Train travel

[hers]

My husband and I are planning a trip to the Pacific NW in august of next year to go to redrose85's wedding (!). We live in Florida and will be flying to either Washington or Oregon and then will make our way up to BC, Canada for her wedding. Our hoped spots to visit are Seattle, Portland, Astoria, Victoria, and then to her wedding spot. Seattle to Victoria is by ferry and then we'd find a way to get the 2-3 hour drive I believe to her wedding spot.

 

We aren't sure where we are flying into bc tix aren't even available yet. I'm currently signed up for link removed's price alerts for when they go on sale. But we were thinking Portland to Astoria, Astoria to Seattle, Seattle to Victoria, Victoria to HB.

 

I've not done much research into train travel but I assume trains are available to and from all these spots, right? What is train travel like? I've gone from Philadelphia to NYC before by train but that was it. I'm sure Washington and oregon would be similar though. Anyway, is it more logical to rent a car to get to the three cities in Washington and Oregon or would train travel be more beneficial in terms of time and ease and finances?

 

Any recommendations?

[tinkerbellkj]

I took Amtrak when I moved from Philly to Florida and honestly I hated it and it was very pricey. It was an overnight ride from WV to Orlando and it was extremely uncomfortable. You can rent a 'room' (they are cool) but they are expensive. That being said I lived outside of Boston most of my life so I took trains often and was a daily commuter to and from work for a while. I've also taken trains in Philly, NYC, and Cali and it was a GREAT way to travel. Short trips on trains are great IMO because you don't have to worry about traffic, getting into an accident etc. Sorry I'm not a ton of help, but for me the distance would be a huge deciding factor, as well as the tickets because like I said, Amtrak is extremely pricey.

[hellohello1]

Hi there,

 

I live in a city in the interior of B.C. - as far as I know the only train that I can think of that travels in Canada northwest cost would be the Rocky Mountaineer train. It eventually ends up in the Rocky mountains. I would suggest renting a car and using a GPS. I flew to Detroit last year. Went to detroit and drove up to Toronto, Niagara Falls, etc. For the whole week had no problems. It was roughly $200 for the car rental for the week - not bad, and you can choose where you want to go.

[annie24]

did you try googlemaps? and then choose the public transportation option.

[annie24]

I've taken amtrak a lot up and down the coast of california - it has a tendency to be running late, a lot, by hours. i guess if you aren't in a hurry though.....

 

oh yeah, and if you take amtrak, upgrade to business class. it is completely worth it.

[hers]

Wed be flying out to there but I'm just wondering if renting a car would be more worth it or if a train would for travel between cities. I figure bigger ones like Seattle and Portland probably have good public transportation into the cities but I'm not so sure about Astoria or even renting a car in Canada. We will be in each town no more than 2 days each so I can't see holding on to a car for too long if we will be in a walking town like Seattle or Portland. Driving distance to each city is like no mote than 5 hours or something, so not too bad by car, but we will just be completely out of our element.

[friendsoulmate]

I have ridden Amtrak at night, when I should be sleeping, but I got no sleep at all. Some people can easily sleep in coach, but I can't. I don't think I could get a good night's sleep on a train, even if I was in a sleeper car. I would avoid riding a train at night, because a sleep deprived vacation, and then getting caught-up on sleep, is not a good experience for me. Sometimes this is hard to avoid when traveling.

[Lonewing]

...Rent the car...

 

And if you can, cut 1-2 cities off the list. Less quantity, more quality...unless you like the sights along the drive.

[annie24]

Gosh, I thought I suggested that too. Maybe I'm going nuts? I think Portland and Seattle and Vancouver and the wedding is too much. I'd cut Portland out, fly into Seattle, and rent the car in Vancouver. My take anyways...

[Lonewing]

Annie, that sounds Very, very reasonable!

[hers]

We definitely want to see all cities. The only reason we are doing Victoria Canada is that there's a ferry to there from Seattle to take, and then it's only like 3 hours from where the wedding will be. We are going to each place bc there are things about each place we want to see. We are planning on 2 nights in Seattle and Portland each, 1 night in astoria, possibly overnight in Victoria, and 2 nights in HB for the wedding

[Lonewing]

Holiday road, holiday road...Hope you have the stamina of the grizwalds!!

[hers]

Actually got a chance to sit in front of the computer tonight to do some research. So you can take a bus from Portland to Astoria for $16 and it takes 2 hours. To get from Astoria to Seattle via public transportation, you backtrack down to Portland to get to Seattle, which takes a total of 7 hours or so. So we may rent a car to get from Astoria to Seattle. Did not price or look at getting a car in Victoria Canada yet. So really our only wall is getting from Astoria to Seattle, but it looks like it's not too expensive to rent a car in Astoria to leave in Seattle. Renting a car in portland and keeping it till Seattle (so a few days) is far more expensive than getting there by bus. Neither of us is opposed to public transportation in terms of bus or train and we both want to see as much as we can.

 

Found some good blog posts on Astoria and I am SO excited to see that little town!! We want to go to the Lewis and Clark national park (we are big history buffs) and we found a hotel right by the bridge that gets you over there, so we could take a taxi. Astoria seems to be a good walking town and even has trolleys to get you around. So we wouldn't need a car till we leave. I think I'm most excited about Astoria and the wedding. We def can't wait to see Seattle and Portland but I am looking most forward to the little towns.

 

The ferry from Seattle to Victoria will be fun. But I need to research Victoria some too to see what's available in terms of walking and public transportation and rental cars to get us to redrose's wedding.

 

Gah I wish we could buy our plane tix already so we could figure out a basic itinerary!

[journeynow]

I took a 2 day trip by train when my kids were small (many years ago) and it was a good way for us to go. The seats were pretty roomy, we could walk around, and the pace was more relaxed than flying or traveling by car. Fellow travelers seem calmer, too. We packed our own food, so saved money by not eating in the dining car. We had one of the smaller sleeper rooms for one of the nights, but it was so small, cramped and confining that I wouldn't recommend it. I like traveling by train and wish it were more less expensive and reached more locations.

[Lonewing]

A friend of mine put it best: train travel is not about the destination, it IS the destination - if that makes sense.