual cities included in the tour (there are enough good/big cities to see) but the cost of the excursion is the main issue.

Are there cheaper (but still fairly hassle free) ways of going about seeing a few american cities without being able to drive, we want it to be as cheap as possible, but it is a holiday so the main worry is being able to relax as well.

Rail tours we've seen so far are around the £800-£1300 price for a 9 day tour of the US/Canada including flights, meals, transfers, accommodation, travel etc. Not including insurance.

Where is best to look for the best price and is there any important info to know?

We'd be looking at going after August this year (not fixed on dates).

Many thanks for any info!

claire16c

Palmer89 wrote: »

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are looking at going on a 8-13 day tour of the USA or Canada later on this year on one of the rail tours.

8 days is probably only long enough to see maybe two places. It seems a bit pointless to me to spend lots of time on a train within that.

Basically looking for some advice on the cheapest yet still respectable companies to go with, we're not too worried about the actual cities included in the tour (there are enough good/big cities to see) but the cost of the excursion is the main issue.

If youre not bothered about the actual cities what exactly do you want to see?

Do you just mean you dont really care where it is as long as its in the US or Canada?

Are there cheaper (but still fairly hassle free) ways of going about seeing a few american cities without being able to drive, we want it to be as cheap as possible, but it is a holiday so the main worry is being able to relax as well.

Flying. Internal flights are often the same price as the train.

Rail tours we've seen so far are around the £800-£1300 price for a 9 day tour of the US/Canada including flights, meals, transfers, accommodation, travel etc. Not including insurance.

Where is best to look for the best price and is there any important info to know?

We'd be looking at going after August this year (not fixed on dates).

Many thanks for any info!

I travelled through train in Canada in 2011. After visiting my sister, we took a train to Toronto, and then got another train to Montreal. We had about 4 nights there I think, before getting another train to Quebec. Had 3 nights there I think. One day was taken up with the train journey. Then spent another day on the train going back to Toronto where we stayed for 6 nights, visited Niagara etc.

The prices for the flights in Canada were also comparable but we ended up getting the train as it came in slightly cheaper and meant less time in airports, getting to and from airports etc.

You dont see much on the trains apart from fields, like you do in this country. Its just as boring as it is here. The only good thing is the seats are bigger and comfier and you get a reserved seat!

Check out the Amtrak and Via Rail Canada websites.

Alan_Bowen

It may be cheaper to book the rail fares yourself at amtrak.com or viarail.ca for Canada but I think you should consider whether this is really what you want. Rail travel is really slow, passenger trains give way to goods trains, without which there would be virtually no rail service at all. Where do you want to see? In the east most of the views are industrial, from Chicago west, the views are better but sleeping on trains isn't easy, the food isn't gourmet by a long way and there are hours when there is nothing to see. I dont want to rain on your parade, I like trains, but a full day on one, perhaps the Coast Starlight from Seattle to San Fransisco would be enough for me. As regards prices, £800 seems unbeliveably cheap, the air fare would be 70% of that leaving very little for anything else and with the falling value of the pound against the dollar, it won't be cheap when you get there

Palmer89

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

It may be cheaper to book the rail fares yourself at amtrak.com or viarail.ca for Canada but I think you should consider whether this is really what you want. Rail travel is really slow, passenger trains give way to goods trains, without which there would be virtually no rail service at all. Where do you want to see? In the east most of the views are industrial, from Chicago west, the views are better but sleeping on trains isn't easy, the food isn't gourmet by a long way and there are hours when there is nothing to see. I dont want to rain on your parade, I like trains, but a full day on one, perhaps the Coast Starlight from Seattle to San Fransisco would be enough for me. As regards prices, £800 seems unbeliveably cheap, the air fare would be 70% of that leaving very little for anything else and with the falling value of the pound against the dollar, it won't be cheap when you get there

The tours are city sight tours which stop of in each city for between 1-4 days and accommodation is hotels in said city. Imagine it would be much cheaper than say going to New York for a couple moving on etc.

claire16c

Why not just pick a city you want to visit, find a cheap flight & hotel deal on somewhere like Expedia & book that?

You don't want to get dragged round in a tour group when you could be visiting stuff by yourself that you chose & actually have an interest in.

What about booking a 7 night trip to NYC then get the train up to Washington DC and stay for one night? You could do that mid week or at the end and if so book a flight that goes into JFK & out of Washington d&c.

NPowerUser

How about LA to Vancouver, this is the trip I would do if looking to visit USA & Canada
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/journeysbyrail/9761804/Around-the-world-by-rail-part-six-Los-Angeles-to-Vancouver.html

martindow

Seat61 is the best site for info on international rail travel. It will be much cheaper if you organise it yourself unless you really want to pay extra for tour guides etc. and be shepherded in a group.

http://www.seat61.com/UnitedStates.htm